CHAPTER 2

CONDUCTION HEAT TRANSFER

 Instructional Objectives

Write various forms of Fourier’s law for steady-state one-

dimensional heat conduction in different geometries, and
calculate the corresponding temperature distributions and
heat transfer rates.
Explain how the thermal conductivity depends on the type
and physical nature of the medium.
Explain the mechanism of heat conduction in different
physical states of the medium.
Introduce the concept of thermal resistance for heat flow in
analogous to electrical resistance for current flow.
Introduction to Steady-state Heat
Conduction
Basic Law of Heat Conduction (Fourier’s Law):
For all transfer processes (momentum, heat, and
mass), the basic rate equation is:
driving force
rate of a transfer process 
resistance

For steady-state one-dimensional heat conduction:

q dT
A
 k
dx
(1)

Eq (1) is known as Fourier’s law.

 What is Heat Transfer?
Heat Transfer is the transport of thermal energy from one point in a medium to another or
from one phase to another phase in the presence of a temperature driving force.

T1 Driving force for heat transfer from

A
Gradient Point A to point B
= T2 – T1 = T
T2  T1
Distance = x2 – x1 = x
 T
Temperature gradient
T2 B
T T2  T1
x2- x1 = x  0
x x2  x1
Heat transfer occurs in the direction
x1 x2
of decreasing temperature.
Thermal Conductivity
 Thermal conductivity k is defined in Fourier’s law
(Eq (1)) as the proportionality constant between
heat flux and temperature gradient.
 It is experimentally determined using the same
law.
 Gases have very low thermal conductivity, liquids
intermediate values, and solid metals very high
values.
 Gases. Conduction occurs by continuous random
motion of molecules, colliding with one another and
exchanging energy. k  T
Ref [2]
 Liquids. Similar to gases, heat is conducted by
molecules colliding one another. Energy is also
transferred by molecular forces of packed
molecules. k  a  bT
 Solids. Thermal conductivity varies widely. Metallic
solids have very high k, while some insulating
nonmetallic materials have very low k, but generally
higher than k of gases. In metallic solids, heat is
mainly conducted by movement of free electrons. In
all solids, heat is conducted by momentum transfer
btw vibrating adjacent molecules or atoms. k of
metals is generally nearly constant or decreases
slightly as the temp is increased.
Conduction in Various Geometries
A. Flat Wall or Flat Slab
For a flat wall of constant surface area A, and
temperatures T1 and T2 at the two points (x2-x1) apart,
q dT
 k (1)
A dx
x T2
q 2

A x1
dx   k  dT
Ref [2] T1

q k
  T1  T2  (2)
A x 2  x1

(Electrical
analogue, )
Example 1: Calculate the heat loss per m2 surface
area for an insulating wall composed of 25.4-mm-
thick fiber insulating board, where inside temp is
352.7 K and the outside temp is 297.1 K.

Solution: From Appendix A.3, k of fiber insulating

board = 0.048 W/m K. Thickness x2-x1 is 0.0254 m.
q k
  T1  T2   0.048 (352.7  297.1)  105.1 W/m2
A x 2  x1 0.0254

Equation (2) can be rewritten in the form:

T1  T2  T  T driving force
q   
( x2  x1 ) kA x kA R resistance
where R  x kA is the resistance in K/W
B. Hollow Cylinder

Ref [2]
Rewriting Fourier’s law with distance dr instead of dx,
q dT
 k
A dr
Heat trans fer area, A  2rL
r T2
q 2 dr
 
2L r1 r
  k  dT
T1

2L
qk  T1  T2 
ln( r2 / r1 )
multiplying numerator and denominator by ( r2  r1 ),
2L( r2  r1 )  T1  T2  T  T2 T1  T2 T  T2
qk
ln(r2 / r1 ) ( r2  r1 )
 kAlm 1 
r2  r1 ( r2  r1 ) /( kAlm )
 1
R
(3)
( 2Lr2 )  ( 2Lr1 ) A2  A1
where Alm  
ln(2Lr2 / 2Lr1 ) ln( A2 / A1 )
(4)
r2  r1 ln( r2 / r1 )
and R 
kAlm

2kL (5)
Example 2: A thick-walled cylindrical tubing of hard rubber having
inside radius 5 mm and outside radius 20 mm is being used as a
cooling coil in a bath. Ice water is flowing rapidly inside, and the
inside wall temp is 274.9 K. The outside surface temp is 297.1 K.
A total of 14.65 W must be removed from the bath by the cooling
coil. How many m of tubing are needed?

Solution: From Appendix, k of hard rubber = 0.151 W/m K.

