UNIT III

Shell Energy balance and Boundary Conditions:

A number of heat-conduction problems are solved by a procedure analogous to the laminar flow. An
energy balance is made over a thin slab or shell perpendicular to the direction of heat flow, and this
balance leads to a FDE.

The procedure for shell energy balance is: One selects a slab or shell, the surfaces of which are normal
to the direction of heat conduction and then one writes down for this system a statement of the law
of conservation of energy. For steady state conditions we write:

{Rate of thermal energy in} - {rate of thermal energy out} + {rate of thermal energy production} = 0

Thermal energy may enter or leave the system by the mechanism of heat conduction according to
Fourier’s law of heat conduction. Thermal energy may also enter or leave by virtue of the overall fluid
motion (some times referred to as convective transport) and the energy entering and leaving in this
way is commonly called the sensible heat in and out. Thermal energy may be produced by the
degradation of electrical energy, by the slowing down of the neutrons and nuclear fragments liberated
in the fission process, by the degradation of mechanical energy (viscous dissipation) and by conversion
of chemical energy into heat.

Boundary conditions:

The integration constants from the Differential equations obtained can be evaluated by boundary
conditions. The common type of BCs are:

a)The temperature at a surface may be specified. , e.g., T = T0

b) The heat flux at a surface may be given, e.g., q = q0

c) at a solid-fluid interface the heat flux may be related to the difference between the temperature at
the interface and that in the fluid, thus: q = h(T – Tfluid)

d) At solid-solid interfaces the continuity of temperature and heat flux may be specified.

Fourier’s Law of heat conduction:

qy = - k(dt/dy) is the one-dimensional form of Fourier’s law of heat conduction(valid when T = T(y). It
states that the heat flux by conduction is proportional to the temperature grad ient, or, to put it
pictorially, heat slides downhill on the temperature versus distance graph. In an isotopic medium in
which the temperature varies in all three directions one can write an equation like the above one
dimensional equation for each of the co-ordinate directions:

qx = - k(dt/dx) ; qy = - k(dt/dy) ; qz = - k(dt/dz)

These three relations are the components of the single Vector equation

q = - k T

which is the three-dimensional form of Fourier’s law. It states that the heat flux vector q is proportional
to the temperature gradient T and is oppositely directed.

Thermal Diffusivity:

In addition to thermal conductivity k, a quantity known as the thermal diffusivity, , is widely used in
the heat transfer literature. It is defined as:

 = k /Cp

The units of thermal diffusivity are  [=]cm2 / sec

Free convection:

In a quantum of fluid or mixture of fluids if by any means the density difference is induced then there
will be movement of the fluid from the denser region to the less denser region. These such movement
of fluids can be called convection. When such movement is caused by means of any mechanical
instrument such as blower, compressor or agitator it is called forced convection. When it is caused by
means of natural phenomenon like temperature differences the convection is termed FREE
CONVECTION.
 Forced convection

Whenever an external force is employed for facilitating heat transfer in a quantum of fluid, the
mechanism of heat transfer occurring is called Forced convection. Eg. A blower employed to cool hot
parts; Stirring or mouth blowing employed for cooling hot beverages

Heat conduction with a viscous heat source:

Let us consider the flow of an incompressible Newtonian Fluid between two co-
axialcylinders as shown in Figure below. The inner cylinder is stationary. As the outer cylinder
rotates, each cylindrical shell of fluid rubs against an adjacent shell of fluid. This rubbing
together of fluid produces heat.

In Steady state laminar flow the fluid moves in a circular pattern, and the velocity components vr
and vz are zero. There is no pressure gradient on the -directon. We make these statements on
physical grounds. For this system all the terms of equation of continuity as written in cylindrical
co-ordinates are zero, and the equation of motion reduces to:

The volume heat source resulting from this ‘viscous dissipation’ we designate by Sv. Its magnitude
depends on the local velocity gradient: the more rapidly two adjacent layers move with respect
to one another, the greater will be the viscous dissipation heating. The surfaces of the inner and
outer cylinders are maintained at T = T0 and T = Tb, respectively. Clearly T will be a function of
r alone.
If the slit width b is small with respect to the radius R of the outer cylinder, then the problem
may be solved approximately by using the somewhat simplified system as shown in the figure
right side above, that is we ignore curvature effects and solve the problem in Cartesian co-
ordinates. For this modified problem, the viscous heat source is given by:

Sv= -xz(dvx /dx) =  (dvx /dx)2 ----[1]

We shall accept this expression at this point. For the steady laminar flow of a fluid with constant
viscosity in a slit, as shown in the above figure, the velocity profile is linear.

