Chapter 4

Principles of steady-state
heat transfer

Temperature and Its Measurement

How do we measure temperature?
Thermometer: Device with a physical

property that changes with temperature

and can be easily measured
quantitatively.
If two objects are in contact with one
another long enough, the two objects
have the same temperature (thermal
equilibrium).
Two or more objects in thermal
equilibrium have the same

Heat and Temperature

Heat:
Heat is the energy that flows from one object to another when
there is a difference in temperature between the objects. Heat is
the average kinetic energy of atoms or molecules making up the
system.
Temperature:
Temperature is an indication
of whether or not and in which
direction, the heat will flow
(Temperature is an indication
of the average of kinetic energy
of atoms or molecules).

Phase Change and Latent Heat

When an object goes through a change of phase

or state, heat is added or removed without

changing the temperature. Instead, the state of
matter changes: solid to liquid, for example.

The amount of heat needed per unit mass to

produce a phase change is called the latent heat

(L)
The latent heat of fusion of water is 80 cal/g (Lf =

80 cal/g is 80 cal/g): it takes 80 calorie of heat the

melt 1 g of ice at 0C to become water at 0C.
The latent heat of vaporization of water is 540 cal/g
(Lv = 540 cal/g): it takes 540 calories of heat to turn
one gram of water at 100 C into steam at 100 C.

HEAT TRANSFER MECHANISMS

Heat as the form of energy that can be transferred from

one system to another as a result of temperature

difference.
A thermodynamic analysis is concerned with the amount
of heat transfer as a system undergoes a process from one
equilibrium state to another.
The science that deals with the determination of the rates
of such energy transfers is the heat transfer.
The transfer of energy as heat is always from the highertemperature medium to the lower-temperature one, and
heat transfer stops when the two mediums reach the
same temperature.
Heat can be transferred in three basic modes:
conduction
convection
radiation
All modes of heat transfer require the existence of a
temperature difference.

Conduction: heat flow when in contact

The

rate of heat flow depends on:

a) the temperature difference between
the objects.
b) the thermal conductivity of the
materials, a measure of how well the
materials conduct heat.

A metal block at room

temperature will feel
colder than a wood block
of the exact same
temperature. Why?

CONDUCTION
Conduction: The transfer of energy from the more energetic
particles of a substance to the adjacent less energetic ones as a
result of interactions between the particles.
In gases and liquids, conduction is due to the collisions and
diffusion of the molecules during their random motion.
In solids, it is due to the combination of vibrations of the
molecules in a lattice and the energy transport by free electrons.
The rate of heat conduction through a plane layer is proportional to
the temperature difference across the layer and the heat transfer
area, but is inversely proportional to the thickness of the layer.
Heat conduction through a
large plane wall of
thickness x and area A.

When x 0

Fouriers law of heat

conduction

Thermal conductivity, k: A measure of the ability of a material to

conduct heat.
Temperature gradient dT/dx: The slope of the temperature curve
on a T-x diagram.
Heat is conducted in the direction of decreasing temperature, and
the temperature gradient becomes negative when temperature
decreases with increasing x. The negative sign in the equation
ensures that heat transfer in the positive x direction is a positive
quantity.

In heat conduction analysis,

A represents the area normal
to the direction of heat
transfer.

The rate of heat conduction

through a solid is directly
proportional to its thermal
conductivity.

Modes of Heat transfer

T2 < T1

T1
q

T2 < T1

insulator
T1

T2

x
A

qx the conducted heat rate in

the x-direction has
phenomenologically been found
to be adequately represented
by:

dT
q x kA
dx
Flux

Conductivity

Temperature
gradient

Conduction through a solid

Thermal Conductivity
Thermal conductivity: The
rate of heat transfer through
a unit thickness of the
material per unit area per
unit temperature difference.
The thermal conductivity
of a material is a measure
of the ability of the
material to conduct heat.
A high value for thermal
conductivity indicates that
the material is a good heat
conductor, and a low value
indicates that the material A simple experimental setup to
is a poor heat conductor or determine the thermal
conductivity of a material.
insulator.

The range of
thermal
conductivity of
various materials
at room
temperature.

The thermal conductivities of gases such as air vary

by a factor of 104 from those of pure metals such as
copper.
Pure crystals and metals have the highest thermal
conductivities, and gases and insulating materials
the lowest.

The variation of the

thermal conductivity
of various solids,
liquids, and gases with
temperature.

Thermal Diffusivity
cp Specific heat, J/kg C: Heat capacity per unit
mass
cp Heat capacity, J/m3C: Heat capacity per unit
volume
Thermal diffusivity, m2/s: Represents how fast
heat diffuses through a material

A material that has a high thermal conductivity

or a low heat capacity will obviously have a
large thermal diffusivity.
The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster the
propagation of heat into the medium.
A small value of thermal diffusivity means that
heat is mostly absorbed by the material and a
small amount of heat is conducted further.

Types of Convection
Chilled water
pipes
Natural convection
Hot air rising
Qout

Qin

Cool air falling

Driven by buoyancy

q '' h(Ts T )
Flux W/m2

Convection
coefficient
Surface
Temp

Freestream
Temp

Convection: heat
is transferred by
the motion of a
fluid containing
thermal energy.

Radiation, heat
energy is transferred
by electromagnetic
waves.
can take place across
a vacuum.

What heat-flow processes are involved in

the greenhouse effect?