2L( r2  r1 ) 2L(0.005  0.02)
From Eq.(4), Alm    0.0680L m 2
ln(r2 / r1 ) ln(.005 / .02)
T1  T2
 From Eq.(3), q  kAlm
r2  r1
 297.1  274.9 
14.65  (0.151)(0.0680L) , L  0.964 m
 0.02  0.005 
C. Hollow Sphere

Ref [2]

Exercise: Derive the form of Fourier’s law for one-

dimensional steady-state heat conduction through a
hollow sphere.
D. Plane Walls in Series (Composite)

Ref [2]

kA A kB A kC A
q (T1  T2 )  (T2  T3 )  (T3  T4 )
xA xB xC
 xA xB xC
T1  T2  q , T2  T3  q , T3  T4  q
kA A kB A kC A
 xA xB xC 
 T1  T4  q   
 kA A k B A kC A 
T1  T4 T1  T4 T  T4
q   1
 x A k A A   x B k B A   xC k C A RA  RB  RC R
xi
where Ri  , and R   Ri , i  A, B, C
ki A i

Example 3: Heat flow through insulated wall

(See Example 4.3.1 of Geankoplis)
E. Multilayer Cylinders

Ref [2]

k A AA lm k B AB lm k C AC lm
q (T1  T2 )  (T2  T3 )  (T3  T4 )
r2  r1 r3  r2 r4  r3
Exercise: Derive the form of Fourier’s equation for the
steady-state one-dimensional conduction through a
multilayer (composite) cylindrical wall, and identify
the overall resistance.

Example 4: Heat loss from an insulated pipe

(See Example 4.3.2 of Geankoplis)
F. Materials in Parallel

Ref [2]

T1  T2 T1  T2 1 1 
qT  qA  qB        T1  T2  (6)
xA / k A AA xB / k B AB  R1 R2 
G. Combined Convection and
Conduction and Overall Coefficients

Ref [2]
Th, Tc = bulk temperatures of hot fluid and cold fluid.
h1, h2 = convective coefficients of hot side and cold side.
Twh, Twc= surface temps of wall at hot side and cold side.
k, xw = thermal conductivity and thickness of wall
A = heat transfer area (surface area of wall)

Convective heat transfer rate at hot side  h1 A(Th  Twh )

kA
Conductive heat transfer rate across wall 
xw
(Twh  Twc )

Convective heat transfer rate at cold side  h2 A(Twc  Tc )

kA
At steady state, q  h1 A(Th  Twh )  xw
(Twh  Twc )  h2 A(Twc  Tc )
 Combining the equations,
Th  Tc T  Tc
q  h  UAToverall
1 / h1 A  x w / kA  1 / h2 A R
1 W  Btu 
where Toverall  Th  Tc , and U   
1 / h1  x w / k  1 / h2 m 2 K  hr ft 2
 F 

Important application is heat transfer from a fluid

outside a tube, through a metal wall, to a fluid inside
the tube, as often occurs in heat exchangers.
 Using the procedure, the overall heat transfer rate is
Th  Tc T  Tc
q  h
1 / hi Ai  ( ro  ri ) / kAlm  1 / ho Ao R
q  UATm  U i Ai Tm  U o Ao Tm
1 1 1 1 ln( Do / Di ) 1
where Tm  Th  Tc ,     
UA U i Ai U o Ao hi Ai 2 k L ho Ao
Ai , Ao  inside and outside heat trans fer areas
U i , U o  overall heat trans fer coeficints based on inside and outside
surface areas
hi , ho  inside (tube - side) convection coefficint and
outside (shell - side) convection coefficint
Alm  log mean area of the metal tube wall
Di , Do ( ri , ro )  inside and outside diameters (radii) of the tube
K  thermal conductivity of the tube wall
L  tube length of heat exchanger
Example 5: Heat loss by convection and conduction
and overall U
(See Example 4.3.3 of Geankoplis)
Critical Thickness of Insulation

kAlm
At steady state, q (T1  T2 )  ho Ao (T2  T0 )
r2  r1

As the thickness of insulation, r2-r1, increases, T2

decreases, but outside area Ao increases.
 2L(T1  T0 )
Combining the two rate equations, q
ln( r2 / r1 ) 1

k r2 ho

The effect of insulation thickness on q is,

dq  2L(T1  T0 )(1 / r2 k  1 / r22 ho )
 2
dr2  ln( r2 / r1 ) 1 
  
 k r h
2 o

The critical thickness is given by,

dq  2L(T1  T0 )(1 / r2 k  1 / r22 ho ) k
 2
 0  ( r2 ) cr 
dr2  ln(r2 / r1 ) 1  ho
  
 k r h
2 o
 REFERENCES
1. Geankoplis, C. J. Transport Processes and Unit
Operations, 4th Edition. Prentice-Hall, 2003.
(Chapter on Principles of Steady-State Heat
Transfer)

2. Incropera, F. P., Dewitt, D. P., Bergman, T. L., and

Lavine, A. S. Fundamentals of Heat and Mass
Transfer, 6th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

3. McCabe W. L., Smith, J. P., and Harriott, P. Unit

Operations of Chemical Engineering, 7th Edition.
McGraw-Hill, 2005. (Section on Heat Transfer)