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HEAT TRANSFER EQUATION SHEET

Heat Conduction Rate Equations (Fourier's Law)
𝑑𝑑 𝑊 𝑊
 Heat Flux : 𝑞𝑥′′ = −𝑘 k : Thermal Conductivity 𝑚∙𝑘
𝑑𝑑 𝑚2
′′
 Heat Rate : 𝑞𝑥 = 𝑞𝑥 𝐴𝑐 𝑊 Ac : Cross-Sectional Area
Heat Convection Rate Equations (Newton's Law of Cooling)
𝑊 𝑊
 Heat Flux: 𝑞 ′′ = ℎ(𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇∞ ) h : Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient 𝑚2∙𝐾
𝑚2
 Heat Rate: 𝑞 = ℎ𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇∞ ) 𝑊 As : Surface Area 𝑚2
𝑊
Heat Radiation emitted ideally by a blackbody surface has a surface emissive power: 𝐸𝑏 = 𝜎 𝑇𝑠4
𝑚2
𝑊
 Heat Flux emitted : 𝐸 = 𝜀𝜀𝑇𝑠4 where ε is the emissivity with range of 0 ≤ 𝜀 ≤ 1
𝑚2
−8 𝑊
and 𝜎 = 5.67 × 10 is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant
𝑚2 𝐾 4
4
 Irradiation: 𝐺𝑎𝑎𝑎 = 𝛼𝛼 but we assume small body in a large enclosure with 𝜀 = 𝛼 so that 𝐺 = 𝜀 𝜎 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠
′′ 𝑞
 Net Radiation heat flux from surface: 𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟 = = 𝜀𝐸𝑏 (𝑇𝑠 ) − 𝛼𝛼 = 𝜀𝜀(𝑇𝑠4 − 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠 4 )
𝐴
 Net radiation heat exchange rate: 𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟 = 𝜀𝜀𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝑠4 − 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠
4
) where for a real surface 0 ≤ 𝜀 ≤ 1
This can ALSO be expressed as: 𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟 = ℎ𝑟 𝐴(𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠 ) depending on the application
𝑊
where ℎ𝑟 is the radiation heat transfer coefficient which is: ℎ𝑟 = 𝜀𝜀(𝑇𝑠 + 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠 )(𝑇𝑠2 + 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠
2 )
𝑚2 ∙𝐾
4 4
 TOTAL heat transfer from a surface: 𝑞 = 𝑞𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 + 𝑞𝑟𝑟𝑟 = ℎ𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇∞ ) + 𝜀𝜀𝐴𝑠 (𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠 ) 𝑊
Conservation of Energy (Energy Balance)
𝐸̇𝑖𝑖 + 𝐸̇𝑔 − 𝐸̇𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 𝐸̇𝑠𝑠 (Control Volume Balance) ; 𝐸̇𝑖𝑖 − 𝐸̇𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 0 (Control Surface Balance)
where 𝐸̇𝑔 is the conversion of internal energy (chemical, nuclear, electrical) to thermal or mechanical energy, and
𝑑𝑑
𝐸̇𝑠𝑠 = 0 for steady-state conditions. If not steady-state (i.e., transient) then 𝐸̇𝑠𝑠 = 𝜌𝜌𝑐𝑝
𝑑𝑑

Heat Equation (used to find the temperature distribution)

𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
Heat Equation (Cartesian):
𝜕𝜕
�𝑘 𝜕𝜕 � + 𝜕𝜕
�𝑘 𝜕𝜕� + 𝜕𝜕
�𝑘 𝜕𝜕 � + 𝑞̇ = 𝜌𝑐𝑝 𝜕𝜕

𝜕2 𝑇 𝜕2 𝑇 𝜕2 𝑇 𝑞̇ 1 𝜕𝜕 𝑘
If 𝑘 is constant then the above simplifies to: 2
+ 2
+ + = where 𝛼 = is the thermal diffusivity
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧 2 𝑘 𝛼 𝜕𝜕 𝜌𝑐𝑝

