Cairo University

Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Dept.

Heat Transfer
Year Comm. & Elec.

SHEET (1)
Steady State Conduction Without Heat Generation
1. A plane wall has a thickness of 30 mm with surfaces maintained at 320 K and
400 K. Determine the heat flux through the wall if it is constructed from:
a) Plane Carbon Steal
b) Pure copper c) Lead
d) Brass
e) Concrete.
2. A solid cylindrical rod of length 0.2 m and diameter of 25.4 mm is insulated along
its cylindrical surface while its end faces are maintained at temperature of 100 C and
0 C. What is the rate of heat transfer through the rod if it is constructed from:
a) Pure copper b) Aluminium alloy 2024-T6 c) AISI stainless steel d) Wood (oak)
3. A spherical shell made of brass (k =110 W/m.K) and of 0.15/0.18 m diameter has
its inner and outer surfaces maintained at 400 C and 100 C respectively. Obtain the
rate of heat transfer through the shell in Watts.
4. A house has a composite wall of concrete 100 mm, with two finishing cement layer
of 10 mm on its both faces. In summer, the inside air temperature is maintained by an
air conditioning system at 22 C while the outside temperature has a maximum value
of 45 C. The inner and outer heat transfer coefficients are 15 W/m 2K and 70 W/m2K.
The total wall surface area is 300 m2. Determine:
a) The thermal resistance of the wall (with inner and outer convective steams)
b) The total heat gain through the wall. .
If the wind velocity increases and results in raising the outer convective coefficient to
140 W/m2K, find the percentage increase in the heat gained.
5. A composite wall of height H and of unit length normal to the page is insulated at
its ends and is composed of four different materials arranged as shown below.
a) Sketch the thermal network of the system.
b) Consider a wall for which H = 3 m, H b = Hc = 1.5 m, L1 = L3 = 0.05 m, L2 = 0.1 m,
kA = kD = 50 W/m.K, kB= 10 W/m.K and kc= 1W/m.K. Under conditions for which
T1 = 200 C, h1 = 50 W/m2.K, T2 = 25 C, h2 = 10 W/m2.K, what is the rate of heat
transfer through the wall? What are the interface temperatures, Tl and T2?

6. A steam pipe of 0.12 m outside diameter and 3 mm thickness is made of carbon

steel (k=15 W/m.K). The steam has a temperature of 800 K, with convection heat

Cairo University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Dept.

Heat Transfer
Year Comm. & Elec.

transfer coefficient of 1000 W/m2K. The pipe is surrounded by air at 30 oC with

convective heat transfer coefficient of 40 W/m2K.
a) Find the inner and outer temperatures of the pipe.
b) If it is required to insulate the pipe with calcium silicate to maintain the insulation
outer surface at 70oC, find the required insulation thickness. (Keeping heat transfer
coefficient the same).
c) Find the heat loss per unit pipe length in both cases.
7. A steam pipe of 25/20 mm diameter and of 35 W/m.K thermal conductivity
carrying steam at 400 C, with convection heat transfer coefficient of 500 W/m2K.
Two insulation layers of thickness 2 cm and 3 cm, with thermal conductivities equal
to 0.03 and 0.08 W/m.K, respectively, cover the pipe. The outside air temperature is
30 C with estimated convection heat transfer coefficient of 20 W/m2.K. Find:
a) The heat flux per unit length of pipe in W/m
b) The temperatures of inner and outer pipe surfaces.
c) The temperatures at interface of insulating materials and of the outside of the
external insulating material.
8. A 1.0 mm diameter wire is insulated at temperature of 400C' and exposed to a
convection environment at 40C and heat transfer coefficient of 120 W/m 2K.
Calculate the thermal conductivity which will just cause an insulation thickness of 0.2
mm to produce a critical radius. How much of this insulation must be added to reduce
the heat transfer by 75% from which would be experienced by bare wire?
9. A Copper cable 5 cm in diameter is to be covered by an electrical insulation
material whose thermal conductivity is 0.16 W/m.K. The heat transfer coefficient
between the outer surface of insulation and surrounding air is 5 W/m 2K and the air
temperature is 20oC. Find the thickness of insulation that gives the maximum rate of
heat dissipation. If the electrical resistivity of the wire is 1.72 x 10 -8

.m, find the

maximum allowable current in the cable in order that the temperature of insulation
does not exceed 280 C.
10. A spherical shell made of brass (k =110 W/m.K) and has 15cm and 18 cm inner
and outer diameters, respectively. Liquid ammonia at -20C having a heat transfer
coefficient of 40 W/m.K is stored inside the shell. If the surrounding air is at 35 C and
having a heat transfer coefficient of 10 W/m.K, obtain the overall heat transfer
coefficient and the rate of heat transfer through the shell.
11. A stainless steel pipe of inner and outer diameters 6 cm and 8 cm respectively and
thermal conductivity of 13.5 W/m.K is covered with an insulation layer of magnesia
of thickness 2 cm and thermal conductivity of 0.071. There is a fluid flows inside the
pipe with a temperature of 112 C and heat transfer coefficient of 346 W/m 2K. If the
surrounding has a temperature of 20 C and heat transfer coefficient of 6 W/m2K,
calculate the heat transfer rate and the overall heat transfer coefficient.
12. Hollow spheres may be used to measure the thermal conductivity of some
insulating materials. A hollow aluminium sphere of 0.15/0.18 m diameter with an
electric heater installed in the sphere core results in establishing a temperature of 250

C at the sphere inner surface under steady state conditions. A spherical shell of

Cairo University
Faculty of Engineering
Mechanical Power Dept.

Heat Transfer
Year Comm. & Elec.

insulation is cast on the outer surface of the sphere to a thickness of 0.12 m. The
surrounding air is at 20 C and the outside convection heat transfer coefficient is 30
W/m2.K. The measured heater input power is 80 W. Under the above conditions,
obtain the thermal conductivity of the insulating material.