Effective Thermal Conductivities of Dairy Cattle Solid Waste

Investigation on the Dependence of Effective Thermal Conductivity on Volumetric Water Content and Temperature by Simulation Model

Abstract

This paper describes the dependence of the effective thermal conductivity of dairy cattle solid waste (composting material) on volumetric water content and temperature. The effective thermal conductivity was measured by the thermal probe method. The results show that the effective thermal conductivity has an almost linear relationship with the volumetric water content when latent heat flux in dairy cattle solid waste is ignored. The temperature has much effect on the effective thermal conductivity in large gas filled porosity. A modified simulation model, taking into account the latent heat flux, agrees closely with measured data.