Biot Number

Chuan-liang Hsu
Yuanpei Institute of Science & Technology, Hsin-chu, Taiwan

INTRODUCTION drop in the solid relative to the temperature difference

between the surface and the bulk fluid.[2]
Biot number is defined as the ratio of the internal The governing equation describing transient heat
resistance to heat transfer in the solid to the external transfer is:
resistance to heat transfer in the fluid (liquid or gas) during  2 
transient heat transfer. The Biot number is a dimensionless ›T › T ›2 T ›2 T
¼a þ þ ð3Þ
parameter and it compares the relative magnitudes of ›t ›x 2 ›y 2 ›z 2
internal conduction resistances and surface convection to
According to the properties of the body and of the ambient
heat transfer.
fluid as well as the conditions of fluid flow surrounding the
body, the ratio may be discussed as the following three
conditions.
BIOT NUMBER
Negligible Internal Resistance (NBi < 0.1)
The Biot (pronounced Bee-oh) number or modulus,
When the Biot number is less than 0.1 (NBi , 0.1), there is
usually abbreviated as NBi, is associated with B. J. Biot. He
negligible internal resistance to heat transfer, indicating
proposed the problem of external convection in heat
that the value of k is much larger than the value of h, the
conduction analyses in 1804. J. B. Fourier (1768 – 1830)
read Biot’s work and by 1807 had determined how to internal conduction resistance to heat transfer is
analyze the problem.[1] Biot number is defined as the ratio considerably less than the surface resistance and means
that the internal conduction resistance is negligible in
of the internal resistance to heat transfer in the solid to the
comparison with surface-convection resistance.
external resistance to heat transfer in the fluid (liquid or
Consider an object at low uniform temperature T0 (K) at
gas) during transient heat transfer. It can be expressed as:
time t ¼ 0; immersed in a hot fluid at temperature T1
D=k which is held constant with time. Assume that the heat
N Bi ¼ ð1Þ transfer coefficient h is constant with time. Making a heat
1=h
balance on the solid object for a small interval of time dt
or (sec), the heat transfer from the fluid to the object must
equal the change in internal energy of the object.
hD
N Bi ¼ ð2Þ hAðT 1 2 TÞ dt ¼ cp rV dT ð4Þ
k
where h is the heat transfer coefficient or convection where A is the surface area of the object in m2, T the
coefficient at the surface of the body (W m2 2 K2 1); k is average temperature of the object at time t in sec, r the
the thermal conductivity of material inside the object density of the object in kg m2 3, and V the volume in m3.
(W m2 1 K2 1); and D (m) is a characteristic dimension of By proper separation of the parameters in Eq. 4 followed
the body involved in the heat-transfer computation—this by integration, the following expression is obtained:
is taken to be the shortest distance between the surface of T 2 T1

the body and the thermal center (i.e., the location that heats ¼ exp 2hA=cp rV t ð5Þ
T0 2 T1
or cools slowest). For a sphere or infinite cylinder, this
distance is the radius. For an infinite slab it is half the which describe the temperature history within the object.
thickness. The Biot number is a dimensionless parameter The term cprV is often called the lumped thermal
and it compares the relative magnitudes of internal capacitance of the system. This type of analysis is often
conduction resistances and surface convection to heat called the lumped capacity method or Newtonian heating
transfer. The NBi provides a measure of the temperature or cooling method.

124 Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, and Biological Engineering

DOI: 10.1081/E-EAFE 120007000
Copyright q 2003 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All rights reserved.
Biot Number 125

