Bomb Calorimeter Lab Mike Martin, Pete Strader, and Kevin Healy

Purpose To see if modifications to bomb calorimeters would increase efficiency Part I: Testing the calorimeters thermal qualities of insulation and speed of heating Part II: Seeing if modifications gave a closer estimate of a fuel’s heat capacity.

The Calorimeters Left to Right: Aluminum Insulated, Fiberglass Insulated, and Control

Temperature over Time

Thermal Testing Using a Bunsen Burner with a consistent flame, we tested how long it took for each calorimeter to reach 50° Celsius and how long before each began loosing heat over a period of minutes. The Chart has been shortened to when the most insulated began to loose heat.

Aluminum and Fiber Glass Installation Calorimeters under construction

I – Butanol Lamp with Aluminum Insulated Canister

Thermal Energy to Heat Water FuelControlFiberglassAluminum Methanol4.598 kJ/g 4.18 kJ/g Butural5.016 kJ/g5.434 kJ/g4.18 kJ/g

Heat of Combustion FuelIdeal/ ExpectedControlFiberglassAluminum Foil Methanol64.09 kJ/g kJ/g kJ/g Butural75.87 kJ/g16.72 kJ/g kJ/g kJ/g

Materials Three aluminum cans A roll of tinfoil Fiberglass insulation i-butanol Methanol Two stoppers with wicks Match book or lighter 3 very large soup cans Glass thermometer 6 stands with rings attached Stop watch Tap water Scale

Conclusion We found that tinfoil was the best insulator for methanol and the fiberglass was the best insulator for i-buterol. However neither were close to the ideal target energy output for their respective fuels. This can be attributed to the lack of ideal conditions in which to conduct the experiment. We found that the insulated bombcalorimeters took longer to reach 50 degrees C than the control. The Fiberglass insulator took the longest to heat to 50 C. Finally we found that both the tinfoil and the fiberglass insulators retained the heat longer than the control. The fiberglass insulator however was much more efficient than the tinfoil insulator. This fits because it also took longer to heat up to 50 C.

Equations and Ideal Data Heat absorbed by the water (calories) = Mass of water (grams) x Temperature change ( o C) x 1.00 cal/g o C i-Butanol: KJ/g Methanol: KJ/g Single BondskJ/mol H—C416 C—C356 C—O336 O--H467

Hypothesis Modifications to the bomb calorimeters will increase the speed of heating the water and the retention of the water’s heat.