Thermal conductivity of pure iron at various temperatures

Thermal conductivity of pure iron at various temperatures

Junjie Chen

Contributor: Junjie Chen, ORCID: 0000-0001-5055-4309, E-mail address: [e-mail], Department of Energy and Power Engineering, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, 2000 Century Avenue, Jiaozuo, Henan, 454000, P.R. China

Iron is a chemical element with the atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in front of oxygen, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. In its metallic state, iron is rare in the Earth's crust, limited mainly to deposition by meteorites. Iron ores, by contrast, are among the most abundant in the Earth's crust, although extracting usable metal from them requires kilns or furnaces capable of reaching 1,500 degrees Celsius or higher, about 500 degrees Celsius higher than that required to smelt copper. In the modern world, iron alloys, such as steel, stainless steel, cast iron and special steels, are by far the most common industrial metals, because of their mechanical properties and low cost. The iron and steel industry is thus very important economically. Pristine and smooth pure iron surfaces are mirror-like silvery-gray. However, iron reacts readily with oxygen and water to give brown to black hydrated iron oxides, commonly known as rust. Unlike the oxides of some other metals, that form passivating layers, rust occupies more volume than the metal and thus flakes off, exposing fresh surfaces for corrosion. Although iron readily reacts, high purity iron, called electrolytic iron, has better corrosion resistance.

Thermodynamic temperature (degrees kelvin), Thermal conductivity (watts per meter-kelvin)

2            149

3            224

4            297

5            371

6            442

7            513

8            580

9            645

10          705

20          997

30          814

40          555

50          372

60          265

70          204

80          168

90          146

100        132

200        94

273.2            83.5

300        80.3

400        69.4

500        61.3

600        54.7

700        48.7

800        43.3

900        38

1000             32.6

1100             29.7

1183             29.9

1183             27.9

1200             28.2

1300             29.9

1400             30.9

1500             31.8