Thermal Response at Room Temperature and Device Applications of Two Wood Species in Akure, South Western Nigeria

Abstract

Thermal properties (Density, Thermal conductivity and Specific heat capacity) play important impact in the formation of devices
made of wooden materials. This study examines the room temperature thermal response of ten bulk samples from the species of Pterygota macrocarpa and Antiaris africana wood species found in South Western Nigeria. The samples were processed into appropriate shapes to fit into the parallel plane arrangement to determine the thermal properties. Temperature dependent models were used to obtain the specific heat capacities of the samples within a temperature variation of 308.25? - 310.00?. The results revealed that the thermal properties (thermal conductivities and specific heat capacities) increase as temperature increases for all the bulk samples considered. The results of the research showed that the selected wood samples could find useful applications in industrial insulating devices.

Keywords: Wood material, Lee’s disc apparatus, Temperature and Thermal properties.