Lecture-7

Conduction Heat Transfer

Dr. Chetan S. Mistry
Associate Professor,
Mechanical Engg. Dept.
Institute of Technology, Nirma University
Consider a large plane wall of thickness L= 0.2 m, thermal conductivity
k = 1.2 W/m·K, and surface area A = 15 m2. The two sides of the wall
are maintained at constant temperatures of T1 =120°C and T2 =50°C,
respectively, Determine

(a) The variation of temperature within the wall and the value of
temperature at x = 0.1 m
(b) The rate of heat conduction through the wall under steady
conditions.
T2 - T1
Ans. T ( x) = x + T1
L
T (0.1m) = 850 C
Q& = 6300 W
SPECIAL CASES
CASE-A Insulated Boundary • Insulation is use to minimize heat
loss (or heat gain) through them.
• Insulation reduces heat transfer but
does not totally eliminate it unless
its thickness is infinity.
• Heat transfer through a properly
insulated surface can be taken to be
zero.
• Well-insulated surface can be
modeled as a surface with a
specified heat flux of zero.
¶T(0, t ) ¶T(0, t )
1. - k =0 or =0
¶x ¶x
2. T(L, t ) = 60

Dr. Chetan S. Mistry

SPECIAL CASES
CASE-B Thermal Symmetry

• Suppose two surfaces of a large hot

plate of thickness L suspended
vertically in air is subjected to the
same thermal conditions, and thus the
temperature distribution in one half of
the plate is the same as that in the
other half.
• The heat transfer in this plate possesses
thermal symmetry about the center
plane at x = L/2.

Dr. Chetan S. Mistry

SPECIAL CASES
• The direction of heat flow at any point
CASE-B Thermal Symmetry in the plate is toward the surface
closer to the point, and there is no
heat flow across the center plane.

• Therefore, the center plane can be

viewed as an insulated surface, and
the thermal condition at this plane of
symmetry can be expressed as
¶T(L/2, t )
=0
¶x
• In the case of cylindrical (or
spherical) bodies having thermal
symmetry about the center line (or
midpoint), the thermal symmetry
boundary condition requires.
Dr. Chetan S. Mistry
3. Convection Boundary Condition
• Convection is probably the most
common boundary condition
encountered in practice since most
heat transfer surfaces are exposed to
an environment at a specified
temperature.
• The convection boundary condition is
based on a surface energy balance
expressed as
æ Heat conducted ö æ Heat convection ö
ç ÷ ç ÷
ç at the surface in a ÷ = ç at the surface in ÷
ç selected direction ÷ ç same direction ÷
è ø è ø
¶T(0, t )
1. - k = h1 [T¥1 - T (0, t )]
¶x
¶T(L, t )
2. - k = h 2 [T (L, t ) - T¥ 2 ]
¶x
Dr. Chetan S. Mistry
3. Convection Boundary Condition
When heat transfer is in the opposite
¶T(0, t )
k = h1 [T (0, t ) - T¥1 ]
¶x
• If the surface has zero thickness and
thus no mass, and it cannot store any
energy.
• The entire net heat entering the
surface from one side must leave the
surface from the other side.
• The convection boundary condition
simply states that heat continues to
flow from a body to the surrounding
medium at the same rate.

Dr. Chetan S. Mistry

3. Convection Boundary Condition

Known Surface Temperature Unknown Surface Temperature

d 2T
Steady state and no heat generation =0
dx 2

Dr. Chetan S. Mistry

4. Radiation Boundary Condition
• In some applications like in space and
cryogenic applications, a heat transfer
surface is surrounded by an evacuated
space and thus there is no convection
heat transfer between a surface and
the surrounding medium.
• In such cases, radiation becomes the
only mechanism of heat transfer
between the surface under
consideration and the surroundings.
æ Heat conducted ö æ Radiation exchange ö
ç ÷ ç ÷
ç at the surface in a ÷ = ç at the surface in ÷
ç selected direction ÷ ç the same direction ÷
è ø è ø
¶T(0, t )
1. - k
¶x
[
= e 1s Tsurr,1
4
- T (0, t )
4
]
¶T(L, t )
Dr. Chetan S. Mistry
2. - k
¶x
[
= e 2s T (L, t ) - Tsurr,2
4 4
]
4. Radiation Boundary Condition
¶T(0, t )
1. - k
¶x
[
= e 1s Tsurr,1
4
- T (0, t )
4
]
¶T (L, t )
2. - k
¶x
[
= e 2s T (L, t ) - Tsurr,2
4 4
]
• The radiation boundary condition has
the fourth power of temperature, and
thus it is a nonlinear condition.
• This boundary condition results in
powers of the unknown coefficients,
which makes it difficult to determine
them.
.
So it is advisable to ignore radiation exchange at a surface during a
heat transfer analysis in order to avoid the complications associated with
nonlinearity.
This is especially the case when heat transfer at the surface is dominated
by convection, and the role of radiation is minor. Dr. Chetan S. Mistry
 Convection Conduction
Convection Conduction

Dr. Chetan S. Mistry