12.A.1 Unsteady-state heat conduction in an iron sphere.

An iron sphere of 1-in diameter

has the following physical properties : k= 30 Btu/hr . ft. F,Čp = 0,12 Btu/lbm . F ρ =
436 lbm/ft3. Initially the sphere is at temperature of 70oF.

a) What is the thermal diffusivity of the sphere?

b) If the sphere is suddenly plunged into a large body of liquid of temperature 270oF,
how much time is needed for the center of the sphere to attain a temperature of
128oF?
c) A sphere of the same size and same initial temperature, but made of another
material, requires twice as long for its center to reach 128oF. What is thermal
diffusivity?
d) The chart used in the solution of (b) and (c) was prepared from the solution to a
partial differential equation. What is the differential equation?

Solution

a) The thermal diffusivity of the sphere is given by Eq. 9-18

k 30
α = αČp = ( 436 ) (0,12) = 0,574 ft2/hr

b) The center temperature is to be 128oF, hence

T ctr −T 0 128−7 0
=
T 1 −T 0 270−7 0
= 0,29
Then from figure 12.1-3, αt / R2 = 0,1 and
1 2
R2 ( )
t = 0,1 = 0,1 24 = 3,03 x 104 hrs = 1,1 s
α
0,573
c) By equating the dimensionless time, we get :
α1 t1 α 2t 2
2
=
R1 R 22
or

(t 1) (1)
α2 = α1 t 2 = 0,573 . 2 = 0,287 ft2/hr

d) The partial differential equation from which Fig 12.1-3 was constructed is :
∂T 1 ∂ 2 ∂T
∂t
=α 2
r ∂r(r
∂r )