WHAT IS HEAT TRANSFER?

Heat transfer is thermal energy transfer

that is induced by a temperature difference
(or gradient)

Mechanism of heat transfer

i. Conduction - Surface to surface

ii. Convection - Surface to air
iii. Radiation - Direct exchange across
space
Conduction
 Occurs when a temperature gradient exists through a solid or
a stationary fluid (liquid or gas). (Surface to surface)
 Transfer of energy from the more energetic to less energetic
particles of a substance by collisions between atoms and/or
molecules.
Conduction in:
 Solid
Conduction occur at molecular scale, the hotter the molecules with
greater energy imparting to the adjacent molecules at low energy level.
Thermal energy conducted in solid by 2 modes:
i. lattice vibration
ii. Motion of free electrons (Metallic solid)
 Stationary Fluid (Liquid or Gas)
Freedom of movement (at macroscopic level they are stationary but
moving at microscopic level) transfer of energy occur due to collision of
molecules
Convection
 The transfer of energy from one region to another due to the
macroscopic motion in a fluid, added on to the energy
transfer by conduction is called heat transfer by convection.

 Convection is restricted to the flow of heat in fluids. If the

fluid motion is caused by differences in the density resulting
from temperature difference in a fluid, the heat transfer is
said to be free or natural convection.

 If the fluid motion is artificially created by means of an

external agency like pump, blower or agitator, the heat
transfer is termed as forced convection
Convection
 The transfer of energy from one region to another due to the
macroscopic motion in a fluid, added on to the energy transfer by
conduction is called heat transfer by convection.

 Convection is restricted to the flow of heat in fluids. If the fluid

motion is caused by differences in the density resulting from
temperature difference in a fluid, the heat transfer is said to be
free or natural convection.

 If the fluid motion is artificially created by means of an external

agency like pump, blower or agitator, the heat transfer is termed
as forced convection
Application(Conduction & Convection)

Simple Refrigeration Unit

Ultra Low Temperature Freezer

Application:
1. Refrigerator & Freezer
2. Air Conditioner
Application(Conduction & Convection)

P-H diagram of simple refrigeration unit

Application(Conduction & Convection)

Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction

qx dT
 k
A dx
Heat Convection

q  hATw  T f 
Refrigeration evaporators
Application(Conduction & Convection)

LNG Liquefaction
 Liquefied natural gas takes up about 1/600th
the volume of natural gas in the gaseous
state

 The natural gas is then condensed into a

liquid at close to atmospheric pressure
(maximum transport pressure set at around
25 kPa/3.6 psi) by cooling it to
approximately −162 °C (−260 °F)..
LNG LIQUEFACTION
Benefits
 Compactness, saving
installation space and
investment costs
 Many process streams can
be handled in a single unit,
thus avoiding expensive
interconnecting piping of
different units
 Low equipment weight
 The vacuum brazed
aluminium plate-fin heat
exchangers are preferred in
small LNG plants
 Higher Transfer Area : 10 x
(m2/m3) compared CWHE

Plate Fin Heat Exchanger

LNG LIQUEFACTION
Benefits
 Providing a
large heating
surface per
shell
 Tolerant
against thermal
shocks due to
its robust
(kokoh) design
 Applicable in
wide range of
cold and warm

Coil-Wound Heat Exchanger

Radiation

 All physical matter emits thermal radiation in the form

of electromagnetic waves because of vibrational and
rotational movements of the molecules and atoms
which makes up the matter
 Ex:- Transfer heat from the sun to the earth

Characteristics of Radiation
1. Rate of emission increases with temperature
level.
2. No material medium required for the energy transfer to
occur
Solar Cell

In many of the applications of heat transfer in

chemical engineering, heat will be transferred
by the combination of two or three of the
basic mechanism/modes of heat transfer.

Ex:- solar energy panels

Blue flame Vs Red flame

Which one gives the highest radiation rates? And

why? what fuel that will yield combustion with
blue flame and red flame? Make a comparison on
their application..
The Laws of Heat Transfer
The foundation of HT based on number of
Fundamental laws
Subsidiary laws.

 A fundamental law is the one which rest on the fact that it

has not been proved to be wrong or false in the bound area
of application of the subject under consideration. Therefore
these laws must be satisfied in solving any problem.

 Subsidiary laws may be empirical in nature i.e. a statement

based upon the experimental evidences and intuition
Fundamental Laws used in HT are :
1. Law of conservation of mass
2. Newton’s laws of motion
3. Laws of thermodynamics

Subsidiary laws generally are:

1. Fourier’s law of heat conduction
2. Newton’s law of cooling
3. Laws of thermal radiation
4. Equation of state (for describing as gas)
Closed System
1. Fixed amount of matter
2. No mass flows
3. Energy flows may occur
4. Boundaries may change
Generally problem on solids

Control volume/open system

1. Volume of a fixed size containing mater
2. Mass flows across boundaries
3. Energy flow across the boundaries
Generally problems on liquid and gases