Topic 2: Conduction Heat

Transfer

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 Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Understand multidimensionality and time dependence of heat transfer,
and the conditions under which a heat transfer problem can be
approximated as being one-dimensional,
• Obtain the differential equation of heat conduction in various
coordinate systems, and simplify it for steady one-dimensional case,
• Identify the thermal conditions on surfaces, and express them
mathematically as boundary and initial conditions,
• Solve one-dimensional heat conduction problems and obtain the
temperature distributions within a medium and the heat flux,
• Analyze one-dimensional heat conduction in solids that involve heat
generation, and
• Evaluate heat conduction in solids with temperature-dependent
thermal conductivity.
 Introduction
• Although heat transfer and temperature are
closely related, they are of a different nature.
• Temperature has only magnitude
it is a scalar quantity.
• Heat transfer has direction as well as magnitude
it is a vector quantity.
• We work with a coordinate system and indicate
direction with plus or minus signs.
 Introduction ─ Continue
• The driving force for any form of heat transfer is the
temperature difference.
• The larger the temperature difference, the larger the
rate of heat transfer.
• Three prime coordinate systems:
– rectangular (T(x, y, z, t)) ,
– cylindrical (T(r, f, z, t)),
– spherical (T(r, f, q, t)).
 Introduction ─ Continue
Classification of conduction heat transfer problems:
• steady versus transient heat transfer,
• multidimensional heat transfer,
• heat generation.
Steady versus Transient Heat Transfer
• Steady implies no change with time at any point
within the medium

• Transient implies variation with time or time

dependence
 Multidimensional Heat Transfer
• Heat transfer problems are also classified as being:
– one-dimensional,
– two dimensional,
– three-dimensional.
• In the most general case, heat transfer through a
medium is three-dimensional. However, some
problems can be classified as two- or one-dimensional
depending on the relative magnitudes of heat transfer
rates in different directions and the level of accuracy
desired.
• The rate of heat conduction through a medium in
a specified direction (say, in the x-direction) is
expressed by Fourier’s law of heat conduction
for one-dimensional heat conduction as:
dT
Qcond  kA (W) (2-1)
dx
• Heat is conducted in the direction
of decreasing temperature, and thus
the temperature gradient is negative
when heat is conducted in the positive x-direction.
 General Relation for Fourier’s Law of
Heat Conduction
• The heat flux vector at a point P on the surface of
the figure must be perpendicular to the surface,
and it must point in the direction of decreasing
temperature
• If n is the normal of the
isothermal surface at point P,
the rate of heat conduction at
that point can be expressed by
Fourier’s law as
dT
Qn  kA (W) (2-2)
dn
 General Relation for Fourier’s Law of
Heat Conduction-Continue
• In rectangular coordinates, the heat conduction
vector can be expressed in terms of its components as
Qn  Qx i  Qy j  Qz k (2-3)
• which can be determined from Fourier’s law as
 T
Qx  kAx x

 T
Qy  kAy (2-4)
 y
 T
Qz  kAz
 z
 Heat Generation
• Examples:
– electrical energy being converted to heat at a rate of I2R,
– fuel elements of nuclear reactors,
– exothermic chemical reactions.
• Heat generation is a volumetric phenomenon.
• The rate of heat generation units : W/m3 or Btu/h · ft3.
• The rate of heat generation in a medium may vary
with time as well as position within the medium.
• The total rate of heat generation in a medium of
volume V can be determined from
Egen   egen dV (W) (2-5)
V
 One-Dimensional Heat Conduction
Equation - Plane Wall
Rate of heat Rate of heat Rate of heat Rate of change of
conduction - conduction + generation inside the energy content
at x at x+Dx the element
= of the element

DEelement
Qx Qx Dx  Egen,element 
Dt
(2-6)
 DEelement
Qx  Qx Dx  Egen,element  (2-6)
Dt
• The change in the energy content and the rate of heat
generation can be expressed as
 Eelement  Et Dt  Et  mc Tt Dt  Tt    cADx Tt Dt  Tt  (2-7)
D

 Egen,element  egenVelement  egen ADx (2-8)

