THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

Mechanical Engineering Department

Heat and Mass Transfer (UME 704)

Tutorial sheet 5
Internal heat generation

1. A 6-m-long 2-kW electrical resistance wire is made of 0.2-cm-diameter stainless steel (k=15.1 W/m
K). The resistance wire operates in an environment at 30C with a heat transfer coefficient of 140
W/m2K at the outer surface. Determine the surface temperature of the wire (a) by using the
applicable relation and (b) by setting up the proper differential equation and solving it.
2. A long homogeneous resistance wire of radius r0=5 mm is being used to heat the air in a room by the
passage of electric current. Heat is generated in the wire uniformly at a rate of g = 5x10 7 W/m3 as a
result of resistance heating. If the temperature of the outer surface of the wire remains at 180C,
determine the temperature at r =2 mm after steady operation conditions are reached. Take the thermal
conductivity of the wire to be k= 8 W/m K.

3. Consider a large plane wall of thickness L= 0.05 m. The wall surface at x = 0 is insulated, while the
surface at x = L is maintained at a temperature of 30C. The thermal conductivity of the wall is k =
30 W/m K, and heat is generated in the wall at a rate of g = g 0e-0.5x/L W/m3 where g0=8 x106 W/m3.
Assuming steady one-dimensional heat transfer, (a) express the differential equation and the
boundary conditions for heat conduction through the wall, (b) obtain a relation for the variation of
temperature in the wall by solving the differential equation, and (c) determine the temperature of the
insulated surface of the wall.