Abstract

Modelling of heat transfer through the finned hollow cylindrical surfaces of an insulation testing rig (ITR) is the main concern of this work. A differential volume approach was employed in developing thermal differential models. The analytical solutions of the emerging models were sought to establish the actual mathematical functions governing the thermal behaviour of the cylindrical surfaces of the ITR. Moreover, modelling and simulation was accompanied by experimentation. The mathematical functions describing the behaviour of the ITR were made-up of Euler exponential and linear functions. The simulated results validated well with the distributed experimental data. Besides, the thermophysical properties; fin parameter (12 /m), thermal conductivity (51.929 W/mK) and thermal diffusivity (0.0000036883 m2/s) of the mild steel cylindrical surfaces were established from the analysis which in good agreement with the literature results (54 W/mK; 0.00000367 m2/s). Moreover, the thermal distribution coefficients (0.333333  0.492247) gave rise to the solution of thermal dynamic model which conformed to the experimental results. Hence, the good agreement between the present and literature results supports that analytical technique could be employed in determining the thermophysical properties of materials. Moreover, the present work recommends that the ITR should be employed in verifying the thermophysical properties of several materials.