Week: 3

MECHANISMS OF HEAT
TRANSFER
• HEAT TRANSFER form of energy transfer
due to temperature difference

• higher temperature lower temperature

• stops when two mediums reach the same
temperature

BASIC MECHANISMS OF HEAT TRANSFER

1. CONDUCTION
2. CONVECTION
3. RADIATION
CONDUCTION: Transfer of energy from more energetic
particles of a substance to the adjacent less energetic
ones as a result of interaction between the particles

Mechanism of heat conduction

• In gases and liquids: due to

collisions and diffusions of the
molecules during their random motion

• In solids: combination of vibrations of

the molecules in a lattice and the
energy transport by free electrons.
 RATE OF CONDUCTION
1. Geometry of medium
2. Thickness
3. Material of the medium
4. Temperature difference

The rate of heat conduction through a

plane layer is proportional to the
temperature difference across the layer
and the heat transfer area, but is inversely
proportional to the thickness of the layer

Rate of heat conduction  (area)(temperature difference)

Thickness
 k: thermal conductivity of the
 T1  T2 T material, measure of the ability of
Q cond  kA  kA a material to conduct heat
x x

Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction

x  0 dT / dx : Temperature gradient
(Negative when
temperature decreases
 dT with increasing x)
Q cond  kA
dx

Heat is conducted in the direction of decreasing temperature.

Heat transfer area A is always normal to the direction of heat
transfer
 T
Q cond  kA
x

For copper

 T (20  30)(C )
Q cond / A  k  401(W / mC )
x (1)( m)


q  4010 W / m 2

Note that: the negative sign in Fourier’s

law ensures that heat transfer in the
positive x direction is a positive
quantity
THERMAL
CONDUCTIVITY
The rate of heat transfer through a unit thickness of the
material per unit area per unit temperature difference
Kinetic theory: thermal conductivity of gases is
proportional to the square root of the absolute temperature
and inversely proportional to the square root of the molar
mass.
independent of pressure in a wide range
In liquids decreases with increasing temperature and also
with increasing molar mass
In solids depends upon lattice vibrational waves and the
free flow electrons
The range of thermal conductivity of
various materials at room temperature
• ability to conduct heat
• different for each material
At room temperature;
k= 0.608 W/m 0 C for water
k= 80.2 W/m 0 C for iron

Which one conducts

heat better ?

The ones having low thermal

conductivities are insulators
 The thermal conductivities
of materials vary with
temperatures

The thermal conductivities of

certain solids exhibit dramatic
increases at temperatures
near absolute zero, when
these solids become super
conductors.

For example: Copper

T ( K) k (W/m. 0 C)
20 20 000
300 401
 THERMAL
DIFFUSIVITY
Thermal diffusivity is a material property which represents how fast
heat diffuses through a material.
The ratio of heat conducted through a material to the heat stored per
unit volume
 Thermal diffusivity
heat conducted
 
k C P Specific heat
C P
heat stored

High k or low CP large thermal diffusivity

The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster the propagation of heat into the
medium. A small value of thermal diffusivity means that heat is mostly
absorbed by the material and a small amount of heat will be conducted
further.
 CONVECTION
Heat transfer between a solid surface and the adjacent
fluid that is in motion and it involves the combined effects
of conduction and fluid motion

Heat is first transferred

from hot block to the
adjacent layer of air by
conduction and then
carried away from the
surface by convection
If the fluid is forced to flow over the surface by external means such
as a fan, pump or the wind, heat is transferred by forced
convection whereas if the fluid is caused by buoyancy forces that
are induced by density differences due to the variation of
temperature in fluid it is called natural or free convection
 NEWTON’S LAW OF
COOLING
Rate of convection heat transfer  temperature difference


Q conv  hAS (TS  T )
h Convection heat transfer coefficient in W/m2.0 C
AS Surface area through which convection heat transfer takes place
TS Surface temperature
T Temperature of the fluid sufficiently far from the surface

h is not a property of the fluid, experimentally determined, depends on

- surface geometry
- nature of fluid motion Note: Fluid temperature at the surface
equals the surface temperature of the
- Properties of fluid solid
- Bulk fluid velocity
 RADIATION
Energy emitted by matter in the form of electromagnetic
waves(or photons) as a result of the changes in the
electronic configurations of the atoms or molecules
All bodies at a temperature above absolute zero emit thermal radiation
• Does not require an intervening medium
• Fastest (at the speed of light)
• Possible also in vacuum

•Example: energy of sun reaching the earth

•Thermal radiation: form of radiation emitted by bodies
because of their temperature
•different from other forms of electromagnetic radiation;
X-rays, gamma rays, microwaves, and television waves
that are not related with temperature
 STEFAN-BOLTZMANN LAW
The maximum rate of radiation that can be emitted from a surface at an
absolute temperature is;
  Stefan-Boltzman constant
Q emit,max  AS TS4 =5.67×10-8 W/m2.K4

Black body: an idealized surface that emits radiation at this maximum rate
Black body radiation: radiation emitted by blackbodies
Real surfaces emit less radiation
 1 For black bodies

Q emit  AS TS4 0   1 For real bodies

 Emissivity of the surface

Radiation heat transfer between
a surface and the surfaces
around it
 
Q rad  AS (TS4  Tsurr
4
)


Q total  hcombined AS (TS  T )

Combined heat transfer coefficient

includes effects of both convection
and radiation in such an example
and conduction heat transfer may
be neglected.
Although there are three mechanisms
of heat transfer, a medium may involve
only two of them simultaneously

Solids: conduction and radiation

Fluids:
conduction and radiation (no motion)
convection and radiation (in motion)
conduction and convection (no
radiation)

Heat transfer through a vacuum is by

radiation only
HEAT TRANSFER BETWEEN TWO
PLATES

        
Q total  Q cond  Q rad Q total  Q rad Q total  Q cond Q total  Q cond