1 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 1 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
Heat Equation (Cylindrical):
𝑟 𝜕𝜕
�𝑘𝑘 𝜕𝜕 � + 𝑟 2 𝜕𝜕 �𝑘 𝜕𝜕� + 𝜕𝜕
�𝑘 𝜕𝜕 � + 𝑞̇ = 𝜌𝑐𝑝 𝜕𝜕

1 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 1 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 1 𝜕 𝜕𝜕 𝜕𝜕
Heat Eqn. (Spherical):
𝑟2 𝜕𝜕
�𝑘𝑟 2 𝜕𝜕 � + 𝑟 2 sin 𝜃2 𝜕𝜕 �𝑘 𝜕𝜕� + 𝑟 2 sin 𝜃 𝜕𝜕
�𝑘 sin 𝜃 𝜕𝜕� + 𝑞̇ = 𝜌𝑐𝑝 𝜕𝜕

Thermal Circuits
𝑟 1 1
𝐿 ln� 2 � ( − )
𝑟1 r1 r2
Plane Wall: 𝑅𝑡,𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = Cylinder: 𝑅𝑡,𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = Sphere: 𝑅𝑡,𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 =
𝑘𝑘 2𝜋𝜋𝜋 4𝜋𝜋
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1 1
𝑅𝑡,𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 𝑅𝑡,𝑟𝑟𝑟 =
ℎ𝐴 ℎ𝑟 𝐴
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
General Lumped Capacitance Analysis

𝑑𝑑
𝑞𝑠′′ 𝐴𝑠,ℎ + 𝐸𝑔̇ − [ℎ(𝑇 − 𝑇∞ ) + 𝜀𝜀(𝑇 4 − 𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠
4 )]𝐴
𝑠(𝑐,𝑟) = 𝜌𝜌𝜌
𝑑𝑑
Radiation Only Equation
𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝑇 +𝑇 𝑇 +𝑇 𝑇 𝑇
𝑡=
4 𝜀 𝐴𝑠,𝑟 𝜎 3
𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠
�ln �𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠−𝑇� − ln �𝑇𝑠𝑠𝑠−𝑇𝑖 � + 2 �tan−1 �𝑇 � − tan−1 �𝑇 𝑖 ���
𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑖 𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑠𝑠

Heat Flux, Energy Generation, Convection, and No Radiation Equation

𝑏
𝑇−𝑇∞ − � �
𝑎 ℎ𝐴𝑠,𝑐 𝑞𝑠′′ 𝐴𝑠,ℎ + 𝐸̇𝑔
𝑏 = exp(−𝑎𝑎) ; where 𝑎 = � � and 𝑏 =
𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇∞ − � � 𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝜌𝜌𝜌
𝑎

Convection Only Equation

𝜃 𝑇 − 𝑇∞ ℎ𝐴𝑠
= = exp �− � � 𝑡�
𝜃𝑖 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇∞ 𝜌𝜌𝜌
1 𝑡
𝜏𝑡 = �
ℎ𝐴𝑠
� (𝜌𝜌𝑐) = 𝑅𝑡 𝐶𝑡 ; 𝑄 = 𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝜃𝑖 �1 − exp �− ��
𝜏
; 𝑄𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝜃𝑖
𝑡

