A critical survey of thermal conductivity literature data for organic compounds at atmospheric pressure and an equation for aromatic compounds

This work presents a wide literature survey of the available data of the experimental thermal conductivity data for organic liquids at the atmospheric pressure in the temperature range below normal boiling point and at saturation pressures for temperatures above the normal boiling point. The experimental data are collected for 136 pure compounds belonging to the following different families: refrigerant fluids, alkanes, alkenes, aromatics, cycloalkanes, cycloalkenes, ethers, esters, ketones, organic acids and alcohols. A reliable set of 4740 experimental data was finally selected. The range of temperatures and of thermal conductivity experimental values are analyzed and discussed. An equation for aromatic compounds is proposed. The equation is very simple and produces a noticeable improvement if compared with the existing equations. © 2013 The Authors.