• Substituting into Eq. 2–6, we get

Tt Dt  Tt (2-9)
Qx  Qx Dx egen ADx   cADx
Dt
• Dividing by ADx, taking the limit as Dx 0 and Dt 0,
and from Fourier’s law:
1   T  T
 kA 
 gen
e   c (2-11)
A x  x  t
The area A is constant for a plane wall  the one dimensional
transient heat conduction equation in a plane wall is
  T  T
Variable conductivity: k   egen   c (2-13)
x  x  t
 2T egen 1 T k
Constant conductivity:   ;  (2-14)
x 2
k  t c
The one-dimensional conduction equation may be reduces
to the following forms under special conditions
d 2T egen
1) Steady-state: 2
 0 (2-15)
dx k
 2T 1 T
2) Transient, no heat generation:  (2-16)
x 2
 t
d 2T
3) Steady-state, no heat generation: 2
0 (2-17)
dx
General Heat Conduction Equation

Rate of heat Rate of heat Rate of heat Rate of change

conduction - conduction
+ generation
= of the energy
at x, y, and z at x+Dx, y+Dy, inside the content of the
and z+Dz element element

DEelement
Qx  Qy  Qz Qx Dx  Qy Dy  Qz Dz  Egen,element  (2-36)
Dt
Repeating the mathematical approach used for the one-
dimensional heat conduction the three-dimensional heat
conduction equation is determined to be
Two-dimensional

 2T  2T  2T egen 1 T
Constant conductivity:  2  2   (2-39)
x 2
y z k  t

Three-dimensional

 2T  2T  2T egen
 2  2   0 (2-40)
1) Steady-state: x 2
y z k
 2T  2T  2T 1 T
2) Transient, no heat generation:  2  2  (2-41)
x 2
y z  t
 2T  2T  2T
3) Steady-state, no heat generation: 2  2  2  0 (2-42)
x y z
 Cylindrical Coordinates

1   T  1 T  T    T  T
 rk  2 k  k   egen   c
r r  r  r f  f  z  z  t
(2-43)
 Spherical Coordinates

1   2 T  1   T  1   T  T
 kr  2 2 k  2  k sin q   egen   c
r r  r  r sin q f  f  r sin q q  q  t
2

(2-44)
 Boundary and Initial Conditions
• Specified Temperature Boundary Condition
• Specified Heat Flux Boundary Condition
• Convection Boundary Condition
• Radiation Boundary Condition
• Interface Boundary Conditions
• Generalized Boundary Conditions
 Specified Temperature Boundary
Condition
For one-dimensional heat transfer
through a plane wall of thickness L,
for example, the specified
temperature boundary conditions
can be expressed as
T(0, t) = T1
T(L, t) = T2 (2-46)

The specified temperatures can be constant, which is the

case for steady heat conduction, or may vary with time.
 Specified Heat Flux Boundary
Condition
The heat flux in the positive x-
direction anywhere in the medium,
including the boundaries, can be
expressed by Fourier’s law of heat
conduction as
dT Heat flux in the
q  k  positive x- (2-47)
dx direction

The sign of the specified heat flux is determined by

inspection: positive if the heat flux is in the positive
direction of the coordinate axis, and negative if it is in
the opposite direction.
 Two Special Cases
Insulated boundary Thermal symmetry

k
T (0, t )
0 or
T (0, t )
0  2 
T L , t
0
x x x
(2-49) (2-50)
 Convection Boundary Condition

Heat conduction Heat convection

at the surface in a
selected direction = at the surface in
the same direction

T (0, t )
k  h1 T1  T (0, t ) (2-51a)
x
and
T ( L, t )
k  h2 T ( L, t )  T 2  (2-51b)
x
 Radiation Boundary Condition

Heat conduction Radiation exchange

at the surface in a
selected direction
= at the surface in
the same direction

T (0, t )
k  1 Tsurr
4
 T (0, t ) 4
 (2-52a)
x
,1

and
T ( L, t )
k   2 T ( L, t )4  Tsurr
4

,2 
(2-52b)
x
 Interface Boundary Conditions
At the interface the requirements are:
(1) two bodies in contact must have the same
temperature at the area of contact,
(2) an interface (which is a
surface) cannot store any
energy, and thus the heat flux
on the two sides of an
interface must be the same.
TA(x0, t) = TB(x0, t) (2-53)
and
TA ( x0 , t ) T ( x , t )
k A  kB B 0 (2-54)
x x
 Generalized Boundary Conditions
In general a surface may involve convection, radiation,
and specified heat flux simultaneously. The boundary
condition in such cases is again obtained from a surface
energy balance, expressed as
Heat transfer Heat transfer
to the surface
in all modes
= from the surface
In all modes

