Chapter 7.

2: Fundamentals of
Thermal Radiation
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
UiTM (T), Kampus Bukit Besi
Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you should be
able to:
 Understand the idealized blackbody, and calculate
the total and spectral blackbody emissive power,
 Calculate the fraction of radiation emitted in a
specified wavelength band using the blackbody
radiation functions,
 Develop a clear understanding of the properties
emissivity, absorptivity, relflectivity, and
transmissivity on spectral, directional, and total
basis,
 Apply Kirchhoff law’s law to determine the
absorptivity of a surface when its emissivity is
known,
 Appreciate the importance of greenhouse effect.
Introduction
 Unlike conduction and convection, radiation does not
require the presence of a material medium to take
place.
 Electromagnetic waves or electromagnetic radiation
─ represent the energy emitted by matter as a result
of the changes in the electronic configurations of the
atoms or molecules.
 Electromagnetic waves are characterized by their
frequency n or wavelength l
c
l (12-1)
n
 c ─ the speed of propagation of a wave in that
medium.
Blackbody Radiation
 A body at a thermodynamic (or absolute)
temperature above zero emits radiation in
all directions over a wide range of
wavelengths.
 The amount of radiation energy emitted
from a surface at a given wavelength
depends on:
 the material of the body and the condition of its surface,
 the surface temperature.
 A blackbody ─ the maximum amount of radiation that can be
emitted by a surface at a given temperature.
 At a specified temperature and wavelength, no surface can
emit more energy than a blackbody.
 A blackbody absorbs all incident radiation, regardless of
wavelength and direction.
 A blackbody emits radiation energy uniformly in all directions
per unit area normal to direction of emission.
 The radiation energy emitted by a blackbody per unit
time and per unit surface area (Stefan–Boltzmann
law)
Eb T   s T 4  W/m 2  (12-3)

s=5.67 X 10-8 W/m2·K4.

 Examples of approximate blackbody:
 snow,
 white paint,
 a large cavity with a small opening.
 The spectral blackbody emissive power
Ebl  l , T   5
C1
l exp  C2 lT   1
 W/m 2
 μm  (12-4)

C1  2 hc02  3.74177 108  W  μm 4 m 2 

C2  hc0 / k  1.43878 104  μm  K 
 The variation of the spectral blackbody emissive
power with wavelength is plotted in Fig. 12–9.
 Several observations can be made
from this figure:
 at any specified temperature a
maximum exists,
 at any wavelength, the amount of
emitted radiation increases with
increasing temperature,
 as temperature increases, the curves
shift to the shorter wavelength,
 the radiation emitted by the sun
(5780 K) is in the visible spectrum.
  lT maxatpowerwhich
The wavelength   m  occurs
the peak
 2897.8 K is given by
(12-5)
Wien’s displacement law as
 We are often interested in the amount of
radiation emitted over some wavelength
band.
 The radiation energy emitted by a
blackbody per unit area over a
wavelength band from l=0 to l l1 is
determined from l1
Eb,0l1 T    Ebl  l , T d l
0
2
 W/m  (12-7)

 This integration does not have a simple closed-form

solution. Therefore a dimensionless quantity fl called
ln
the blackbody radiation
 Ebl  l , T 
function
d l is defined:
f ln T   0
; n  1 or 2 (12-8)
sT 4
Table 12-2 ─ Blackbody Radiation
Functions fl
l1
Ebl  l , T d l
f l1 T   
0
sT 4

(12-8)

f l1 l2 T  
f l2 T   f l1 T 

(12-9)
Radiative Properties
 Many materials encountered in practice, such
as metals, wood, and bricks, are opaque to
thermal radiation, and radiation is considered
to be a surface phenomenon for such materials.
 In these materials thermal radiation is emitted
or absorbed within the first few microns of the
surface.
 Some materials like glass and water exhibit
different behavior at different wavelengths:
 Visible spectrum ─ semitransparent,
 Infrared spectrum ─ opaque.
Emissivity
 Emissivity of a surface ─ the ratio of the
radiation emitted by the surface at a given
temperature to the radiation emitted by a
blackbody at the same temperature.
 The emissivity of a surface is denoted by e, and
it varies between zero and one, 0≤e ≤1.
 The emissivity of real surfaces varies with:
 the temperature of the surface,
 the wavelength, and
 the direction of the emitted radiation.
 Spectral directional emissivity ─ the most
elemental emissivity of a surface at a given
temperature.
 Spectral directional emissivity

