Heat Transfer

Topic 1
Heat transfer –is the transport or “move” of
thermal energy from a high temperature region
to a lower temperature one.
Heat transfer always occurs from a hot body to a
cold one, a result of the second law of
thermodynamics. When there is a temperature
difference between objects in proximity, heat
transfer between them can never be stopped it
can only be slowed down.
Engineering Heat Transfer
From an engineering viewpoint, they key problem
is the determination of the “rate of heat transfer at a
specified temperature difference.” To estimate the
cost, the feasibility and the size of equipment
necessary to transfer a specified amount of heat in a
given time, a detailed heat transfer analysis must be
made. The dimensions of boilers, heaters,
refrigerators, and heat exchangers depends not only
on the amount of heat transmitted but also on the
rate at which the heat is to be transferred under given
conditions.
The successful operation of equipment
components such as turbine blades, or the walls
of combustion chambers, depends on the
possibility of cooling certain metal parts by
continuously removing heat from a surface at a
rapid rate. A heat transfer analysis must be made
in the design of electric machines, transformers,
and bearings to avoid conditions that will cause
overheating and damage the equipment.
Significance and diverse practical applications of
heat transfer:
1. Chemical, petrochemical, and process
industry: heat exchangers, reactors, reboilers,
etc.
2. Power generation and distribution: Boiler,
Condensers, cooling towers, feed heaters,
transformer cooling, transmission cable
cooling, etc.
3. Aviation and space exploration: Gas turbine
blade cooling, vehicle heat shields, rocket
engine, nozzle cooling, space suits space
power generation, etc.
4. Manufacturing and material processing:
metal processing, crystal growth, micro
machining, laser machining, etc.
5. Transportation: Engine cooling automobile
radiators, climate control, mobile food
storage, etc.
6. Fire and combustion:
7. Health care and biomedical applications: blood
warmers, organ and tissue storage, hypothermia,
etc.
8. Comport heating, ventilation, and airconditioning;
Airconditioners, water heaters, furnaces, chillers,
refrigerators, etc.
9. Weather and environmental changes
10. Renewable Energy System: flat plate collectors,
thermal energy storage, PV module cooling etc.
MECHANISM OF HEAT TRANSFER (Three modes of
heat transfer)
1. Conduction – A Mode of heat transfer in which
heat is transferred by molecular interaction
through bodies in contact.
2. Convection – a mode of heat transfer in which
heat is transferred due to the mixing and motion
of particles of substance.
a) Free convection (natural)- the substance moves
because of the decrease in its density which is
cause by increase in temperature.
b) Forced convection – the substance moves
because of the application of mechanical
power such as that of a fan.
3. Radiation – a made of heat transfer in which
heat is transferred between bodies by energy
propagating electromagnetic waves.
1. CONDUCTION – is the transfer of thermal
energy from a region of higher temperature
to a region of lower temperature through
direct molecular communication with in a
medium or between mediums in direct
physical contact without flow of the material
medium. The transfer of energy could be
primarily by elastic impact as in fluids or by
free electron diffusion as predominant in
metals or photo vibration as predominant in
insulators.
In other words, heat is transferred by
conduction when adjacent atoms vibrate against
one another or as electrons move from atom to
atom.
Heat Conduction
When ever a temperature gradient exist
in a solid medium, heat will flow from the higher
– temperature to the lower temperature region.
•The
  rate at which heat is transferred by
conduction is proportional to the temperature
gradient times the area A through which heat is
transferred;

The actual rate of heat flow depends on

thermal conductivity k, which is a physical
property of the medium. For conduction
through a homogeneous medium, the rate of
heat transfer is then,
•  
Fourier’s Law of heat conduction

The minus sign is a consequence of the second

law of the thermodynamics which requires that
heat must flow in the direction from higher to
lower temperature.
T

L
(Direction of heat flow)
 Where :
 

Fourier’s Law
The law of heat conduction, also known as Fourier’s
law, states that the time rate of heat transfer through a
material is proportional to the negative gradient in the
temperature and to the area at right angles to the gradient
through which the heat is flowing.
This law can be stated in two equivalent form: the
integral form, in which we look at the amount of energy
flowing into or out of the body as a whole, and the
differential form in which we look at the flows or fluxes of
energy locally.
•  
Differential Form
in the differential formulation of Fourier’s law, the
fundamental quality is the local heat flux This is the
amount of energy flowing through an infinitesimal
oriented surface per unit of time. The length of is given
by the amount of energy per unit time and the
direction is given by the vector perpendicular to the
surface as a vector equation this leads to
   Where: the local heat flux ,
k = material’s conductivity,

 Internal Form
By integrating the differential form over the material’s
total surface S,

the amount ofdSheat transferred per unit time W or

S = the surface which heat is flowing,
Linear Heat Flow
The above differential equation, when
integrated for simple linear situation, where
uniform temperature across equally sized end
surfaces and perfectly insulated sides exist, gives
the heat flow rate between the end surface as:
 