Heat Generation in Solids

The quantities of major interest in a medium with heat
generation are the surface temperature Ts and the
maximum temperature Tmax that occurs in the medium
in steady operation.
 Variable Thermal Conductivity, k(T)
• The thermal conductivity of a
material, in general, varies with
temperature.
• An average value for the
thermal conductivity is
commonly used when the
variation is mild.
• This is also common practice
for other temperature-
dependent properties such as
the density and specific heat.
 Variable Thermal Conductivity for
One-Dimensional Cases
When the variation of thermal conductivity with
temperature k(T) is known, the average value of the thermal
conductivity in the temperature range between T1 and T2
can be determined from T

2
k (T )dT
kave 
T1 (2-75)
T2  T1
The variation in thermal conductivity of a material
with can often be approximated as a linear function
and expressed as
k (T )  k0 (1   T ) (2-79)

 the temperature coefficient of thermal conductivity.

 Variable Thermal Conductivity
• For a plane wall the
temperature varies linearly
during steady one-
dimensional heat conduction
when the thermal conductivity
is constant.
• This is no longer the case
when the thermal conductivity
changes with temperature
(even linearly).
 Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you should be able to:
• Understand the concept of thermal resistance and its
limitations, and develop thermal resistance networks for
practical heat conduction problems,
• Solve steady conduction problems that involve multilayer
rectangular, cylindrical, or spherical geometries,
• Develop an intuitive understanding of thermal contact
resistance, and circumstances under which it may be
significant,
• Identify applications in which insulation may actually increase
heat transfer,
• Solve multidimensional practical heat conduction problems
using conduction shape factors.
 Steady Heat Conduction in Plane
Walls
1) Considerable temperature difference
between the inner and the outer
surfaces of the wall (significant
temperature gradient in the x
direction).
2) The wall surface is nearly isothermal.

Steady one-dimensional modeling approach is

justified.
• Assuming heat transfer is the only energy interaction
and there is no heat generation, the energy balance
can be expressed as Zero for steady
operation

Rate of Rate of Rate of change

heat transfer - heat transfer = of the energy
into the wall out of the wall of the wall

0
or
dEwall
Qin  Qout  0 (3-1)
dt
The rate of heat transfer through the
wall must be constant ( Qcond ,wall  constant ).
• Then Fourier’s law of heat conduction for the wall
can be expressed as
dT
Qcond ,wall  kA (W) (3-2)
dx
• Remembering that the rate of conduction heat transfer
and the wall area A are constant it follows
dT/dx=constant

the temperature through the wall varies linearly with x.

• Integrating the above equation and rearranging yields
T1  T2
Qcond , wall  kA (W) (3-3)
L
 Thermal Resistance Concept-
Conduction Resistance
• Equation 3–3 for heat conduction through a
plane wall can be rearranged as
T1  T2
Qcond , wall  (W) (3-4)
Rwall
• Where Rwall is the conduction resistance
expressed as
L
Rwall  ( C/W) (3-5)
kA
Analogy to Electrical Current Flow
• Eq. 3-5 is analogous to the relation for electric current
flow I, expressed as V V
I 1 2 (3-6)
Re

Heat Transfer Electrical current flow

Rate of heat transfer  Electric current
Thermal resistance  Electrical resistance
Temperature difference  Voltage difference
 Thermal Resistance Concept-
Convection Resistance
• Thermal resistance can also be applied to convection
processes.
• Newton’s law of cooling for convection heat transfer
rate (Qconv  hAs Ts  T ) can be rearranged as
Ts  T
Qconv  (W) (3-7)
Rconv
• Rconv is the convection resistance

1
Rconv  ( C/W) (3-8)
hAs
 Thermal Resistance Concept-
Radiation Resistance
• The rate of radiation heat transfer between a surface and
the surrounding
Ts  Tsurr

