Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
14(3):437-449
Copyright © Faculty of Engineering, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Print ISSN: 1596-2490, Electronic ISSN: 2545-5818, www.azojete.com.ng
Key words: Specific heat, Bulk thermal conductivity, Bulk thermal diffusivity and Jatropha
1.0 Introduction
Jatropha (or physic nut) is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees (some
are deciduous, like Jatropha curcas), from the family Euphorbiaceae. Scientists have attempted to
define the origin of Jatropha, but the source remains controversial, though some reports indicated
that it originated from North, Central or South America. Jatropha tree is 3-6 meter tall, smooth grey
bark, having latex and heart green leaf, producing inedible oil containing seeds. Jatropha curcas L
is the commonest specie found in Nigeria. The matured seeds contain 21% saturated fatty acids and
79% unsaturated fatty acids and they yield 25%–40% oil by weight. Jatropha seed, oil, cake and
shell are used for soap production, lamp oil, oil fuel for cooking, varnish, insecticide, medicine,
fertilizer and biogas production (Heller, 1996; Temesgen, 2016; Nahar and Ozores-Hampton, 2011;
Grover et al., 2013; Mubonderi, 2012; Manurung et al., 2009). However thermal properties of
Jatropha seeds reported in literature are for foreign varieties and not of African origin or of any
genetic modified varieties (see table 1&2). Also the design and development of seeds press machine
for extracting the seed oil can be improved by first pre-heating before extraction. Knowledge of the
thermal properties of Jatropha seeds will help with proper pre-heating processes required for
efficient extraction of oil from the seeds for various applications. Hence the need to study the
thermal properties of Jatropha seeds like specific heat, thermal conductivity and diffusivity become
essential for its processing purposes. Due to the world demand for green energy, bio- fuel from
plants which do not compete for food will be the answer, and Jatropha is one of these plants. The
objectives of the study are to measure the thermal properties of Jatropha seeds and study the
influence of moisture on these thermal properties for Jatropha seeds processing and storage.
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The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of a unit of mass by one degree is called
specific heat. SI Units for specific heat is kJ/kg-°K. If the specific heat is known, the amount of
heat, Q, which must be added to a unit M to raise its temperature from T 2 to T1 can be calculated
from the Equation 1
( ) (1)
Mohsenin (1980) described several methods to investigate the specific heat of food and agricultural
materials. Table 1 shows the specific heat values and methods of determination of specific heat for
some seeds reported by some researchers.
According to Fontana et al. (1999), in food industry, bulk thermal conductivity is used to predict
and control the heat flux during food processing such as cooking, frying, freezing, sterilization,
drying or pasteurization .The bulk thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to
conduct heat.
67.59% (db), respectively, and achieved results of 0.094 – 0.1285 W/mK, 0.0711- 0.191 W/mK and
0.1671 – 0.3338 W/mK for sheanut kernel, guna seeds and doum palm fruits respectively. Habani
and Tolba (1995) , Yang et al. (2002), Irtwange and Igbeka (2002), and Mortaza et al. (2008) also
determined the thermal conductivity of barley seeds, borage seeds, African yam beans and Berberis
seeds, respectively using the transient heat flow method with line heat source at a moisture range of
10% - 30%, 1.2 – 30.3% .4 – 16% and 19.3 – 74.3% and the results were 193 – 288 mw/m°C , 0.11
to 0.28Wm-1K-1, 0.2097 to 0.3065 w/m ³C and 0.1324 to 0.4898 W/m°C respectively.
Another method used for measuring the thermal conductivity of seeds is the transient heat flow
using conductivity probe. This method was used by Mahmoodi and Kianmehr (2006) and Kara et al
(2011) for pomegranate and safflower seeds within the moisture range of 76% -80% and 5.07 –
20.3%, respectively. The results they found were for pomegranate 0.15 – 0.15 Wm-1K-1 (exocarp),
0.15 – 0.49 Wm-1K-1 (mesocarp) 0.18 – 0.51 Wm-1K-1 (seed) and for safflower 0.108 to 1.37 Wm-
1 -1
K . Bamgboye and Adejumo (2010) use the steady state method of heat of vaporization to
determine the thermal conductivity of Roselle seeds with moisture content range of 8.8% - 19%
(db) and the results were of the range of 1.22 – 1.56 Wm-1K-1.
