Heat Transfer and Its Applications

4.1 Introduction
Nature of heat flow. When two objects at different temperatures are brought into
contact, heat flows from the object at the higher temperature to that at the lower temperature.
The net flow is always in the direction of the temperature decrease. The mechanism by which
the heat may flows are three: conduction, convenction, and radiation.
Conduction. If a temperature gradient exists in a continuous substance, heat can flow
unaccompanied by any observable motion of matter. Heat flow of this kind is called
conduction, and according to Fourier’s law. The heat flux is proportional to the temperature
gradient and opposite to it in sign. For one-dimensional heat flow, Fourier’s law is

(4.1-1)

Where, q = rate of heat flow in direction normal to surface

A = surface area
T = temperature
x = distance measured normal to surface
k = thermal conductivity

In metals, thermal conduction results from the motionn of free electrons, and there is
close correspondence between thermal conductivity and alectrical conductivity. In olids that
are poor conductors of electricity and in most liquids, thermal conduction reults from
momentum transfer between adjacent vibrating molecules or atom. In gases, conduction
occurs by the random motion of molecules, o that heat is “diffused” from hotter regions to
colder ones. The most common example of pure conduction is heat flow in opaque solids
such as the brick wall of a furnace of the metal wall of a heat exchanger tube. Conduction of
heat in liquids or gases is often influenced by flow of the fluid, and both conductive and
convective processes are lumped together under the term convection or convective heat
transfer.
Convection. Convection can refer to the flow of heat associated with the movement
of a flui, such as when hot air from a furnace enters a room, or to the transfer of heat from a
hot surface to a flowing fluid.
 Natural and forced convection. When currents in a fluid result from buoyancy
forces created by density differences, and the density difference are caused by temperature
gradients in the fluid, the action is called natural convection. When the currents are due to a
mechanical device such as a pumpor agitator, the flow is independent of density differences
an is called forced convection.
Radiation. Radiation is a term given to the transfer of energy through space by
electomagnetic waves. If radiation is passing through empty space, it is not transformed to
heat or any other form of energy, nor is it diverted from its path.

4.2 Heat Transfer by Conduction

4.2.1 Basic Low of Conductiom
The basic relation for heat flow by conducction is the proportionality between heat flux
and the temperature gradient. It is known as Fourier’s law, which for one-dimensional flow in
the x direction has already been given by Eq.(4-1-1).

(4.2-1)

the general expression of Further’s law for flow in all three directions in an isotropic material
are

(4.2-2)

In an isotropic material, therefore, heat flows by conduction in the direction of steepest

temperature descent.
In cylindrical coordinates Eq. (4.2-2) becomes

(4.2-3)

In spherical coordinates it is

(4.2-4)
Thermal Conductivity
The proportionality constant k is a physical property of the substance called the thermal
conductivity. It, like the newtonian viscosity µ, is one of the so-called transport properties of
the material. In Eq.(1.2-3) the quantity τ is a rate of momentum flow per unit area, th quantity
du/dy is the velocity gradinet, and µ is the required proportionality factor. In Eq. (4.1-1), q/A
is the rate of heat flow per unit area, Dt/dx is the temperature gradient, and k is the
proportionality factor. The minus sign is omitted in Eq.(1.2-3) because of convention in
choosing the direction of the force vector. In SI units, q is measured in watts and Dt/dx in
°C/m or K/m, which may be written Then the units of k are W/(m.K).
Fourier’s law states that k is independent of the temperature gradient but not necessarily
of temperature it self. Experiment does confirm the independence of k for a wide range of
temperature gradients, except for porous solid, where radiation between particles, which does
not follow a linear temperature law, becomes an important part of the total heat flow. On the
other hand, k is a function of temperature, but, except for some gases, not a strong one. For
small ranges of temperature, k may be considered constant. For larger temperature ranges, the
thermal conductivity can usually be approximated by an equation of the form

k = a + bT (4.2-5)

where a and b are empirical constants.