Qrad   As T  T s
4 4
surr   hrad As (Ts  Tsurr ) 
Rrad
(W)

(3-9)
1
Rrad  (K/W) (3-10)
hrad As

hrad 
Qrad
As (Ts  Tsurr )

  Ts2  Tsurr
2
T 
 s surr 
 T (W/m 2
 K)
(3-11)
 Thermal Resistance Concept-
Radiation and Convection Resistance
• A surface exposed to the surrounding might involves
convection and radiation simultaneously.
• The convection and radiation resistances are parallel
to each other.
• When Tsurr≈T∞, the radiation
effect can properly be
accounted for by replacing h
in the convection resistance
relation by
hcombined = hconv+hrad (W/m2K)
(3-12)
 Thermal Resistance Network
• consider steady one-dimensional heat transfer
through a plane wall that is exposed to convection on
both sides.
• Under steady conditions we have
Rate of Rate of Rate of
heat convection = heat conduction = heat convection
into the wall through the wall from the wall

or
Q  h1 A T ,1  T1  
T1  T2
kA  h2 A T2  T ,2 
L
(3-13)
Rearranging and adding
T ,1  T1  Q  Rconv ,1

 T1  T2  Q  Rwall

T2  T ,2  Q  Rconv ,2
T,1  T,2  Q( Rconv,1  Rwall  Rconv,2 )  Q  Rtotal
T,1  T,2
Q (W) (3-15)
Rtotal
where
1 L 1
Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rwall  Rconv ,2    ( C/W)
h1 A kA h2 A
(3-16)
• It is sometimes convenient to express heat transfer
through a medium in an analogous manner to
Newton’s law of cooling as

Q  UADT (W) (3-18)

• where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient.

• Note that
1
UA  ( C/K) (3-19)
Rtotal
 Multilayer Plane Walls
• In practice we often encounter plane walls that consist
of several layers of different materials.
• The rate of steady heat transfer through this two-layer
composite wall can be expressed through Eq. 3-15
where the total thermal
resistance is

Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rwall ,1  Rwall ,2  Rconv ,2

1 L1 L2 1
   
h1 A k1 A k2 A h2 A
(3-22)
 Thermal Contact Resistance
• In reality surfaces have some roughness.
• When two surfaces are pressed against each other, the
peaks form good material contact but the valleys form
voids filled with air.
• As a result, an interface contains
numerous air gaps of varying sizes
that act as insulation because of the
low thermal conductivity of air.
• Thus, an interface offers some
resistance to heat transfer, which
is termed the thermal contact
resistance, Rc.
• The value of thermal contact resistance
depends on the
– surface roughness,
– material properties,
– temperature and pressure at the interface,
– type of fluid trapped at the interface.
• Thermal contact resistance is observed to
decrease with decreasing surface roughness
and increasing interface pressure.
• The thermal contact resistance can be
minimized by applying a thermally conducting
liquid called a thermal grease.
 Generalized Thermal Resistance
Network
• The thermal resistance concept can be used to solve
steady heat transfer problems that involve parallel
layers or combined series-parallel arrangements.
• The total heat transfer of two parallel layers
T1  T2 T1  T2 1 1 
Q  Q1  Q2    T1  T2    
R1 R2  R1 R2 
1
Rtotal (3-29)
1 1 1  RR
     Rtotal = 1 2 (3-31)
Rtotal  R1 R2  R1  R2
Combined Series-Parallel Arrangement
The total rate of heat transfer through
the composite system
T1  T
Q (3-32)
Rtotal

where
R1 R2
Rtotal  R12  R3  Rconv   R3  Rconv (3-33)
R1  R2
L1 L2 L3 1
R1  ; R2  ; R3  ; Rconv  (3-34)
k1 A1 k2 A2 k3 A3 hA3
 Heat Conduction in Cylinders
Consider the long cylindrical layer
Assumptions:
– the two surfaces of the cylindrical
layer are maintained at constant
temperatures T1 and T2,
– no heat generation,
– constant thermal conductivity,
– one-dimensional heat conduction.
Fourier’s law of heat conduction
dT
Qcond ,cyl  kA (W) (3-35)
dr
 dT
Qcond ,cyl  kA (W) (3-35)
dr
Separating the variables and integrating from r=r1,
where T(r1)=T1, to r=r2, where T(r2)=T2
r2 T2
Qcond ,cyl
r r A dr  T T kdT (3-36)
1 1