  Where: A = the cross - sectional surface area

the temperature difference between the ends
L = distance between the ends
•  
Thermal Conductivity
The thermal conductivity indicates how fast
heat will flow in a given material. According to
Fourier’s law the thermal conductivity is defined
as,

On the basis of this definition, experimented

measurements maybe made to determine the
thermal conductivity of different materials.
For gases at moderate temperatures the kinetic
theory of gases can be used to predict the
experimental values accurately.
in the case of liquids and solids, theories are
not adequate to predict thermal conductivity
with satisfactory accuracy.
The thermal conductivity is strongly
temperature –dependent.
Table for thermal conductivities of some metals
non metallic solids, liquids and gases
Thermal Conductivity at 300 k (540°R)
Material w/mk Btu/hFt °F
copper 399 231
Aluminium 237 137
Carbon steel 1%C 43 25
Glass 0.81 0.47
Plastic 0.2-0.3 0.12-0.17
Water 0.6 0.35
Ethylene glycol 0.26 0.15
Engine oil 0.15 0.09
Freon (liquid) 0.07 0.04
Hydrogen 0.18 0.10
Air 0.026 0.02
 Diamond 2,300 1329
Marble 2.08-2.94 1.2-1.7
Mercury 8.21 4.74
Iron (pure) 73 42
Lead (pure) 35 20.3
Maple or oak 0.17 2.096
Ice 2.22 1.28

 
Conduction Through a Plane wall
For the steady state, unidirectional heat flow
through a homogeneous material:
 𝑇
  1

𝑇
  1 =h𝑜𝑡 𝑇  2 =𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑
k 𝑇
  2
 𝓆
L

 
where:
  Where:

L = thickness of the wall, m

k = thermal conductivity,
= the subscript k indicates that the transfer mechanism
is conduction

Conduction Through a Composite Plane wall

If more than one material is present as in the
multilayer wall shown;
 Temperature profile

𝓆  𝑘 A B C  𝓆

1 2 3 4

  𝑇 1 −𝑇 4 𝑇 1− 𝑇4
𝓆  𝑘=¿∆ 𝐿 𝐴 ∆ 𝐿𝐵 ∆ 𝐿𝐶 = 𝐿 𝐿 𝐿
+ +
𝑘 𝐴 𝐴 𝑘 𝐵 𝐴 𝑘𝐶 𝐴 𝑘𝐴 ( ) ( ) ( )
𝐴
+ +
𝑘𝐴 𝐵 𝑘𝐴 𝐶
•- The
  heat transfer rate maybe considered as a
flow, and the combination of thermal
conductivity, thickness of material, and area as
a resistance to this flow. The temperature is
the potential, or driving function for the heat
flow, and the Fourier equation maybe written:
Heat flow=
 
   Thermal conductivity, k

For N layers in series:

 
Where: = outer-surface temperature of layer 1
outer-surface temperature of layer N.
Using thermal resistance
   𝑇 1 −𝑇 𝑁 +1 ∆𝑇
𝓆 𝑘= =
𝑛=𝑁 𝑛=𝑁
∑ 𝑅𝑘 ,𝑛 ∑ 𝑅 𝑘 ,𝑛
𝑛=1 𝑛=1
 
Where: often
called temperature potential
 Conduction can occur in a section with two different
materials in parallel
𝑇
  1 𝑇
  2 Thermal circuit
  𝑘
 𝐴 𝐴 kA 𝑅1 =
𝑘𝐴 𝐴𝐴
A
𝑇
  1 𝑇
  2
 𝐴 𝐵 kB
L   𝑘
𝑅 2=
𝑘𝐵 𝐴 𝐵
(Heat conduction through a wall section with two paths in parallel)

 Note that the total heat transfer area is the sum of and that the total
resistance equals the product of the individual resistances divided by
their sum, as in any parallel circuit.
CONDUCTION THROUGH A WALL CONSISTING OF
SERIES AND PARALLEL THERMAL PATHS.
Physical System
Section 1 Section 2 Section 3
𝑇
  1 Material A Material B Material D
𝑘
  𝐵
𝑘  𝐴 𝑘  𝐷
 𝓆 𝑘 Material C

𝑘  𝐶
𝑇
  2
𝐿
  𝐴 𝐿
  𝐵 =𝐿 𝐶
𝐿
  𝐷

Thermal circuit  𝑅 = 𝐿𝐵
𝐵
𝑘𝐵 𝐴𝐵
𝓆  𝑘 𝓆  𝑘
𝑇
  1 𝑇
  𝑥 𝑇
  𝑦 𝑇
  2
  𝐿𝐴
𝑅1 =   𝐿𝐷
𝑘𝐴 𝐴𝐴 𝑅3 =
𝑘 𝐷 𝐴𝐷
 
  The rate of heat flow:

 Where N= no. of layers in series (three)

Rn = thermal resistance nth layer
difference across two outer surfaces.
to obtain an overall conductance between the two outer
surfaces: