Conversion Factor for Degrees to BTUs

You are trying to convert Temperature to Energy. I don't believe that you can do that. Similar to trying to convert metres to square feet (or length to area).

Don't know off the top of my head what units make up a BTU but I think that temperature is included in there somewhere.

Good luck.

There is no conversion from a single temperature directly to energy, more process values are required. What are you trying to do?

Greetings from Canada

Since your the only person to ask,"What are you trying to do?"

I'am trying to measure the amount of heat produced (in BTU's) in a catalytic exothermic reaction. Hydrogen Peroxide(50%) and a hydrocarbon are combined(fuel). This fuel is sprayed (atomized) on to catalysis bed in a semi inclosed reactor. The reactor bed is preheated(with glow plugs) to approximately 700 degrees F/371.1 degrees Celsius. When the fuel is turned on after the preheat, the plugs are turned off and the temperature quickly increases to 1500F/815.5C. The reaction is self sustaining. These temperatures will continue as long as there is a fuel supply. My question to you is........ I know that 1 BTU=1055.05585262 Joules. Are you aware of a conversion factor I can use that will give me a temperature in BTU's e.g. 815.5C converted to BTU's units. Can joules be converted to BTU's. Thanks for your time, hope you can help.

Thanks for the outline BioBob, sounds like a cool/fun project. It looks like OldF**t kinda went on a rant, but for good reason. There have been so many threads here lately with people fumbling over units and basic conversion equations; it's kind of frustrating for some of us. So stop asking to "convert" from temperature units to energy units. ;) Instead ask for help determining the amount of energy per unit time or power you can extract from your catalyst reaction.

What you need to do is sink the heat away from the reaction point; you are doing this now because the temp stabilizes at around 1500F. At that temp it's a safe bet that the vast majority of heat transfer is done via radiant heat transfer. Anyways, you must devise a way to encapsulate that reaction so you can "channel" the energy, in the form of heat (not the same as temperature) away to another medium. Then if you know the specific heat of that matter along with its initial temp and final temp and the time between temp readings, you can determine the power output from your reaction. OLDF**T explained that it takes 1BTU to heat 1Lb of water 1F so water would be a fine medium to use since it is the basis of specific heat of materials.

You should research specific heat Q = cm(T1-T0) So you see, it's not the temperature of your catalyst plate, but it's the change in temp of a known mass with known specific heat over a given time, or given a specific amount of fuel. Would be best to start the experiment after glow plugs are off and you have a constant flow of fuel. That way you can do energy per amount of fuel, or given a specific fuel rate you can figure energy/time also known as power.

Wikipedia should be your friend in learning about units of heat, energy, work, power, etc. and how to use the equations that relate them.

Best of luck.

JUBA-JABBA............You are correct. I was trying more to be sarcastic than ranting or raving. And I apoligize to BioBob.......I'm not "mean spirited"...........What surprised me was the level of BioBob's experiment, with no more knowledge or understanding of what he was doing. There are a lot of things he could do to gather data during the experiment. Knowing the chemistry of the combustable mixture, he could calculate the theoritical heating value of the mixture. By determining the rate of fuel flow and pressure along with temperatures, he could determine the efficiency of the process........etc. All in whatever units he wants to report his findings. I gather that once the process started, it was self sustaining, auto ignition as it were, similar to the deisel or jet engine.

In his message to you, he gave the answer to his original question, except he was confusing temperature and energy.........He already knows the relationship between Joules and BTUs. If he said that 1 BTU = 1055.0558 Joules, his high school algebra should tell him to divde both sides of the equation by 1055.0558 to convert Joules to BTUs, which would be 1 Joule = 0.0009478 BTU. What's happened to logical and analytical thinking?

Just for grins, BioBob, derive the equation for converting Centrigrade (Celcius) to Fahrenheit: F = (c)C; c being the constant, and 0 deg C = 32 deg F and 100 deg C = 212 deg F.

I grew up in the days long before we had all the resources that are available today, electronic calculators, computers, internet and on line information, etc. In my college days, you could always tell an engineering student by watching his K&E 10" deci-trig, log- log duplex, slide rule in its genuine leather holster, swing from his belt, except electrical engineers. They carried circular slide rules....So on to the next question.

Greetings

Thanks Juba-Jabba and Old F**T for your kind words of wisdom and insight. I'll keep everyone posted on this experiment. Life is short, the art is long.

Best Regards to All

i use this tool to go through various units you should be able to get from point a to b if you do a little resarch and use this

OH FOR HEAVENS SAKE, YOU GUYS.........................

BTU - BRITISH THERMAL UNIT.. 1 BTU is the energy required to increase the temperature of 1 pound of water 1 deg F. And to carry that farther, 1 pound of ice at 32 deg F requires 144 BTU to change to water at 32 deg F.

So, here's your homework problem for today: How many BTU's does it take to melt 1 ton of ice at 32 deg F?

Your lesson for tomorrow................If you melt 1 ton of ace at 32 deg F in 24 hours, how many BTU's of cooling do you produce in 1 hour?

THE ANSWER TO THE PREVIOUS QUESTION IS THE DEFINITION OF 1 TON OF REFRIGERATION (and it had better be 12,000 BTU/HR).

AND THE PROCESS IS REVERSABLE......... ex. A 5 ton air conditioning unit will produce 60,000 BTU's of cooling per hour.

Get your conversion tables together and change the nomenclature to your hearts content..........

Here's an extra........

It takes 970 BTU's to change (phase change) 1 pound of water at 212 deg F, to steam, at atmospheric pressure. And this process is also reversable..........ex. when 1 pound of steam at atmospheric pressure condenses in a radiator, it produces 970 BTU's of heat at 212 deg F.

Just think......The whole industry of heating and cooling is based on what a BTU is..... Amzing ain't it.............

BTU = the amount of heat energy to raise the temperature of 1 lb of water 1 degree F. From this simple definition, you can go where ever you want (C, F, cal, or other units). For example: if you have 1000 lb of water and you want to change the temperature 20 degrees Farenheight, 20 x 1000 = 20,000 BTU. If you want to do this in a 3 hour period, then you need 20,000 / 3 = 6,700 BTUH of heating / cooling.

A BTU is the amount of heat required to raise one pound (454g) of water by 1degF (0.625degC).

The thermal capacity of water at everyday temperatures and perssures is 4.18kJ/kg/degC.

Correction: 1degF is 0.5555recurring degC.

Excuse: low battery temperature on the calculator. Brrrrrrr...

There maybe a way, but it involve a lot of conversion, and it applied to water (but I think you can also use it on other materials if you know the specific heat of those materials.)

By definition: 1 BTU is the amount of heat required to raise 1 lb of water 1 degree Fahrenheit.

So, to converse F/C to BTU, you need to first make conversion from C to F. Then use the formula: (For water)

BTU = (Specific heat of Water) X (number of lbs of water) X (difference in temperatures)

let say we want to find the amount of BTU needed to raise 2 lbs of water from 50 degree F to 70 degree F.

The specific heat of water is 1, the temperature difference is 70 - 50 = 20, and the number of lbs of water is 2.

BTU = (1) X (2) X (20) = 40 BTU.

If the temperature is given in C, then we need to first converse C to F with the formula:

F = (C X 1.8) + 32

so, if we know the specific heat of the material in question, we can converse the F/C to BTU.

MidniteFighter