Measurements and correlation of the thermal conductivity of liquid n-paraffin hydrocarbons and their binary and ternary mixtures

The thermal conductivity of four pure normal paraffin hydrocarbons (C₁₁, C₁₄, C₁₅, C₁₆) and binary and ternary mixtures of three n-paraffin hydrocarbons (C₇, C₁₁, C₁₆) have been measured in the temperature range from about 20 to 90°C at atmospheric pressure. Measurements have been performed with the aid of a fully automated transient hot-wire instrument. The accuracy of the reported data is estimated to be ±1.0 to ±1.5%. A new simple and practical equation, which can calculate the thermal conductivity of pure n-paraffin hydrocarbons (4≤n≤ 16) with the uncertainty of ±1%, has been correlated in terms of temperature and number of carbon atoms based on the present results including some other reliable data. Also, a mixing rule for the mixtures of n-paraffin hydrocarbons was proposed and was adequately confirmed by the present results within the experimental error.