An Improved Application of the Transient Hot-Wire Technique for the Absolute Accurate Measurement of the Thermal Conductivity of Pyroceram 9606 up to 420 K

This article describes the final refinements of a novel application of the transient hot-wire technique developed for the absolute, accurate measurements of the thermal conductivity of solids. Although the technique was originally developed five years ago, these new refinements allow a full understanding of the method and hence the performance of measurements with an absolute uncertainty of less than 1 %. New measurements of Pyroceram 9606 up to 420 K are reported. The maximum deviation of the present measurements is 0.54 %, while their standard deviation at the 95 % confidence level is 0.25 %. Since May 2007, Pyroceram 9606 is a European Commission certified thermal-conductivity reference material, designated as BCR-724, with an uncertainty of ±6.5 % at the 95 % confidence level.