CHE332:Heat Transfer Operations

Lecture 2: Conduction

Dr. Abdul Razzaq

Assistant professor, Chemical Engineering,
CUI-Lahore Campus

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 Recap

➢Energy
➢Heat
➢Heat Transfer Operations
➢Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
➢Process Heat Transfer (Driving force?)
➢Rating and sizing/designing
➢Modes of heat transfer

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 Contents

➢ Conduction
➢ Steady state and transient conduction
➢ Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction
➢ Thermal conductivity
➢ Thermal diffusivity
➢ Thermal contact resistance
➢ Heat conduction : Plane wall, Composite wall,
Pipe/Cylinder/Sphere

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 Conduction
➢ Heat transfer has a direction and magnitude
➢ a positive quantity indicates heat transfer in the positive direction
and a negative quantity indicates heat transfer in the negative
direction

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Conduction

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 Fourier Law

Rate of heat conduction 

( Area )( Temperature difference )
Thickness
𝑄
α (𝐴)(𝑇2 − 𝑇1)/∆𝑥
𝑡
.
𝑄 = k (𝐴)(𝑇2 − 𝑇1)/∆𝑥
.
𝑄 = 𝑘 𝐴∆𝑇/∆𝑥
In differential form,
.
𝑄 = − 𝑘 𝐴 d𝑇/d𝑥
[Fourier's Law]
Where,
Q. = Rate of heat transfer
A = Heat flow area
-dT / dx = Temperature gradient
k = Thermal conductivity
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 Thermal conductivity
➢ The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of the ability
of the material to conduct heat.

➢ Thermal conductivity is defined as the rate of heat transfer (Q)

transmitted through a unit thickness (L) in a direction normal to a
surface of unit area (A) due to a unit temperature difference (ΔT)

➢ Thermal Conductivity = (heat rate × distance) / (area ×

temperature difference)

k = Q. × L / (A × ΔT)
 Thermal conductivity: Solids

• Accordingly, transport of thermal energy may be due to two

effects: the migration of
– Free electrons and
– Lattice vibrational waves.

• When viewed as a particle-like phenomenon, the lattice vibration

quanta are termed phonons. Phonons can be described as
elementary vibrational motion in which a lattice of atoms or molecules
uniformly oscillates and shows particle properties. It helps in thermal
and electrical conductivies.

• In pure metals, the electron contribution to conduction heat

transfer dominates, while in nonconductors and semiconductors,
the phonon contribution is
Thermal conductivity: Solids
 Thermal diffusivity
• The product ρCp, which is frequently encountered in heat transfer
analysis, is called the heat capacity per unit volume of a material

➢ Another material property that appears usually in the transient heat

conduction analysis is the thermal diffusivity, which represents how
fast heat diffuses through a material and is defined as

➢ Therefore, the thermal diffusivity of a material can be

viewed as the ratio of the heat conducted through the material to the
heat stored per unit volume. A material that has a high thermal
conductivity or a low heat capacity will obviously have a large thermal
diffusivity. The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster the propagation
of heat into the medium
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Thermal diffusivity

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 Steady state conduction: Plane wall

.
𝑄 = k (𝐴)(𝑇2 − 𝑇1)/∆𝑥
.
𝑄 = 𝑘 𝐴∆𝑇/∆𝑥
.
𝑄 = − 𝑘 𝐴 d𝑇/d𝑥
kA/L = Conductance
(Here L or dx: Length through which Heat is transferred and is
same as thickness i.e. ∆x)
.
𝑄 =Conductance × ∆𝑇
Thus,
1/Conductance = Resistance
.
𝑄 =∆𝑇/R
Steady state conduction: Composite wall

.
𝑄 =∆𝑇/RT = To−T3/RT
.
𝑄 =To−T1/Ra +T1−T2/Rb
+T2−T3/Rc
Ra, Rb, Rc
 Thermal contact resistance

➢ An error caused in the measurement of thermal conductivity by

nature of bonds between hot and cold entities

▪ By presence of any fluid / air

▪ Almost impossible to exclude this error

➢ Examples:

1. Solid receives heat by contacting another solid, it is

impossible to exclude air between those solids

2. When a liquid contact a metal, the presence of minute pits or

surface roughness may permanently trap small bubbles of air.
Thermal Contact Resistance
 Pipe wall/Cylindrical system
Q.x = k A (-dT / dx)

Q. = k A (-dT / dr)

Q. = -k 2πrL (dT / dr)

Q. (1 / r) dr = -k 2πL dT

Integration r1 & r2, T1 & T2

Q. ln (r2/r1) = 2πkL (T1-T2)

What about log?
Q. = 2πkL (T1-T2) / ln (r2/r1)
And Diameters D1, D2?
T1 = T2 + Q. ln r2/r1 / 2πk
Pipe wall: Composite
Pipe wall/Cylindrical system

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 Maximum heat loss: Critical Radius

Rb = 1/2πkb ln r2/r1

Ra = 1/ha2πr2

dR/dr2 = 0 = 1/2πkb d ln r2/r1 +

1/ha2π d 1/r2
(dR/dr i.e. slope is equal to zero at Q. max)
1/2πkbr2 - 1/ha2πr22 = 0

at maximum heat loss r2 = rc

rc = Kb/ha
 Thank You
for
Your Attention

email: abdulrazzaq@cuilahore.edu.pk

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