TK04 Thermal Conductivity System on the JR
The TeKa Thermal Conductivity Meter (TK04) system determines thermal conductivity based on a transient heat flow method. A line source is heated with constant power, while source temperature is recorded simultaneously. Thermal conductivity is calculated from the resulting heating curve.
Both, whole-round sections and section halves can be measured.
Place hard rock samples in an ambient temperature seawater bath to equilibrate and saturate (4–12 hr). Keep sample saturated until measurement. A bell jar/vacuum pump can aid in saturation.
1. Double-click the ThermCon icon (Figure 1) on the desktop and login using ship credentials. ThermCon window will open (Figure 2). Ensure that the Text_ID field is blank.
Figure 1. From left to right: ThermCon icon, TK04 icon, TCON File Converter icon and TKGraph icon.
Figure 2. ThermCon window.
2. Scan the section label. Text_ID automatically fills.
3. Click Verify Sample.
4. Write down the measurement offset.
5. Click Make Folder. This folder will contain the measurement files.
NOTE: The folder path is shown on the screen. Do not close this window during measurement.
Figure 3. Main TK04 window.
2. Select Measuring > Configuration, or click the blue button at center-upper part of the window. The Measuring Configuration window will open (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Left side: Measuring Configuration window. Right side: Expert Options window.
3. Set configuration parameters as follows:
Probe Number: Serial number of the probe being used.
NOTE: Results may be wrong by several percent if the wrong serial number is entered or by a factor of ~2 if the wrong type of probe is entered.
Root Name: Allows up to six characters. Suggest Core-Type-Section (no special characters), e.g. 1H3.
Serial No: Number of single measurements at each point. Usually, three measurements are made (e.g. 1 to 3).
Folder: Path for saving data results. Select the folder that was generated when verifying the sample (Step 5 of the section above).
Heating Power: For the VLQ (needle probe), set to twice the estimated thermal conductivity value of measured sediment. For example, 2–3 W/m is good for sediment.
For HLQ (puck and mini puck), set equal to the estimated thermal conductivity value of the measured sediment.
Measuring Time: Set 80 s for needles and pucks, and 60 s for mini pucks.
Comment: Enter comments if needed.
4. If default drift or pause time needed to be changed, click Expert Options. Expert Options window will open.
Drift Control (DCL): Limit for the range of temperature drift allowed prior to heating and measuring. A larger number allows quicker but less accurate measurement. Default DCL = 10; Recommended DCL = 10-20.
Pause (min): Insert a pause between single measurements; recommended = 10 min.
Click OK to save changes or Default to return to default values.
5. Click OK to confirm configuration settings.
a. Drift control (DCL) will repeat until the criterion for drift (set in the Expert Options window) is met.
Each drift control measurement takes 0.5 min. For DCL = 40, drift control is <10 series (~5 min). For DCL = 10, drift control is <30 series (~15 min).
b. Sample heating and measuring begins. Temperature values are corrected automatically for the drift effect predicted from the last drift series.
2. Best solutions calculated by the TeKa SAM algorithm are shown on the screen.
3. Close the Measuring Series window at the end of the measurements. To leave this window open will prevent the data to upload.
NOTE: Remember to rinse with DI water and dry the needle and/or puck after measuring a sample, it will prevent corrosion.
TCON data can be viewed and verified using the following programs:
Figure 5. Thermcon File Converter window.
The Phys Props technician will convert the TCON data and save them into data1, at the end of each site.
Figure 6. TKGraph main window.
V368X (T. Cobb, B. Novak) ;V371T – 7/11/17 (T. Cobb); V1.1; M. Hastedt 8/15/2011 reviewed |S. Frazier March 2018.
All improvements to the Quick Start Guides and User Guides are a communal effort, with honorable mention to the group of LOs, ALOs, and technicians who have helped.