ℎ𝐿𝑐
𝐵𝐵 =
𝑘
If there is an additional resistance either in series or in parallel, then replace ℎ with 𝑈 in all the above lumped capacitance
equations, where
1 𝑊
𝑈= � � ; 𝑈 = overall heat transfer coefficient, 𝑅𝑡 = total resistance, 𝐴𝑠 = surface area.
𝑅𝑡 𝐴𝑠 𝑚2 ∙𝐾
Convection Heat Transfer
𝜌𝜌𝐿𝑐 𝑉𝐿𝑐 �
𝑅𝑅 = = [Reynolds Number] ; ���� = ℎ𝐿𝑐
𝑁𝑁 [Average Nusselt Number]
𝜇 𝜈 𝑘𝑓
where 𝜌 is the density, 𝑉 is the velocity, 𝐿𝑐 is the characteristic length, 𝜇 is the dynamic viscosity, 𝜈 is the kinematic viscosity, 𝑚̇ is the mass flow
rate, ℎ� is the average convection coefficient, and 𝑘𝑓 is the fluid thermal conductivity.
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Internal Flow
4 𝑚̇
𝑅𝑅 = [For Internal Flow in a Pipe of Diameter D]
𝜋𝜋𝜋
For Constant Heat Flux [𝑞𝑠ʺ = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐]: 𝑞𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 𝑞𝑠ʺ (𝑃 ∙ 𝐿) ; where P = Perimeter, L = Length
𝑞𝑠ʺ · 𝑃
𝑇𝑚 (𝑥) = 𝑇𝑚,𝑖 + 𝑥
𝑚̇ ∙ 𝑐𝑝
For Constant Surface Temperature [𝑇𝑠 = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐]:
If there is only convection between the surface temperature, 𝑇𝑠 , and the mean fluid temperature, 𝑇𝑚 , use
𝑇𝑠 −𝑇𝑚 (𝑥) 𝑃∙𝑥
= 𝑒𝑒𝑒 �− ℎ��
𝑇𝑠 −𝑇𝑚,𝑖 𝑚̇∙𝑐𝑝

If there are multiple resistances between the outermost temperature, 𝑇∞, and the mean fluid temperature, 𝑇𝑚 , use
𝑇∞ − 𝑇𝑚 (𝑥) 𝑃∙𝑥 1
= 𝑒𝑒𝑒 �− 𝑈� = 𝑒𝑒𝑒 �− �
𝑇∞ − 𝑇𝑚,𝑖 𝑚̇ ∙ 𝑐𝑝 𝑚̇ ∙ 𝑐𝑝 ∙ 𝑅𝑡
Total heat transfer rate over the entire tube length:
𝑞𝑡 = 𝑚̇ ∙ 𝑐𝑝 ∙ �𝑇𝑚,𝑜 − 𝑇𝑚,𝑖 � = ℎ� ∙ 𝐴𝑠 ∙ ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑜 𝑈 ∙ 𝐴𝑠 ∙ ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙 ; 𝑇𝑠 = 𝑐𝑐𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛
∆𝑇𝑜 −∆𝑇𝑖
Log mean temperature difference: ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙 = ∆𝑇𝑜
; ∆𝑇𝑜 = 𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇𝑚,𝑜 ; ∆𝑇𝑖 = 𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇𝑚,𝑖
ln� �
∆𝑇𝑖

Free Convection Heat Transfer

𝑔𝑔(𝑇𝑠 −𝑇∞ )𝐿3𝑐
𝐺𝐺𝐿 = [Grashof Number]
𝜈2

𝑔𝑔(𝑇𝑠 −𝑇∞ )𝐿3𝑐

𝑅𝑅𝐿 = [Rayleigh Number]
𝜈𝜈
2
0.387 𝑅𝑅𝐿 1/6
Vertical Plates: ����
𝑁𝑁𝐿 = �0.825 + 8/27 � ; [Entire range of RaL; properties evaluated at Tf]
0.492 9/16
�1+� � �
𝑃𝑃

1/4
0.670 𝑅𝑅𝐿
- For better accuracy for Laminar Flow: ����
𝑁𝑁𝐿 = 0.68 + 4/9 ; 𝑅𝑅𝐿 ≲ 109 [Properties evaluated at Tf]
0.492 9/16
�1+� � �
𝑃𝑃

