Mapa Institute of Technology

School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering, and

Materials Science and Engineering
Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2
Experiment No. 2

Thermal Radiation
Adamos, Kristoni; Anastacio Duches; Angeles,Joren; Arias, Joshua
CHE151-1L/B41, School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, Mapa Institute of
Technology, Intramuros

1. Introduction
Electromagnetic phenomena encompass many types of radiation, from short-wavelength cosmic
and y rays to long-wavelength radio waves. The emission of thermal radiation is governed by the
temperature of the emitting body. Although the physical mechanism of radiation is not completely
understood, radiant energy is sometimes visualized as transported by electromagnetic waves or by photons
(Dossett & Totten, 2014).
Radiation is a mode of heat transfer that involves the flow of energy form the high temperature to
low temperature by electromagnetic radiation (Perry & Green, 2008). It differs in two important respects
from the conductive and convective modes: no transfer medium is required, and the energy transferred is
proportional to the fourth or fifth power of the temperatures of the emitting bodies. On the other hand,
thermal radiation is transferred by electromagnetic waves, or photons, which may travel over a long
distance without interacting with a medium. Therefore, radiative heat transfer becomes more important
with rising temperature levels and may be totally dominant over conduction and convection at very high
temperatures (Modest, 2013).
When an electromagnetic wave traveling through a medium (or vacuum) strikes the surface of
another medium (solid or liquid surface, particle or bubble), the wave may be reflected (either partially or
totally), and any non-reflected part will penetrate into the medium. While passing through the medium the
wave may become continuously attenuated. If attenuation is complete so that no penetrating radiation
reemerges, it is known as opaque. If a wave passes through a medium without any attenuation, it is termed
transparent, while a body with partial attenuation is called semitransparent (Geankoplis, 2012).
An opaque surface that does not reflect any radiation is called a perfect absorber or a black
surface. A blackbody is characterized as a perfect emitter and absorber of radiation. It absorbs all incident
radiation without refection and emits radiation energy in all directions at equal magnitude per unit area;
the emissivity of black bodies are equal to one (Perry & Green, 2008). Gray body is used to be referred in
terms of a material having lower emissivity, less than one, independent of frequency (Geankoplis, 2012).
The radiation energy emitted by a blackbody per unit surface area and per unit time was obtained
through the use of Equation 1 ( Eq .1 ):
4

Eb = T Eq . 1

8
where =5.67 x 10

W
2
4
m K

is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant and T is the absolute temperature of the

surface in Kelvin (K).

The experiment requires the student to solve or evaluate thermal radiation in terms of emissivity
of a surface.
The aid of Stefan-Boltzmann equation ( Eq .2 , emissivity is calculated:
q emitted = ( T 4pT 4s ) Eq . 2
The experiment gives an equation to solve for the q emitted , shown in equation 3 ( Eq .3 :
q emitted =

R(0.0632+ L2)
Eq . 3
0.0632

Combining equation 2 and equation 3:

R(0.0632 + L2 )
=
Eq . 4
0.063 2 2 (T 4pT 4s )
where R is the radiometer reading (W/m2), L is the distance of heat sensor form the plate (mm), h is the
refractive index, T p is the heat source temperature, and T s is the temperature of surroundings
(Gutierrez & De Guzman, 2005).
The objectives of the experiment are to calculate and compare the emissivity of matt black plate,
silver-anodized plate, and polished plate and to determine the effect of the heat source temperature on the
emissivity of the plates.
2. Experimental Section
2.1 Materials and Equipment
The materials and equipment utilized in determining the thermal radiation are the following:
plates in silver-anodized and polished, thermometer and the thermal radiation unit which consists of
transformer radiometer, heat source and sensor (shown in Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1. Thermal radiation unit set-up and its parts (source: edlabquip.com)
2.2 Procedure
For the set-up of the thermal radiation unit, the matt black was installed in the plate stand that is 80
mm apart from the heat source. The distance of the sensor from the heated plate was set at L= 100 mm.
The distance between the sensor disc and its stand was measured to be 65 mm apart. The thermocouple
attached to the plate was then connected into the instrument console. The power control know is turned at
three settings which have a markings of 1-3 on the control dial. After turning the knob to the target setting
wait about 15 minutes until the temperature reading stabilize, which is then recorded as the equilibrium
temperature of the plate. Due to the different emissivity and surface finishes of the plates, each heater
power setting results in different achievable equilibrium temperatures. The cover was then removed from
the sensor and after about 2 minutes the radiometer reading was recorded. The cover was then placed back
from the sensor. This procedure was done repeatedly using the two other plates which is the silveranodized and the polished plates. The emissivity of each plate was plotted against the corresponding
equilibrium temperatures (K) (Gutierrez and De Guzman, 2005).
2.3 Treatment of Results
The heat of radiation is calculated using the simplified default equation at L=100mm shown in
equation 5.
q emitted =3.52 R
(5)
where qemitted is the radiation emitted by the surface and R is the radiometer reading. After computing for
the value of heat of radiation to the plate the simplified default equation of radiation that is equated to the
Stefan-Boltzman equation is then used to calculate the radiation emitted by the surface using the thermal
radiation unit recorded in the experiment, as shown in equation 6.
7
6.2 x 10 R
= 4
(6)
4
T pT s
where is the emissivity, R is the radiometer reading, q emitted is the radiation emitted by the surface, Tp
is heat source/plate temperature and Ts is the temperature of the surrounding. After getting the values of
emissivity for the heating setting of 1-3, the average emissivity was then calculated by adding the three
values obtained from the experiment divided by three. Using the values from the literature the
experimental average for emissivity was compared to obtained the percentage error as shown in equation
7.
3

percent error=

theoretical valueexperimental value

x 100
theoretical value

(7)

References:
[1] Modest, M. F. (2013). Radiative Heat Transfer (3rd ed.). Elsevier.
[2] Dossett, J. L., & Totten, G. E. (2014). ASM Handbook (Vol. 4B). ASM International.
[3] Geankoplis, C.J. Transport Processes and Unit Operations. Third Edition. Prentice-Hall International,
Inc. (1993) 520-521, 533-540.
[4] Green, D.W., Perry, R.H. Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook 8 th Edition. McGraw-Hill
Companies. United States of America. (2008). 12-40 12-46.
[5] Gutierrez, C. L., & De Guzman, M. R. (2005). Chemical Engineering Laboratory Manual Part 2. pp.
9-13