Substituting A =2prL and performing the integrations

give
T1  T2
Qcond ,cyl  2p Lk (3-37)
ln  r2 / r1 
Since the heat transfer rate is constant
T1  T2
Qcond ,cyl  (3-38)
Rcyl
 Thermal Resistance with Convection
Steady one-dimensional heat transfer through a
cylindrical or spherical layer that is exposed to
convection on both sides
T,1  T,2
Q (3-32)
Rtotal

where
Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rcyl  Rconv ,2 
1 ln  r2 / r1  1
  
 2p r1L  h1 2p Lk  2p r2 L  h2 (3-43)
 Multilayered
Cylinders
• Steady heat transfer through
multilayered cylindrical or
spherical shells can be handled just like multilayered plane.
• The steady heat transfer rate through a three-layered
composite cylinder of length L with convection on both
sides is expressed by Eq. 3-32 where:
Rtotal  Rconv ,1  Rcyl ,1  Rcyl ,3  Rcyl ,3  Rconv ,2  (3-46)
1 ln  r2 / r1  ln  r3 / r2  ln  r4 / r3  1
    
 2p r1L  h1 2p Lk1 2p Lk 2 2p Lk3  2p r2 L  h2
 Critical Radius of Insulation
• Adding more insulation to a wall or to the attic
always decreases heat transfer.
• Adding insulation to a cylindrical pipe or a spherical
shell, however, is a different matter.
• Adding insulation increases the conduction resistance
of the insulation layer but decreases the convection
resistance of the surface because of the increase in the
outer surface area for convection.
• The heat transfer from the pipe may increase or
decrease, depending on which effect dominates.
• A cylindrical pipe of outer radius r1
whose outer surface temperature T1 is
maintained constant.
• The pipe is covered with an insulator
(k and r2).
• Convection heat transfer at T∞ and h.
• The rate of heat transfer from the insulated pipe to the
surrounding air can be expressed as
T1  T T1  T
Q 
Rins  Rconv ln  r2 / r1  1 (3-37)

2p Lk h  2p r2 L 
• The variation of the heat transfer rate with the outer
radius of the insulation r2 is shown
in the figure.
• The value of r2 at which Q
reaches a maximum is
determined by
dQ
0
dr2
• Performing the differentiation
and solving for r2 yields
k
rcr ,cylinder  (m) (3-50)
h
• Thus, insulating the pipe may actually increase the
rate of heat transfer instead of decreasing it.
 Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces

• Newton’s law of cooling

Qconv  hAs Ts  T 

• Two ways to increase the rate of heat transfer:
– increasing the heat transfer coefficient,
– increase the surface area fins
• Fins are the topic of this section.
 Fin Equation
Under steady conditions, the energy balance on this
volume element can be expressed as
Rate of heat Rate of heat Rate of heat
conduction into conduction from the convection from
the element at x
= element at x+Dx
+ the element

or Qcond , x  Qcond , x Dx  Qconv

where Qconv  h  pDx T  T 
Substituting and dividing by Dx, we obtain
Qcond , x Dx  Qcond , x
 hp T  T   0 (3-52)
Dx
Taking the limit as Dx → 0 gives
dQcond
 hp T  T   0 (3-53)
dx
From Fourier’s law of heat conduction we have
dT
Qcond  kAc (3-54)
dx
Substitution of Eq. 3-54 into Eq. 3–53 gives
d  dT 
 kAc   hp T  T   0 (3-55)
dx  dx 
For constant cross section and constant thermal conductivity
d 2q
2
 m 2
q 0 (3-56)
dx
Where hp
q  T  T ; m 
kAc
• Equation 3–56 is a linear, homogeneous, second-order
differential equation with constant coefficients.
• The general solution of Eq. 3–56 is
q ( x)  C1emx  C2e mx (3-58)