Vz = (x/b) V ---[2]

So that the rate of viscous heat production per unit volume is

Sv =  (V /b)2 ------[3]

This quantity can now be inserted into the energy balance equation. A thermal energy balance
over a shell thickness x, width W and length L gives for the steady state:

W L qx|x - W L qx|x+x + W L x  (V/b)2 = 0 -----[4]

It is to be noted that both ‘in’ and ‘out’ are taken in +x direction, even though in this problem is
flowing in the –x direction in part of the system. Division by W L x and letting x  0 gives:

(dqx/dx) =  (V/b)2 ---- [5]

Which on integration gives for constant

Qx =  (V/b)2x + C1 ------[6]

We do not have any information about the heat flux at any value of x, C1 cannot be determined
at this stage. Insertion of fourier’s law into Eqn.[6] then gives

- k (dT/dx) =  (V/b)2 x + C1 ---- [7]

in which k is the thermal conductivity of the fluid. Eqn.[7] may be integrated with respect to x to
give (for constant k)

T = - ( / k) (V/b)2 x2 – (C1/k)x + C2 ---- [8]

The two integration constants C1& C2 are determined from the boundary conditions:

B. C. 1 at x = 0, T = T0 --- [9] and B. C. 2 at x = b, T = Tb

On determining of the constants and substituting back into Eqn.[8] on can obtain
T – T0

---------- = (x/b) + ½ Br (x/b) [ 1 – (x/b)]

T – Tb

Here Br= [ V2/k (Tb – T0)] is the “Brinkman number,” which is a measure of the extent to which
viscous heating is important relative to the heat flow resulting from the impressed temperature
difference (Tb – T0). If Br > 2, there is a maximum temperature at a position intermediate between
the two walls.

Heat conduction with an Electrical heat source:

An electric current passes through a wire of circular cross section with radius R and electrical
conductivity Ke. The current density is I. Rate of heat production per unit volume is S = [I2 / Ke]
. Surface of the wire ia at a temperature T0. Derive an equation to determine the radial
temperature distribution.

Through an electric wire of circular cross section with radius R and electrical conductivity ke ohm-
1
cm-1.there is an electrical current with current density I amps cm-2. Some electrical energy is
converted into heat (thermal energy). The rate of heat production per unit volume is given by
the expression:

Se=I2 / ke ---- [1]

The quantity Se is the heat source owing to electrical dissipation. An assumption is made here
that the temperature rise in the wire is not so high that the temperature dependence of either
the thermal conductivity or electrical conductivity need be considered.

a) Draw the sketch as shown in Fig 9.2-1.

b)the general energy balance equation for steady state is as follows:

{Rate of thermal energy in} - {rate of thermal energy out} + {rate of thermal energy
production} = 0

c) We select a as the system a cylindrical shall of thickness r at a distance r from the axis of
the wire and length ‘L’
d) The different contributions to the energy balance are:

i) rate of thermal energy in across cylindrical surface at r: (2rL)(qr|r)

ii) rate of thermal energy out across cylindrical surface at r+  r: (2rL)(qr|r+ r)

iii) rate of production of thermal energy by electrical dissipation: (2 r r L) Se

Substitution of these terms in to the energy balance equation and then dividing with 2 L r and
taking the limit as r 0 we get the following first order Differential equation for the energy flux
as

(d/dr)(rqr) = S e r which on integration gives qr = (S e r/2) + (C1 /r)

The integration constant C1 must be zero because of the boundary condition

BC 1: at r = 0 q r is not infinite

Hence the final expression for the energy flux distribution isq r = ( Se r / 2)

Which states that the heat flux increases linearly with r.

We can substitute the Fourier’s law of heat conduction in the formqr= - k(dT/dr)

Into the above to obtain:

- k(dT/dr) = ( Se r / 2)

When k is assumed constant, this FDE may be integrated to give:

 T = - {Se r2/4k} + C2

The integration constant C2 is determined from

B.C.2: at r = R T = T0

C2 can be found to be T0 + {Se r2/4k} and the expression for T becomes:

T – T0= {Se r2/4k} [1 – (r/R)2]

This expression gives the temperature rise as a parabolic function of the distance r from the wire
axis. Also can be determined are:

(i) Maximum temperature rise at r = 0; <Tmax – T0>= {Se r2/4k}

(ii) Average Temperature rise:

<T> - T = SeR2/8k

(iii) Heat flow at the surface Q|r=R = 2rL* qr|r=R = 2rL * (SeR/2) =  r2 L Se

This means that under steady state all the heat produced must leave through wall.