After some rearrangement, Eq. 5 can be written in difference across the solid is now much larger than that
completely dimensionless form in the following manner: between the surface and the fluid. Again, the important
ratio to consider involves the thermal conduction
T 2 T1 resistance inside and the thermal convection resistance
¼ exp½2ðN Bi ÞðN Fo Þ ð6Þ
T0 2 T1 outside.
where NFo is the Fourier Modulus defined in the following
way.
Negligible Surface Resistance (NBi > 40)
at
N Fo ¼ 2 ð7Þ
D For Biot numbers greater than 40, there is negligible
surface resistance to heat transfer, in other words, the h
where a ¼ k=cp r is referred to as the thermal diffusivity in value is considerably higher than k/D. A high Biot number
m2 sec2 1. (greater than 40) implies that external resistance to heat
This in turn implies that the temperature will be nearly transfer is small (e.g., steam as a heating medium for
uniform throughout the solid and can be utilized to foods) indicating that the temperature difference between
describe the heating or cooling characteristics of the the surface and the surrounding is negligible and that the
body.[3] In bodies whose shape resembles a plate, a major temperature change takes place from the surface of
cylinder, or a sphere, the error introduced by the the body to the center. In this case the internal resistance
assumption that the temperature at any instant is uniform cannot be neglected, and internal temperature distribution
within the solid will be less than 5% when the internal must be considered. An example of this case is a large
resistance is less than 10% of the external surface object with low thermal conductivity in a bath of well-
resistance (NBi , 0.1). A typical example of this type of stirred liquid.
transient heat transfer flow is the cooling of a small metal In the food processing, most processes involve heat
casting or a billet in a quenching bath after its removal transfer operations. Heating, cooling, freezing, evapor-
from a hot furnace.[4] Such a condition will usually not ation, and drying or dehydration are examples of those
occur with solid foods, since the thermal conductivity of a processes involving heat transfer. In order to analyze heat
solid food is relatively small. Negligible internal resistance transfer in food processing, thermal properties of the food
to heat transfer also means that the temperature is uniform materials are necessary, so that energy efficient processes
throughout the interior of the object. This condition is and equipment designs can be attained. The Biot number is
accomplished in objects with high thermal conductivity an important parameter which is essential in the
where heat is transferred instantaneously through the calculations involving the transient temperature response
object, thus avoiding temperature gradients with location. of solids.
Another way to obtain such a condition is a well-stirred
liquid food in a container. For this case, there will be no
spacious temperature gradient. For NBi p 1, it is
reasonable to assume a uniform temperature distribution
across a solid at any time during a transient process. The CONCLUSION
temperature gradient in the solid is small and all the
temperature difference is between the solid and the bulk The Biot number is an important parameter which is
fluid.[2] essential in the calculations involving the transient
temperature response of solids. According to the proper-
ties of the body and of the ambient fluid as well as the
conditions of fluid flow surrounding the body, the ratio
may be discussed as the following three conditions:
Finite Internal and Surface Resistance
negligible internal resistance (NBi , 0.1), finite internal
(0.1 < NBi < 40)
and surface resistance (0.1 , NBi , 40), and negligible
surface resistance (NBi . 40).
Between a Biot number of 0.1 and of 40 there is a finite
resistance to heat transfer both internally and at the surface
of the object undergoing heating or cooling.[5] Under such
conditions neither the temperature gradient from the
surface to the surrounding nor from the surface to the REFERENCES
center is small enough to be neglected. For these moderate
values of the Biot number, the temperature gradients 1. Fourier, J. The Analytical Theory of Heat; Dover
within the solid are significant. Hence, the temperature Publications, Inc.: New York, 1955.
126 Biot Number

2. Incropera, F.P. Transient Conduction. In Introduction to 4. Kreith, F. Conduction of Heat in the Unsteady State. In
Heat Transfer, 3rd Ed.; John & Wiley Sons, Inc.: New York, Principles of Heat Transfer, 3rd printing; International
1996; 211–282. Textbook Co.: Scranton, PA, 1960; 116– 174.
3. Singh, R.P.; Heldman, D.R. Heating and Cooling Process. In 5. Singh, R.P. Heating and Cooling Processes for Foods. In
Food Process Engineering, 2nd Ed; AVI Publishing Co. Handbook of Food Engineering; Heldman, D.R., Lund,
Inc.: Westport, CT, 1981; 87 –157. D.B., Eds.; Marcel Dekker, Inc.: New York, 1992; 247– 276.