Thermal Conductivity Measurements of Liquid Mercury and Gallium by a Transient Hot-Wire Method in a Static Magnetic Field

The transient hot-wire method, incorporating a static magnetic field, has been developed to measure thermal conductivities of liquid mercury and gallium. Prior to the measurements, the effect of an alumina-coated hot wire on the measurements has been evaluated. Natural convection in the liquid metals has been effectively suppressed by the Lorentz force acting on the liquid metals in a static magnetic field. The thermal conductivities of liquid mercury and gallium have been determined to be 7.9W·m−1·K−1 at 291K and 24W·m−1·K−1 at 302.9 K, respectively.