Introduction to Conduction

Fourier's Law
The constitutive equation for conduction, we have see, is Fourier's Law. It
says that the heat flux vector is a linear function of the temperature
gradient, that is :

q = k T
What we mean by the notation is the following:

q = qi ei

T =

T
e
x i i

Then for each of the components of q, we have the relation:

qi = k

Lecture 2
ChE 333

T
x i

Spring 2000
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Thermal Properties of Matter

Thermal conductivity
The conductivity is a material property that is a very strong function
of the state of the material.
The range of values goes from less than 0.01 Watts/m-K for gaseous
CO 2 to over 600 Watts/m-K for Ag metal. The change may be as much
as 5 orders of magnitude

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ChE 333

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Thermal Conductivity of Gases

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Thermal Conductivity of Solids

The thermal conductivity of solids differ significantly as the next figure shows

Lecture 2
ChE 333

Spring 2000
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Conductive Loss through a Window Pane

T

Examine the simple one-dimensional

conduction problem as heat flow
through a windowpane. The window
glass thickness, L, is 1/8 in. If this is the
only window in a room 9x12x8 or 864
ft3 , the area of the window is 2 ft x 3 ft
or 6 ft2 .

T1
q

Recall that qx is the heat flux and that k

is the thermal conductivity

qx = k d T
dx

T2
x
L

The energy at steady state yielded

T1 T2
qx = k
L

The room is well heated and the temperature is uniform, so the heat low
through the windowpane is

T1 T2
Q = k
A
L
If the room temperature is 60 F and the exterior temperature is 20 F, and
k is 0.41 Btu/hr-ft2-F then

60 20
Q = 0.41
6 = 9444 Btu
0.125 / 12
hr
Questions

Lecture 2
ChE 333

Is this a large rate?

How can you tell whether it is large or not?
Spring 2000
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Energy balance on the Room

How long does it take for the room temperature to change from 60 F to
45 F?
To make this estimate, we need to solve an energy balance on the room. A
simple analysis yields

d VC T T
p
1
ref
dt

= Q

Recognizing that heat capacity density are essentially constant, the

equation becomes

dT1
kA T T
=
2
dt
VC pL 1
Note that =

VC pL
and that has units of time.
kA

Data
T2
T1 0
T1
k
A
V
L

=
=
=
=
=
=
=

air

Cpair =

20 F
60 F
45 F
0.41 BTU/ft-h-F
6 ft^2
864 ft^3
0.125 in.
0.07 lb/ft^3
0.24 BTU/lb.-F

t = ln

T1 T2
T10 T2

At the outset, T1 = T10 = 60 F

The solution of the differential equation
representing the energy balance is

T1 T2
T10 T2

= e

To solve for the time required to get to

46 F, we need all the data in the table.

= ln

45 20
60 20

= 0.47

It follows that t = 0.47 = 1.75 minutes.

Lecture 2
ChE 333

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Heat Conduction in a Composite Solid

Examine the simple one-dimensional
conduction problem as heat flow
through a thermally insulated
windowpane. Each layer of window
glass thickness, L, is 1/16 in. The
insulation layer of air between the two
panes is also 1/16 in.

T2

T0
q

Recall that qx is the heat flux and that k

is the thermal conductivity

T1

qx = k d T
dx

T3
x

L3

L1

The energy at steady state yielded

L2

T1 T2
qx = k
L

The heat flow through the glass is given by

T0 T1
T1 T2
A In layer 2 Q = k 2
A
1
2
T2 T3
and in layer 3 by Q = k 3
A
3
In layer 1 Q = k 1

Then we can rewrite the equations in this form

= T2 T3 A ; Q 2 = T1 T2 A ; Q 1 = T0 T1 A
k3
k2
k1

If we add the three equations, we obtain

Q 1

+ 2 + 3 = T0 T3
A k1
k2 k3
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ChE 333

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We can consider the thickness/conductivity as a resistance so that

Let R i =

i
so then 1 = 1 + 1 + 1
R
R1 R2 R3
ki

The heat flow is then of the following form :

T0 T3
Q =
A
R
This is like a problem of current flow in a series circuit.
In the single pane problem discussed in Lecture 1, we noted that the
resistance, /k, was 1/(192(0.41) = 0.254 hr-ft2 -F/Btu. Recall that for the
problem of cooling the room, was 1.75 minutes. The thermal
conductivity of air is 0.014 Btu/hr-ft-F. so that

1
= 3 = 0.0254 ; 2 =
= 0.744
k1
k3
2
k2
96 0.014
as a consequence the reciprocal of the overall resistance is 0.744 +
(0.0254) = 0.746.
Then we see that = (1.min) (0.746/0.0254) = 29.37 min

Lecture 2
ChE 333

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The Convective Boundary

Condition

Tr
Again consider a windowpane, but now
there is a heat transfer limitation at one
boundary described by a boundary
condition.

Ta

Ti

q x = h Tr Ti

Conduction through the glass is

described by

Ti Ta
qx = k

The flux is constant at any cross-section so that we can write

Ti Ta = q x ; Tr Ti = 1 q x
k
h
Solving for the temperatures we get

Ti = Ta + q x + 1 q x
k
h
Solving for qx , the relation becomes q x =

Which modified shows a correction to

q =
the heat transfer coefficient modulated by x
the conduction problem

+1
k h
h
h + 1
k

Ti Ta

Ti Ta

dimensionless number in the denominator is the Biot

Bi = h The
k number, a ratio of the convective heat transfer coefficient to the
equivalent heat transfer coefficient due to conduction.

Lecture 2
ChE 333

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Heat Transfer across a Composite Cylindrical Solid.

In the case of heat transfer in a cylinder, there is radial symmetry do that
heat conduction is important only in the radial direction.

R2
R3
R1

T0

The heat flux in the radial direction is

given by Fouriers law.

qr = k d T
dr

T1
T2

T3

The total heat flow through any circular surface is constant

Q = k 2rL d T = constant = C
dr
Rearranging we obtain a relation for the temperature gradient

dT =
C
dr
k 2rL
which upon separation of variables is

dT =

C dr
k 2L r

An indefinite integration yields the temperature profile.

T =

C ln r + a
1
k 2L

The boundary conditions are

at r = R1 , T = T1 ;
at r = R2 , T = T2
at r = R3 , T = T3
Lecture 2
ChE 333

qr2 = qr2
qr3 = h(T3 - T0 )
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so that

T1 T2=

C ln R 1 ; T T =
C ln R 2
2
3
R2
R1
k 1 2L
k 2 2L

It follows that

T1 T0=

C
1 ln R 2 + 1 ln R 3 + 1
2L k 1 R 1 k 2 R 2 h

This can be expressed as

2L

Q =

1 ln R 2 + 1 ln R 3 + 1
k 1 R 1 k 2 R 2 hR 3

T1 T0

Optimal Insulation on a Pipe

Is there an optimal thickness for the exterior insulation? In the context of
the problem just formulated, is there a best value for R3 ?

Note that Q = f(R3).

To find an extremum,

dQ
d2Q
= 0 and
< 0
dR 3
d R32

hR 3
= 1
Some algebra yields:
k2

It offers a critical radius for R3 = k 2/h beyond which the heat

loss increases.

Lecture 2
ChE 333

Spring 2000
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