A modified Fitch apparatus was constructed by Elepaño et al., (2010) to measure the thermal
conductivity of Jatropha kernels. The thermal conductivity increased with the increase in moisture
content and varied from 0.056 to 0.170 W/m/K.
Thermal diffusivity quantifies a material's ability to conduct heat relative to its ability to store heat
transfer (Stroshine, 1998). Bulk thermal diffusivity can be calculated from values of k, ρ, and Cp or
it can be experimentally determined. One of the methods used to determine thermal diffusivity is
the calculating method (Eq.2).
Calculating Method
( ) (2)
where
α = thermal diffusivity (m2/sec), k = thermal conductivity (W/m/K) , Cp = heat capacity (J/kg oC),
ρ = bulk density (kg/m3)
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Table 2 shows the thermal diffusivity values and their methods of determination for some selected
agricultural seeds.
Thermal
Moisture
Seed Diffusivity (a, Method Referance
Content %
m2/s)
Chick-peas 12.0 11.6 x 10-8 Indirect Jayas and cenkowski 2006
Corn, yellow dent 9.8 9.4 x 10-8 Direct Jayas and cenkowski 2006
-8
20.1 8.6 x 10
Rapeseed 10.5 9.2 x 10-8 Indirect Jayas and cenkowski 2006
Rice, bran 7.0 9.7 x 10-8 Indirect Jayas and cenkowski 2006
Rice, rough 12.0 16.4 x 10-8 Indirect Jayas and cenkowski 2006
Soybeans 11.2 11.7 x 10-8 Direct Jayas and cenkowski 2006
Wheat, soft 10.3 8.3 x 10-8 Direct Jayas and cenkowski 2006
20.3 8.1 x 10-8
Wheat 9.2 11.4 x 10-8 Direct Jayas and cenkowski 2006
African Yam Beans 4 – 16% 9.6x10-8-1.4x10-7 Direct Irtwange and Igbeka 2003
where Q = mass of water to be added in kg, Wi = initial mass of the sample in kg, Mi = initial
moisture content of the sample in % d.b. and Mf = final moisture content in % d.b.
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The samples were kept in a refrigerator at ≤ 10 °C for 14 days for the moisture to distribute
uniformly throughout the seeds. The moisture content of samples after equilibration was verified
before each test was conducted. A Bickey John Moisture Meter, model-46239-1247 which gives
indications that are within ± 2% moisture content of the standard oven results was used prior to tests
in order to verify the moisture content of the samples.
2.2 Specific Heat
The specific heat of Jatropha seeds was determined using a calibrated copper calorimeter using the
method of mixture as described by Aviara et al., (2011). The calorimeter was calibrated following
the procedure described by Aviara and Haque (2001). Specific heat was calculated using equation
4,
( ){ ( )}
*( ) +
(4)
where
a = radius of the cylinder, m, Ta = temperature at distance a from the center, °C, To = temperature
at the center, °C, Ao = constant = (Ta2 – Ta1) / (t2-t1) and Ta1= temperature at time t1 oC, Ta2=
temperature at time t2, °C
2.4 Thermal Conductivity
The thermal conductivity of Jatropha seeds were determined using equation 6. The thermal
conductivity was calculated for the four moisture content levels per accession.
(6)
ρb = bulk density, kg/m3 which was determined by pouring the seeds into a glass cylinder and the
mass of the seeds are measured with a weigh balance.
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had been observed by Irtwange and Igbeka (2003), Jayas and Cenkowski (2006), and Cao et al.
