Why would you need heat capacity testing?

Measuring a material’s property at specific conditions which it may be used at will shed insight on thermal performance and heat management design considerations. Specific heat capacity of materials changes as a function of temperature and in some cases may behave differently as compared to the ambient pressure testing. TAL has equipment to measure specific heat capacity at elevated pressures and temperatures, including high pressure crucibles (upwards of 500 bar) and temperatures upwards of 1600 °C.

What applications would specific heat capacity measurements be beneficial?

Applications for specific heat capacity testing encompass many materials and material phases. For the high pressure DSC cells, we offer specific heat capacity measurements from ambient to 500 °C with pressures as high as 500 bar. This pressure is dictated by the vapor pressure of any liquids within the cell, and is not controlled. This may be used to study coolant liquids under pressure, crude oil under pressure, or for measuring flammable liquids at high temperature and pressure. For specified pressures, we offer cells which can be pressurized using air, argon or nitrogen up to 400 bar. With these specialized cells, we offer DSC testing from -15 – 120 °C using a Calvet sensor. For solids testing, we offer DSC specific heat capacity testing from -15 – 1600 °C using a variety of instruments.

Application space

There is a wide range of applications which specific heat capacity measurements may be applicable for, including:

• Petrochemical liquids
• Additive manufacturing powders
• Liquid Polymers and pre-polymers
• Cosmetics
• Pharmaceuticals
• Food science
• Electronics

Recommended Methods

We offer a variety of methods for testing specific heat capacity, appropriate to different types of material. Below, we have listed the methods and the sample requirements for each method. If you’re not sure what method is appropriate for your samples, please give us a call or submit an inquiry to info@thermalanalysislabs.com and one of our experts will be in touch to advise you on the method of best fit.

Specific Heat Capacity Testing Services

	Labsys Evo	µDSC VII	DSC 131
Temperature Range	0 – 1600 °C	-15 – 120 °C	0 – 500 °C
Isothermal Accuracy	± 1 °C	± 0.1 °C	± 0.5 °C
Ramping Rate	0.001 – 100 °C	0.001 – 2 °C	0.001 – 50 °C
Sample Size	Minimum 10 mg	Minimum 5 mg	Minimum 5 mg
Sample Volume	Max 100 mm3	Max 1 mL	10 – 100 µL
Available Gases	Air, Nitrogen, Argon	Air, Nitrogen, Argon	Air, Nitrogen, Argon
Pressure	Ambient	Ambient – 400 bar	Ambient – 500 bar

Other methods may be available. Contact us at info@thermalanalysislabs.com or call (506) 457-0498 to discuss.