Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity of vegetable oils for use in concentrated solar power plants, measured by 3omega hot wire method

• Vegetable oils are innovative heat transfer fluids for concentrated solar power plants.
• The thermal conductivities are measured continuously from ambient to 230 °C.
• 3-omega hot wire measuring method.
• 1.2% error relative to a reference synthetic oil (Jarytherm®).

Following the growing need for innovative heat transfer fluids in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, the thermal conductivities of different vegetable oils (rapeseed, soybean, sunflower, palm, copra, cotton and jatropha) were measured in the temperature range from ambient to 230 °C relative to a reference oil. The small differences in the obtained thermal conductivities are influenced by the fatty acid composition. For balanced saturated/unsaturated fatty acids composition, the average thermal conductivity decreases from 0.167 W m−1 K−1 at 20 °C to 0.137 W m−1 K−1 at 230 °C. The use of a reference synthetic oil makes the calibration of the thermal probe unnecessary. The used method is based on a hot wire thermal probe with ac excitation and 3ω lock-in detection and has a long-term relative error of 1.2% and absolute accuracy of 2%. It allows measuring in real-time, continuously and independently, the thermophysical properties of oils for thermal applications.