Metals With High Thermal Conductivity

Thermal conductivity measures the ability of a metal to conduct heat. This belongings varies across different types of metal and is important to consider in applications where loftier operating temperatures are common.

In pure metals, thermal conductivity stays roughly the same with increases in temperature. However in alloys the thermal conductivity increases with temperature.

Which Metals Conduct Rut The All-time?

Common metals ranked past thermal conductivity
Rank	Metal	Thermal Conductivity [BTU/(hr·ft⋅°F)]
1	Copper	223
two	Aluminum	118
3	Brass	64
4	Steel	17
5	Bronze	15

As you tin can see, out of the more common metals, copper and aluminum accept the highest thermal conductivity while steel and statuary have the everyman. Heat electrical conductivity is a very important property when deciding which metal to utilise for a specific awarding. As copper is an fantabulous conductor of heat, information technology'south good for rut exchangers, heat sinks, and even saucepan bottoms. Considering steel is a poor conductor of heat, it'due south proficient for high-temperature environments like airplane engines.

Here are some important applications which require metals that deport heat well:

Heat Exchangers
Heat Sinks
Cookware

Heat Exchangers

A heat exchanger is a common awarding where good thermal conductivity is important. Heat exchangers do their task by transferring heat to attain heating or cooling.

Copper is a popular choice for heat exchangers in industrial facilities, air conditioning, refrigeration, hot water tanks and nether-flooring heating systems. Its high thermal conductivity allows heat to pass through information technology speedily. Copper has additional properties desirable in estrus exchangers including resistance to corrosion, biofouling, stress and thermal expansion.

Aluminum can also be used in some estrus exchanger applications every bit a more cost-effective alternative.

Heat exchangers are commonly used in the following situations:

Industrial Facilities

Heat exchangers in industrial facilities include fossil and nuclear power plants, chemic plants, desalination plants and marine services.

In industrial facilities copper-nickel alloy is used to construct the oestrus exchanger tubing. The alloy has good corrosion resistance which protects against corrosion in saltwater environments. It also has good biofouling resistance to avoid formation of algae and sea mosses. Aluminum-brass alloy has similar backdrop and can be used as an alternative.

Solar Thermal Water Systems

Solar water heaters are a cost-constructive way to heat water in which a copper tube is used to transfer the solar thermal energy to the water. Copper is used because of copper's high thermal conductivity, resistance to air and water corrosion, and mechanical strength.

Gas H2o Heaters

Gas h2o heat exchangers transfer the rut generated by gas fuels to water. They're common in residential and commercial boilers. For gas water heaters, copper is the preferred cloth because of its high thermal conductivity and ease of fabrication.

Forced Air Heating and Cooling

Oestrus pumps using air have long been used for residential and commercial heating. They piece of work via air-to-air heat commutation through evaporator units. They tin can exist used in wood furnaces, boilers, and stoves. Again, copper is typically used for its loftier thermal conductivity.

Heat Sinks

Heat sinks are a type of heat exchanger that transfers estrus generated past an electronic or mechanical device into a moving coolant fluid. The fluid transfers the heat away from the device, allowing it to cool to the desired temperature. Metals with loftier thermal conductivity are used.

Computers use estrus sinks to cool cardinal processing units or graphics processors. Rut sinks are also used in high power devices like ability transistors, lasers and light emitting diodes (LEDs).

Heat sinks are designed to maximize the surface area in contact with the coolant fluid.

Aluminum alloys are the most common heat sink material. This is considering aluminum costs less than copper. Still copper is used where higher levels of thermal conductivity are needed. Some heat sinks utilize a combination aluminum fins with a copper base of operations.

Cookware

A more household use of metallic with skilful thermal conductivity is in cookware. When you're heating upward your food, you lot don't want to wait all day. That is why copper is used in the bottoms of loftier-quality cookware because the metal rapidly conducts the estrus and spreads information technology evenly across its surface.

All the same, if you lot're on a budget y'all can use aluminum cookware as an alternative. It may have a little longer to heat up your food, but your wallet will thanks for it!

Metal Supermarkets

Metal Supermarkets is the world's largest minor-quantity metal supplier with over 100 brick-and-mortar stores across the United states of america, Canada, and United Kingdom. We are metallic experts and have been providing quality customer service and products since 1985.

At Metal Supermarkets, nosotros supply a wide range of metals for a variety of applications. Our stock includes: mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, tool steel, blend steel, brass, bronze and copper.

We stock a wide range of shapes including: bars, tubes, sheets, plates and more than. And we can cut metal to your exact specifications.

Visit one of our 100+ locations across North America today.