Caloremeter tests on electrical components

[asimpson]

I am looking for a commercially available system for measuring heat given off by electrical device we are developing at work.

Most calorimeters I see are for chemical or organic applications.


Heat flow would be very small 0-2 W. 10-25 deg C. 300 mm cubed


Thanks in advance

 

[dbaird]

Use a hand-held infrared thermometer:

http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=OS423-LS&Nav=temj08

David Baird

Sr Controls Designer
EET degree.
Journeyman Electrician.

 

[DRWeig]

asimpson,

Does your system do actual work, or is it static? If static, you can just measure input watts, which will equal output heat...

Good on ya,

Goober Dave

 

[HDS]

Calorimeters are very expensive around the price of a luxury car. You might be able make one with thermopile (heat flux sensor).

 

[IRstuff]

What's the purpose of the measurement? As mentioned above, the resistive power will be equal to the heat dissipated.

As for measurement, it would be a bit tricky, although you can do it with IR thermometers or the classic approach of immersing the assembly in something like Fluorinert, and measure the temperature rise, ala a really simple calorimeter.

That said, however, your system appears to be quite large, and presumably, with commensurately large surface area. Using a fairly low heat transfer coefficient, and assuming 4 sides of 300mm square, the surface temperature rise would only be about 1°C, assuming that the heat is uniformly spread. With something that large calorimetry would be also be tricky to do, since you need to insulate the fluid from the external ambient, and the amount of heat is low compared to the volume, thus requiring an extended test duration.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[IRstuff]

Oh, did you mean 300 mm³? That would be different. That would be a very tiny area, and easily detectable with an IR thermometer, as well as a classical dunk calorimeter.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[unclesyd]

Here is a link to a surplus outfit that has an electronic component calorimeter. It looks a little rugged so you can get a little experience.

http://www.bidservice.com/browses/DHTML_Browse_New.asp

 

[asimpson]

Thanks for replies

You were right first time IRstuff with size I was looking for test volume 300 x 300 x 300 mm.

I have been looking for OEM calorimeters but most are for chemical or material test with very small sample size.

I know systems are expensive.

Purpose is analysis of energy in and energy out of device and to work out what proportion is heat or other forms of energy, EM, RF, mechanical etc.

 

[IRstuff]

I would suggest trying to measure the parasitic emissions instead. The instrumentation for things like that are supremely more sensitive than trying to deduce the losses from the measurement of total heat flow. I assume that your list of possibilities are all considered parasitic? as opposed to intentional? If so, they're probably going to be so low that they would be swamped out by your measurement errors in trying to measure heat output.



TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[HDS]

asimpson
Setaram is the market leader but does have anything big enough.

HEL has this

http://www.helgroup.com/reactor-systems/safety-calorimetry/phitec-btc-battery-testing-calorimeter/

International Thermal Instruments has this

http://iticompany.com/pages/instruments/custom/01/index.html

They will all build system to suit your needs.
If there is an ISO test for what you are doing searching for the test may some up with more results.

IRstuff has anyone built a commercial "dunk calorimeter"? They sound less complicated than the units that measure actual heat flow.

 

[IRstuff]

@HDS Not that I'm aware of, but that's too far afield for me to track. I just know that dunking is an approach that's easy and relatively cheap, since it really only needs an appropriate fluid and sufficiently isolated and insulated container.

Actually, if on reading through your first link, it sounds like the calorimetry is also through dunking, albeit with air as the fluid and with more complicated instrumentation.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[HDS]

The instruments I listed used thermopiles to measure the heat flow out of the chamber. Dunking tries to keep all the heat in the chamber and measure the effects of it.

 

[HDS]

asimpson were any of those instruments of the type you were looking for?

 

[asimpson]

Still working on it. Thanks.

I was hoping a complete solution might be available to buy. So far complete systems only deal with very small samples.

I did build a system in a insulated enclosed chamber and many thermocouples. Calibrated system using a heater or known power output. Takes a long time to settle both for calibration and test. 8-24 hours.

I would be worried dunking would increase settling time as the heat sink would be greater.

 

[HDS]

The chamber in the HEL is 35cm diameter x 35cm high. Is that big enough? They would probably build a bigger one if needed.

 

[unclesyd]

Here is some information on equipment that may be of
interest. They have a lot of training seminars listed in the US, some online.
I need a bigger monitor for these old eyes.

http://www.setaram.com/Calorimetry.htm