• C1 and C2 are constants whose values are to be determined

from the boundary conditions at the base and at the tip of
the fin.
 Boundary Conditions
Several boundary conditions are typically employed:
• At the fin base
– Specified temperature boundary condition, expressed
as: q(0)= qb= Tb-T∞
• At the fin tip
1. Specified temperature
2. Infinitely Long Fin
3. Adiabatic tip
4. Convection (and
combined convection
and radiation).
 Infinitely Long Fin (Tfin tip=T)
• For a sufficiently long fin the temperature at the fin
tip approaches the ambient temperature
Boundary condition: q(L→∞)=T(L)-T∞=0
• When x→∞ so does emx→∞
C1=0
• @ x=0: emx=1 C2= qb
• The temperature distribution:
T ( x)  T  x hp / kAc
 e  mx  e (3-60)
Tb  T
• heat transfer from the entire fin
dT
Q  kAc  hpkAc Tb  T  (3-61)
dx x 0
 Adiabatic Tip
• Boundary condition at fin tip:
dq
0 (3-63)
dx xL
• After some manipulations, the temperature
distribution:
T ( x)  T cosh m  L  x 
 (3-64)
Tb  T cosh mL
• heat transfer from the entire fin
dT
Q  kAc  hpkAc Tb  T  tanh mL (3-65)
dx x 0
Convection (or Combined Convection
and Radiation) from Fin Tip
• A practical way of accounting for the heat loss from
the fin tip is to replace the fin length L in the relation
for the insulated tip case by a corrected length
defined as
Lc=L+Ac/p (3-66)
• For rectangular and cylindrical
fins Lc is
• Lc,rectangular=L+t/2
• Lc,cylindrical =L+D/4
 Fin Efficiency
• To maximize the heat transfer from a fin the
temperature of the fin should be uniform (maximized)
at the base value of Tb
• In reality, the temperature drops along the fin, and thus
the heat transfer from the fin is less
• To account for the effect we define
a fin efficiency
Q fin Actual heat transfer rate from the fin
 fin  
Q fin,max Ideal heat transfer rate from the fin
if the entire fin were at base temperature

or
Q fin   finQ fin ,max   fin hAfin (Tb  T )
(3-69)
 Fin Efficiency
• For constant cross section of very long fins:

Q fin hpkAc Tb  T  1 kAc 1 (3-70)

long , fin    
Q fin,max hAfin Tb  T  L hp mL

• For constant cross section with adiabatic tip:

Q fin hpkAc Tb  T  tanh aL
adiabatic , fin  
Q fin ,max hAfin Tb  T 
(3-71)
tanh mL

mL
 Fin Effectiveness
• The performance of the fins is judged on the basis of the
enhancement in heat transfer relative to the no-fin case.
• The performance of fins is expressed
in terms of the fin effectiveness fin
defined as Heat transfer rate
from the fin of base
Q fin Q fin area Ab
 fin   
Qno fin hAb Tb  T  Heat transfer rate
from the surface
of area Ab
(3-72)
 Remarks regarding fin effectiveness
• The thermal conductivity k of the fin material should
be as high as possible. It is no coincidence that fins
are made from metals.
• The ratio of the perimeter to the cross-sectional area
of the fin p/Ac should be as high as possible.
• The use of fins is most effective in applications
involving a low convection heat transfer coefficient.

The use of fins is more easily justified when the

medium is a gas instead of a liquid and the heat
transfer is by natural convection instead of by forced
convection.
 Overall Effectiveness
• An overall effectiveness for a
finned surface is defined as the
ratio of the total heat transfer
from the finned surface to the
heat transfer from the same
surface if there were no fins.
Q fin
 fin,overall 
Qno fin (3-76)
h  Aunfin   fin Afin 

hAno fin
 Proper Length of a Fin
• An important step in the design of a fin is the
determination of the appropriate length of the fin once
the fin material and the fin cross section are specified.
• The temperature drops along
the fin exponentially and
asymptotically approaches the
ambient temperature at some
length.
Heat Transfer in Common Configurations
• Many problems encountered in practice are two- or
three-dimensional and involve rather complicated
geometries for which no simple solutions are
available.
• 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
Q=Sk(T1-T2) (3-79)
• S is the conduction shape factor, which has the
dimension of length.
Table 3-7