Thermal conductivities of metal cover a wide range of values, from about 17 W/(m.°C)
for stainless steel and 45 W/(m.°C) for mild steel, to 380 W/(m.°C) for copper and 415
W/(m.°C) for silver. The thermal conductivity of metals is generally nearly constant or
decreases slightly as the temperature is increased, and the conductivity of alloys is less than
that pure metals. For glass and most nonporous materials, the thermal conductivities are
much lower, from about 0.35 W/(m.°C); for these materials k may either increase or decrease
as the temperature rises.
For most liquids k is lower than that for solids, with typical values about 0.17
W/(m.°C), and k decreases by 3 to 4 percent for a 10°C rise in temperature. Water is an
exception, with k=0.5 to 0.7 W/(m.°C), and k goes through a maximum as the temperature is
raised.
Gases have thermal conductivities an order of magnitude lower than those for liquids.
For an ideal gas, k is proportional to the average molecular velocity, the mean free path, and
the molar heat capacity. For monoatomic gases, a hard-sphere model gives the theoretical
equation:
 0.0832 𝑇
k= (𝑀)1/2 (4.2-6)
𝜎2

Where, T = temperature, K
M = molecular weight
𝜎 = effective collision diameter, Å
k = thermal conductivity, W/(m.K)

Note the similarity of Eq.(4.2-6) to Eq.(1.2-5) for estimating the viscosity of simple gases.
Both equations contain the term T1/2/ 𝜎2, but momentum transfer, as shown by Eq.( 1.2-5),
varies with M1/2 whereas the thermal conductivity depends on M-1/2.
Equation (4.2-6) geerally underestimates the thermal conductivity of polyatomic gases,
which have higher heat capacities than monoatomic gases because of the rotational and
vibrational degrees of freedom. The higher heat capacities can also make k increase quite
rapidly with temperature. A change from 300K to 600K may increase the thermal
conductivity 3- to 4-fold. Several methods of predicting k for gases and gas mixture are
reviewed by Reid et al. The thermal conductivity of gases is nearly independent of pressure
up to about 10 bars; at higher pressure k increases slightly with pressure.
Solids having low thermal conductivities are used for insulation on pipes, vessels, and
building. Porous materials such as fiberglasspads or polymer foams act by entrapping air
andeliminating convevtion. Their k values may be nearly as low as that of air it self, and if a
high-molecular-weight gas is trapped in a closed-cell foam, k can be less than that for air.

4.2.2 Steady State Conduction

Fig. 4.1 b Temperature gradients outside insulated tanks; (a) Heat flow into the tank; (b) heat
flow from tank.
 In Fig. 4.1(a), a flat-walled insulated tank contains a refrigerent at perhaps -10℃, while
the air outside the tank is at 28℃. The temperature falls linearly with distance accros the layer
of insulation as heat flows from the air to the refrigerant. As we will see in a later section,
theremay actually be a temperature drop between the bulk of the air and the outside surface of
the insulation, but it is assumed to be negligible in Fig. 4.1(a). Figure 4.1(b) shows a similar
tank containing boiling water at 100℃, losing heat to air at 20℃. As before, the temperature
profile in the insulation is linear, but heat flows in the opposite direction and x in Eq.(4.1-1)
must be measured outward from the inside surface. Again, there may be a temperature change
in the air anear the tank wall; again it is assumed to be negligible.
The rate of heat flow is found as follows, assuming that k is independent of
temperature. Since in steady state there can be neither accumulation nor depletion of heat
within the slab, q is constant along the path of heat flow. If x is the distance from the hot side,
Eq.(4.1-1) can be written

(4.2-7)

Since the only variables in this equation are x and T, direct integration gives

(4.2-8)