(2010). Accessions of Jatropha seeds did not have significant effect (at p<0.05) on the bulk thermal
diffusivity of the seeds (Table 5). The reason for this is the same as that explained for specific heat.
Thermal conductivity is significantly affected (p<0.05) by moisture content only in the native
accession but not in the improved accession. This may be due to slight different between increases
in size between the accessions. This slight increase in sizes of the native seeds was caused by
arrangement of water molecule in the cells of the seeds. Also as the seeds size increases it alter the
shape of the seeds, causing the surface area of the seeds to change. Change in the surface area will
in turn affect the rate at which heat energy is transferred between surfaces of seeds. The mean
separation shows that thermal conductivity at 8 and 12% are not statistically different from each
other while that at 4 and 16% are statistically different. This phenomenon means that significant (at
p<0.05) heat transfer can only occur at moisture content of 4 and 16%. This is due to the fact that
moisture molecules at the seeds surfaces at 8 and 12% are not sufficient to transfer sufficient (at
p<0.05) heat energy across the seeds surfaces. Increase in moisture increases the bulk thermal
conductivity of Jatropha seeds (Figure 2c). Similar behavioral trend of agricultural grains had been
reported by Irtwange and Igbeka (2003), Jayas and cenkowski (2006), Aviara et al. (2008), Aviara
and Haque (2001), Cao et al. (2010) and Aremu and Nwannewuihe (2011). Table 6 shows that the
accession of Jatropha seeds has no significant effect (at p<0.05) on its bulk thermal conductivity.
This is because the slight difference in the sizes of the accession was not large enough to cause a
significant change (at p<0.05) at the seeds surfaces to affect the rate at which heat energy is
transferred between seeds surfaces. A regression analysis done for all thermal properties studies
shows an R square greater than 0.9 (Table 6). This means that regression equations generated has a
very good fit to the data generated from the experiment.
Thermocouple
Stirre
Water
Container with
Teflon
Brass tube
containing
Heat
Figure 1: Apparatus for Thermal Diffusivity Measurement (a) A Picture of the Brass Tube, Teflon and
Thermocouples (b) Schematic Diagram of the Set Up for Measuring Thermal Diffusivity.
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4.0 Conclusions
The thermal properties of Jatropha seeds were investigated in the moisture range of 4 – 16% db and
specific heat values were found to range from 739.5 – 1560.1J/kg oC for native accession and 667.4
– 1262.21J/kg oC for improved accession, while the thermal diffusivity values ranged from 1.1x10-6
- 1.71x10-6 m2/m for native accession and 1.29x10-6 m2/s for improved accession. The values of
thermal conductivity was found to range from 0.276 - 0.907 W/moC for native and 0.283 - 0.797
W/moC for improved accession. Moisture content was found to have significant effect (p < 0.05) on
specific heat on both accession and for thermal conductivity it had significant effect only on native
accession. While no effect for diffusivity was found on both accessions. Finally it was discovered
that accessions have no effect on thermal properties of Jatropha seeds.
Native Improved
Specific
Moisture Bulk Heat ( Thermal Thermal Bulk Specific Thermal
Content Density Jkg-10C- Diffusivity Conductivity Density Heat( Diffusivity Thermal
(%) (kg/m3) 1
) (m2/s) (W/m0C) (kg/m3) Jkg-10C-1) (m2/s) Conductivity(W/m0C)
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1800
1600
0.000002
Thermal Diffusivity(m2/s)
0.0000015
Thermal
0.000001 Diffusivity
improved
0.0000005 Thermal
Diffusivity Native
0
0 5 10 15 20
Moisture content (%)
1
Thermal conductivity(W/moC)
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5 Thermal
conductivity
0.4
improved
0.3
0.2 Thermal
conductivity
0.1
Native
0
0 5 10 15 20
Moisture Content (%)
Figure 2: Graphs for the effect of moisture on thermal properties of Jatropha seeds
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