Heat transfer

CONDUCTION OF TWO OR THREE DIMENSIONAL

ANALYSIS
 INTRODUCTION

• So far, we have considered heat transfer in simple geometries such as

large plane walls, long cylinders, and spheres. This is because heat
transfer in such geometries can be approximated as one-dimensional,
and simple analytical solutions can be obtained easily.

• But many problems encountered in practice are two- or three-

dimensional and involve rather complicated geometries for which no
simple solutions are available.
 INTRODUCTION

• An important class of heat transfer problems for which simple solutions

are obtained encompasses those involving two surfaces maintained at
constant temperatures T1 and T2. The steady rate of heat transfer
between these two surfaces is expressed as
Where:
S is the conduction shape factor,
which has the dimension of length,
and K is the thermal conductivity of
the medium between the surfaces.
 CONDUCTION SHAPE FACTOR

• The conduction shape factor depends on the geometry of the system

only.

• Note that conduction shape factors are applicable only when heat
transfer between the two surfaces is by conduction. Therefore, they
cannot be used when the medium between the surfaces is a liquid or
gas, which involves natural or forced convection currents.
 EXAMPLE 1

A 30m-long, 10cm diameter hot water pipe of a district heating system is

buried in the soil 50 cm below the ground surface, as shown in Figure.
The outer surface temperature of the pipe is 80°C. Taking the surface
temperature of the earth to be 10°C and the thermal conductivity of the
soil at that location to be 0.9 W/m -°C, determine the rate of heat loss
from the pipe.
EXAMPLE 1

Ans:
3963 W
 EXAMPLE 2

A 5-m-long section of hot and cold water pipes run parallel to each other
in a thick concrete layer, as shown in Figure. The diameters of both pipes
are 5 cm, and the distance between the centerline of the pipes is 30 cm.
The surface temperatures of the hot and cold pipes are 70°C and 15°C,
respectively. Taking the thermal conductivity of the concrete to be k =
0.75 W/m · °C, determine the rate of heat transfer between the pipes.
EXAMPLE 2

Ans:
262 W
 PROBLEMS

1. A horizontal pipe having a surface temperature of 67°C and diameter of 25

cm is buried at a depth of 1.2 m in the earth at a location where k =1.8W/m-
◦C. The earth surface temperature is 15°C. Calculate the heat lost by the
pipe per unit length.

2. A 10-cm-diameter sphere maintained at 30°C is buried in the earth at a place

where k =1.2W/m-°C. The depth to the centerline is 24 cm, and the earth
surface temperature is 0◦C. Calculate the heat lost by the sphere.
 PROBLEMS

3. Two long cylinders 8.0 and 3.0 cm in diameter are completely surrounded by
a medium with k =1.4 W/m· ◦C. The distance between centers is 10 cm, and the
cylinders are maintained at 200 and 35◦C. Calculate the heat-transfer rate per
unit length.