Chapter 6: Transient (Unsteady State) Heat

Conduction

Basics of Heat and Mass transfer

By D. S. Kumar

Lecture 10
TRANSIENT HEAT CONDUCTION
The term transient designate a phenomena which is time
dependent. Conduction of heat in unsteady state refers to
the transient conditions wherein the heat flow and
temperature distribution at any point of the system vary
with time.
o Periodic variation

o Non-periodic variation

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CONTENTS

 Lumped Parameter Analysis (Lumped Capacity

Method)
 Examples

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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
 This method assumes that the solid possesses infinitely large
thermal conductivity.
 Conduction resistance is then so small that heat flow to or from
the solid is controlled primarily by convective resistance.
 Temperature gradients are negligible within the solid, means,
solid is isothermal with temperature varying only with time.
 Typical example of this type of heat flow is:
 Cooling of a small metal casting or a billet in quenching bath after its
removal from the furnace.
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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)

  
Solid body of surface area A, volume V, density , thermal
conductivity k, specific heat cp and initial temperature Ti exposed
to surroundings maintained at temperature Ta. 5
LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
  

 The transient response of the solid can be determined by relating its

rate of change of internal energy with convective heat exchange, that
is:

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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
  
The integration constant C1 is evaluated from the initial
condition:

Therefore,

Hence,

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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
  Important points to note:
 The body temperature falls or rise exponentially with time and
the rate depends on the parameter (. Theoretically the body takes
infinite time to approach the temperature of surroundings,
however, the difference between T and Ta becomes extremely
small after a short time and beyond that time the body
temperature becomes practically equal to ambient temperature.
 The quantity has the dimensions of time and is called the
thermal time constant. Its value is indicative of the rate of
response of system to a sudden change in the environmental
temperature.
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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
  Important points to note:
 The dimensionless argument of the exponential can be arranged
in different forms such as:

is the thermal diffusivity of solid and l is the characteristic length

equal to the ratio of the volume of the solid to its surface area.

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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
  Important points to note:
 For simple geometrical shapes, the values of characteristic length
l are:

For a flat plate, the heat exchange occurs from both the sides, so,
the characteristic length then equals:
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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
 Important
  points to note:
 The non-dimensional factor is called the Fourier number, F0. It
signifies the degree of penetration of heating or cooling effect
through a solid. For instance, a large time would be required to
obtain a significant temperature change for small values of .
 The non-dimensional factor is called the Biot number, Bi. It
gives an indication of the ratio of conduction (internal) resistance
to the convection resistance. A small value of Bi implies that the
system has a small conduction resistance, i.e., relatively small
temperature gradient and the convective resistance then
predominates and the convective heat exchange controls the
transient phenomenon. 11
LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
  Important points to note:
 The application of the lumped parameter approach to bodies with
shapes similar to plates, cylinders or spheres does indicate that
the temperatures in the body differ by less than 5% at any time
for a value of Bi < 0.1. Small Biot numbers can be achieved with
thin plates, with large thermal conductivity and small heat
transfer coefficient.
 The lumped parameter solution for transient conduction can be
conveniently stated as:

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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
Instantaneous
  heat flow rate

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LUMPED PARAMETER ANALYSIS (LUMPED
CAPACITY METHOD)
 
Total

heat flow rate

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 EXAMPLE 6.1
An iron (k = 65 W/mK) billet measuring 20 x 15 x 80 cm is
exposed to a convective flow resulting in convection coefficient h
= 11.5 W/m2K. Determine the Biot number and the suitability of a
lumped analysis to represent the cooling rate if the billet is
initially hotter than the environment.

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 SOLUTION

Since the Biot number is less than 0.1, the internal temperature
gradients are small. Consideration of the billet as a lumped system
would be quite accurate; it will introduce an error of no more than
5%.
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 EXAMPLE 6.2
A  2
 cm thick steel slab heated to 525oC is held in air stream
having a mean temperature of 25oC. Estimate the time interval
when the slab temperature would not depart from the mean value
of 25oC by more than 0.5oC at any point in the slab. The steel
plate has the following thermo-physical properties:

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