Where x2-x1 = B = thickness of layer of insulation

T1-T2 = ∆T = temperature drop across layer

When the thermal conductivity k varies linearly with temperature, in accordance with
Eq. (4.2-5), Eq. (4.2-7) still can be used rigorously by taking an average value k for k, which
may be found either by using the arithmetic average of individual values of k for the two
surface temperatures T1 and T2 or by calculating the arithmmetic average of the temperatures
and using the value of k at that temperature.
Equation (4.2-8) can be written in the form

𝑞 ∆𝑇
= (4.2 − 9)
𝐴 𝑅

Where R is the thermal resistance of the solid between point 1 and 2. Equation (4.2-9) is an
instance of the generalate principle, which equates a rate to the ratio of a diving force to
resistance. In heat conduction, q is the rate and ∆T is the driving force. For heat conduction,
then h=k/B . Both R and h depend on the dimensions of the solid as well as on the thermal
conductivity k,which is a property of the material.

Compound resistances in series

Consider a flat wall constructed of a series of layers, as shown fig. 4.2. Let the thickness of
the layers be BA, BB, BC and the average conductivities of the materials of which the layers
are made be kA, kB, and kC, respectively. Then If ∆T is the total temperature drop across the
entire wall.

(4.2-10)

Equation (4,2-8) can be written for each layer, using k in place of k1

Adding the parts of equations above gives

Since in steady heat flow, all the haet that passes through the first resistance must pass
through the second and in turn pas through the third, qA, qB and qC are equal and all can be
denoted by q. Using this fact and solving for q/A give

(4.2-11)

Whera RA, RB and RC = Resistance of individual layers

R = overall resistance
Equation (4.2-11) shows that in heat flow through a series of layers the overall thermal
resitance equals the sum of the individual resistances.

The rate of flow of heat through several resitance is series celarly is analogous to the carret
flowing through several electric resistances in series. In an electric circuit the potential drop
over any one of several resistances is to the total potential drop in the circuit as the individual
resistance are to the total resistance. In the same way the potential drops iin a thermal circuit,
which are the temperature difference, are to the total temperature drop as the individual
thermal resistances are to the total thermal resistance. This can be expressed mathematically
as

(4.2-12)

Figure 4.2 also shows the pattern of temperatures and the temperature gradients.

Heat Flow Through a cylinder

Consider a hollow cylinder of length L with an inside radius r1 and outsider ro. The
cylinder is made of material with a thermal conductivity k. The temperature of the outside
surfae is To, that of the inside surface is Ti, with Ti>To. At radius r from the enter the heat
flow rate is q and the area through which it flows is A. The area is a functin of the radius; at
steady state the heat flow rate is constant. Equatuon(4.2-3) becomes, since heat flows only in
the r direction.

(4.2-13)

Rearranging (4.2-13) and integrating between limits gives

(4.2-14)

Equation (4.2-14)can be used to calculate the flow of heat through a thick-walled cylinder. It
can be put in a more convenient form by expressing the rate of flow of heat as

(4.2-15)

The term Al can be determined by equating thre right-hand sides of Eq.(4.2-14) and (4.2-15)
and solving for AL
 (4.2-16)

Note from Eq.(4.2-16) tthat AL, is the area of a cylinder of length L and radius r, where

(4.2-17)

The form of the right-hand side Eq.(4.2-17) is important enough to reapy memorizing. It is
known as the logarithmic mean and in th eparticular case of rL is called the logarithmic
mean radius. It is the radius that, when applied to the integrated equation for a flat wall, will
give the correct rate of heat flow through a thick-walled cylinder.

The logaritmic mean is less convenient than the arithmetic mean , and the latter can be used
without appriciable error for thin-walled tubes, where ro/ri is nearly I. The ratio of logaritmic
mean rL to aritmetic mean ra is a function of ra/ri=2 as shown Fig. 4.3. Thus, when ra/ri=2,
the logarithmic mean is 0,96 ra and the error in the use of the arithmetic mean is 4 percent.
The eror is 1 percent where ra/ri=1,4.