Inclined Plates: for the top and bottom surfaces of cooled and heated inclined plates, respectively, the equations of the vertical
plate can be used by replacing (g) with (𝑔 cos 𝜃) in RaL for 0 ≤ 𝜃 ≤ 60°.
𝐴𝑠
Horizontal Plates: use the following correlations with 𝐿 = where As = Surface Area and P = Perimeter
𝑃
- Upper surface of Hot Plate or Lower Surface of Cold Plate:
����𝐿 = 0.54 𝑅𝑅1/4
𝑁𝑁 𝐿 (104 ≤ 𝑅𝑅𝐿 ≤ 107 ) ; 𝑁𝑁 ����𝐿 = 0.15 𝑅𝑅1/3
𝐿 (107 ≤ 𝑅𝑅𝐿 ≤ 1011 )
- Lower Surface of Hot Plate or Upper Surface of Cold Plate:
����𝐿 = 0.27 𝑅𝑅𝐿1/4 (105 ≤ 𝑅𝑅𝐿 ≤ 1010 )
𝑁𝑁
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Vertical Cylinders: the equations for the Vertical Plate can be applied to vertical cylinders of height L if the following criterion is
𝐷 35
met: ≥ 1/4
𝐿 𝐺𝐺𝐿
2
1/6
0.387 𝑅𝑅𝐷
Long Horizontal Cylinders: ����
𝑁𝑁𝐷 = �0.60 + 8/27 � ; 𝑅𝑅𝐷 ≲ 1012 [Properties evaluated at Tf]
0.559 9/16
�1+� � �
𝑃𝑃

1/4
0.589 𝑅𝑅𝐷
Spheres: ����
𝑁𝑁𝐷 = 2 + 4/9 ; 𝑅𝑅𝐷 ≲ 1011 ; 𝑃𝑟 ≥ 0.7 [Properties evaluated at Tf]
0.469 9/16
�1+� � �
𝑃𝑃

Heat Exchangers
Heat Gain/Loss Equations: 𝑞 = 𝑚̇ 𝑐𝑝 (𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑖 ) = 𝑈𝐴𝑠 ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙 ; where 𝑈 is the overall heat transfer coefficient

�𝑇ℎ,𝑖 −𝑇𝑐,𝑖 �−�𝑇ℎ,𝑜 −𝑇𝑐,𝑜 �

Log-Mean Temperature Difference: ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙,𝑃𝑃 = �𝑇ℎ,𝑖 −𝑇𝑐,𝑖�
[Parallel-Flow Heat Exchanger]
ln� �
�𝑇ℎ,𝑜 −𝑇𝑐,𝑜�

�𝑇ℎ,𝑖 −𝑇𝑐,𝑜 �−�𝑇ℎ,𝑜 −𝑇𝑐,𝑖 �

Log-Mean Temperature Difference: ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙,𝐶𝐶 = �𝑇ℎ,𝑖 −𝑇𝑐,𝑜 �
[Counter-Flow Heat Exchanger]
ln� �
�𝑇ℎ,𝑜 −𝑇𝑐,𝑖 �

For Cross-Flow and Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers: ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙 = 𝐹 ∆𝑇𝑙𝑙,𝐶𝐹 ; where 𝐹 is a correction factor
𝑈𝑈
Number of Transfer Units (NTU): 𝑁𝑁𝑁 = ; where 𝐶𝑚𝑚𝑚 is the minimum heat capacity rate in [W/K]
𝐶𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝐶𝑚𝑚𝑚
Heat Capacity Rates: 𝐶𝑐 = 𝑚̇𝑐 𝑐𝑝,𝑐 [Cold Fluid] ; 𝐶ℎ = 𝑚̇ℎ 𝑐𝑝,ℎ [Hot Fluid] ; 𝐶𝑟 = [Heat Capacity Ratio]
𝐶𝑚𝑚𝑚

Note: The condensation or evaporation side of the heat exchanger is associated with 𝐶𝑚𝑚𝑚 = ∞
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If Pr ≤ 10 → n = 0.37
If Pr ≥ 10 → n = 0.36
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