I l ,e  l , q ,  , T 
e l ,q  l ,q ,  , T   (12-30)
  
Ibl l , T spectral and directional
The subscripts l and q are used to designate
quantities, respectively.
 The total directional emissivity (intensities integrated over all
wavelengths)

 The spectral hemispherical emissivity

I e q ,  , T 
eq q ,  , T   (12-31)
I b T 

El  l , T 
el l,T   (12-32)
Ebl  l , T 
 The total hemispherical emissivity

E T 
e T   (12-33)

as
Eb T  
Since Eb(T)=sT4 the total hemispherical emissivity can also be expressed

 To perform this integration,

 we need to know the variation of spectral

emissivity with  
E Twavelengthe lat the 
l , Tspecified  
Ebl ltemperature.
,T dl
e T    0 (12-34)
Eb T  sT 4
Gray and Diffuse Surfaces

 Diffuse surface ─ a
surface which properties
are independent of
direction.

 Gray surface ─ surface

properties are
independent of
wavelength.
Absorptivity, Reflectivity, and
Transmissivity
 When radiation strikes a
surface, part of it:
 is absorbed (absorptivity, a),
 is reflected (reflectivity, r),
 and the remaining part, if any, is
transmitted (transmissivity, t).
Absorbed radiation Gabs
a  (12-37)
 Absorptivity: Incident radiation G
Reflected radiation Gref (12-38)
r 
 Reflectivity: Incident radiation G
Transmitted radiation Gtr
t  (12-39)
Incident radiation G
 Transmissivity:
 The first law of thermodynamics requires that the sum of the absorbed,
reflected, and transmitted radiation be equal to the incident radiation.

 Dividing each term of this relation by G yields

 For opaque surfaces, t=0, and thus

Gabs  Gref  Gtr  G (12-40)
 These definitions are for total hemispherical properties.

a  r t  1 (12-41)

a  r 1 (12-42)
 Like emissivity, these properties can also be defined for a specific
wavelength and/or direction.
 Spectral directional absorptivity

 Spectral directional reflectivity

I l ,abs  l ,q ,  
a l ,q  l ,q ,    (12-43)
I l ,i  l , q ,  

I l ,ref  l ,q ,  
rl ,q  l ,q ,    (12-43)
I l ,i  l , q ,  
• Spectral hemispherical absorptivity
Gl ,abs  l 
al  l   (12-44)
Gl  l 

• Spectral hemispherical reflectivity

Gl ,ref  l 
rl  l   (12-44)
Gl  l 

• Spectral hemispherical transmissivity

Gl ,tr  l 
t l l   (12-44)
Gl  l 
 The average absorptivity, reflectivity, and
transmissivity of a surface can also be defined
in terms of their spectral counterparts as
  

a
0
a l Gl d l
, r

0
rl Gl d l
, t
 t l Gl d l
0
   (12-46)
0
Gl d l 
0
Gl d l  Gl d l
0

 The reflectivity differs somewhat from the

other properties in that it is bidirectional in
nature.
 For simplicity, surfaces are assumed to reflect
in a perfectly specular or diffuse manner.
 Kirchhoff’s Law
 Consider a small body of surface area
As, emissivity e, and absorptivity a at
temperature T contained in a large
isothermal enclosure at the same
temperature.
 Recall that a large isothermal enclosure forms a
blackbody cavity regardless of the radiative
properties of the enclosure surface.
 The body in the enclosure is too small to interfere
with the blackbody nature of the cavity.
 Therefore, the radiation incident on any part of
the surface of the small body is equal to the
radiation emitted by a blackbody at temperature
 The radiation absorbed by the small body per unit of its surface area is

 The radiation emitted by the small body is

Gabs  a G  as T 4
 Considering that the small body is in thermal equilibrium with the
enclosure, the net rate of heat transfer to the body must be zero.

Eemit  es T 4
 Thus, we conclude that

Ases T 4  Asas T 4

e T   a T  (12-47)
 The restrictive conditions inherent in the
derivation of Eq. 12-47 should be remembered:
 the surface irradiation correspond to emission from a
blackbody,
 Surface temperature is equal to the temperature of
the source of irradiation,
 Steady state.
 The derivation above can also be repeated for
radiation at a specified wavelength to obtain the
spectral form of Kirchhoff’s law:
 This relation is valid when the irradiation or the
emitted radiatione l is independent of direction.
T   a l T  (12-48)

 The form of Kirchhoff’s law that involves no

restrictions is the spectral directional form
e l ,q T   al ,q T 