Chapter 2

conduction
heat transfer
Learning outcomes for this topic

✗ Explain The Principle Of Heat Conduction

✗ Calculate The Rate Of Heat Conduction For Various
Geometries
✗ Solve Unsteady State Heat Conduction Problems

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Principle of Heat COnduction
Fourier’s Law
 Heat Conduction
Conduction is the process of thermal
energy transfer without any flow of the
material medium.

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Principle of heat conduction
✗ When the thermal energy(heat) is supplied to one end of the
rod, the particles (atom or molecules) at the hot end vibrate
vigorously.

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Principle of heat conduction
✗ These particles will collide with neighboring particles, making
them vibrate as well.

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Principle of heat conduction

✗ Kinetic energy of the vibrating particles at the hot end is

transferred to the neighboring particles.

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Principle of heat conduction

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Metal heat up faster
than non-metal.

Why ?
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 metal
✗ In METALS, not only do the
atoms vibrate more when
heated, but the free
electrons charge around
more as well.

✗ These transfer the energy

much faster than just
vibrations in bonds.
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 metal
✗ This fast moving electrons
then diffuse into the cooler
parts of the metal.

✗ In the process, they collide

with the atoms in the
cooler parts of the metals
and transfer their kinetic
energy to them.
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 metal

✗ This explains why good

conductors like metals are
capable of transferring
thermal energy much
faster than insulators.(i.e.
non-metals)

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 Conductor of heat
GOOD BAD

✗ Good conductors of ✗ Bad conductors of heat

heat ✗ Non metals such as glass,
✗ Metals such as copper, plastics, bricks, wool,
iron and silver wood, air and water.

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Fourier’s Law
Conduction
Heat Transfer

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 For a given material, it is found that the rate, qx, at which
heat (thermal energy) is transferred from the hot side to
the cold side is proportional to the cross-sectional area, A,
across which the heat flows; the temperature
difference,T1−T2; and inversely proportional to the
thickness, B, of the material. That is:

(𝑇1 − 𝑇2)
𝑞 = 𝑘𝐴
(𝑥2 − 𝑥1 )

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Fourier’s law

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Example

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 Exercise
Calculate the heat loss per m2 of surface area for an insulating wall
composed of 25.4-mm-thick fiber insulating board, where the inside
temperature is 352.7 K and outside temperature is 297.1 K.

Thermal conductivity of fiber insulating board is 0.048W/m.K.

Answer : 105.1 W/ m2

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 Exercise
The roof of an electrically heated home is 6 m long, 8 m wide, and
0.25 m thick, and is made of a flat layer of concrete whose thermal
conductivity is k = 0.8 W/m · °C. The temperatures of the inner and
the outer surfaces of the roof one night are measured to be 15°C and
4°C, respectively, for a period of 10 hours. Determine the rate of heat
loss through the roof that night.

Answer : 1.69 kW

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 Exercise
The inner and outer surfaces of a 5-m x 6-m brick wall of thickness
30 cm and thermal conductivity 0.69 W/m.°C are maintained at
temperatures of 20°C and 5°C, respectively. Determine the rate of
heat transfer through the wall, in W,

Answer : 1035 W

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 Exercise
The inner and outer surfaces of a 0.5-cm-thick 2-m x 2-m window
glass in winter are 10°C and 3°C, respectively. If the thermal
conductivity of the glass is 0.78 W/m.°C, determine the amount of
heat loss, in kJ, through the glass over a period of 5 hours. What
would your answer be if the glass were 1 cm thick?

Answer : 78,624 kJ, 39,312 kJ

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 Thermal
conductivity
Heat Conduction

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 Thermal conductivity
✗ The rate of heat transfer through a unit thickness of the material
per unit area per unit temperature difference.
✗ Thermal conductivity (k), is a physical property of the material &
measures the materials ability to conduct heat.
(High value of k = good heat conductor, & otherwise).
✗ Varies for different materials
✗ The SI unit is W/mK
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 exercise
A heat flux meter attached to the inner surface of a 3-cm-thick
refrigerator door indicates a heat flux of 25 W/m2 through the door.
Also, the temperatures of the inner and the outer surfaces of the
door are measured to be 7°C and 15°C, respectively. Determine the
average thermal conductivity of the refrigerator door.

Answer: 0.0938 W/m · °C

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2
Determination the rate of heat
transfer based on various
geometries
Fourier’s Law
Determination of The Rate of Heat Transfer
(Multi Layer System)

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Heat conduction in multilayer plane walls

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Heat conduction in multilayer plane walls

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Heat conduction in multilayer plane walls
T1 − T4
q=
x A xB xC
+ +
k A A kB A k C A
T T
q= =
R A + RB + RC RTH

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Heat conduction in multilayer Cylinder
Rtotal is the total thermal resistance, expressed as:

r 
ln  o 
=  i
r
RTH
2 k L

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 EXERCISE
A cold-storage room is constructed of an inner layer of 12.7mm
of pine, a middle layer of 101.6 mm of cork board, and an outer
layer of 76.2 mm of concrete. The wall surface temperature is
255.4K inside the cold room and 297.1 K at the outside surface
of the concrete.

Kpine=0.151, Kcork board=0.0433 and Kconcrete= 0.762 W/m.K.

Calculate the heat loss in W for 1 m2 and the temperature at the

interface between the pine wood and cork board.

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EXERCISE

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 TUTORIAL
Consider a 3-m-high, 5-m-wide, and 0.3-m-thick wall whose
thermal conductivity is k = 0.9 W/m °C. On a certain day, the
temperatures of the inner and the outer surfaces of the wall are
measured to be 16°C and 2°C, respectively. Determine the rate
of heat loss through the wall on that day.

Answer: 630 W

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 TUTORIAL
Consider a 0.8-m-high and 1.5-m-wide glass window with a
thickness of 8 mm and a thermal conductivity of k = 0.78 W/m
°C. Determine the steady rate of heat transfer through this
glass window and the temperature of its inner surface for a
day during which the room is maintained at 20°C while the
temperature of the outdoors is -10°C. Take the heat transfer
coefficients on the inner and outer surfaces of the window to
be h1 =10 W/m2 °C and h2= 40 W/m2°C.

Answer: 266 W
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Thanks!
Any questions?

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