EME4016 Heat Transfer

1
1. Heat Transfer

Heat transfer is the science that seeks to predict the energy transfer that may take place
between material bodies as a result of temperature difference. When two bodies are at
different temperatures, thermal energy transfers from the one with higher temperature to
the one with lower temperature. Heat always transfers from hot to cold. The kind of
energy being transferred is known as heat in Thermodynamics. Heat transfer seeks not
merely to explain how heat energy may be transferred, but also to predict the rate at
which the exchange will take place under specified conditions. Hence, heat transfer may
be used to predict the temperature of the material bodies involved as a function of time.

Three Modes of Heat Transfer
There are three modes of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. Any
energy exchange between bodies occurs through one of these modes or a combination of
them. Conduction is the transfer of heat through solids or stationery fluids. Convection
uses the movement of fluids to transfer heat. Radiation does not require a medium for
transferring heat; this mode uses the electromagnetic radiation emitted by an object for
exchanging heat.

Conduction heat transfer
When a temperature gradient exists in a body, an energy transfer takes place from the
high-temperature region to the low-temperature region. The energy is transferred by
conduction and the heat transfer rate per unit area is proportional to the normal
temperature gradient:


q
A
~
T
x


When the proportionality constant is inserted, it is known as Fouriers law of heat
conduction:


q = k A
T
x


where q is the heat transfer rate and T / x is the temperature gradient in the direction
of the heat flow. The positive constant k is called the thermal conductivity of the material
and the minus sign inserted so that the second principle of thermodynamics will be
satisfied, i.e. heat must flow downhill on the temperature scale. Heat flow is expressed in
watts, hence k has the units of watts per meter per Celsius degree.

Consider the 1-D system shown in figure 1, in general case




EME4016 Heat Transfer
2

Figure 1

Energy conducted in left face + heat generated within element = change in internal
energy + energy conducted out right face

These energy quantities are given as follows:

Energy in left face = q
x
= k A
T
x


Energy generated within element (by means of heat sources or sinks) =

q A dx

Change in internal energy = c A
t
T

dx

Energy out right face = q
x + dx
= k A


T
x

x + dx


= A






k
T
x
+

x

\

|
|
k
T
x
dx

where

q = energy generated per unit volume, W/m
3

c = specific heat of material, J/kgC
= density, kg/m
3

Combining the relations above gives

k A
T
x
+

q A dx = c A
t
T

dx A






k
T
x
+

x

\

|
|
k
T
x
dx

EME4016 Heat Transfer
3
or

x

\

|
|
k
T
x
+

q = c
t
T

To treat 3-D heat flow problem, we need to consider the heat conducted in and out of a
unit volume in all three coordinate system. Similar to 1-D problem, the energy balance
yields:

q
x
+ q
y
+ q
z
+ q
gen
= q
x + dx
+ q
y + dy
+ q
z + dz
+
dt
dE


and the energy quantities are given by

q
x
= k dy dz
T
x

q
x + dx
=






k
T
x
+

x

\

|
|
k
T
x
dx dy dz
q
y
= k dx dz
T
y

q
y + dy
=






k
T
y
+

y

\

|
|
k
T
y
dy dx dz

q
z
= k dx dy
T
z

q
z + dz
=






k
T
z
+

z

\

|
|
k
T
z
dz dx dy

q
gen
=

q dx dy dz

dE
d
= c dx dy dz
T



so that the general 3-D heat conduction equation is



x

\

|
|
k
T
x
+

y

\

|
|
k
T
y
+

z

\

|
|
k
T
z
+

q = c
dt
dE


For constant thermal conductivity equation above is written



2
T
x
2
+

2
T
y
2
+

2
T
z
2
+

q
k
=
1


t
T

(1.1)

where the quantity = k/ c is called the thermal diffusivity or the material. The larger
the value of , the faster heat will diffuse through the material. Thermal diffusivity has
units of square meters per sec.
EME4016 Heat Transfer
4

Equation 1.1 may be transformed into either cylindrical or spherical coordinates as given
in the Appendices. Equation (1.1) may be reduced for the special cases stated below.

Steady-state one-dimensional heat flow (no heat generation):


d
2
T
dx
2

= 0

Steady-state one-dimensional heat flow with heat sources:


d
2
T
dx
2

+

q
k
= 0 (1.2)

Two-dimensional steady-state conduction without heat sources:



2
T
x
2
+

2
T
y
2
= 0 (1.3)


Convection heat transfer

Convection uses the motion of fluids to transfer heat. In a typical convective heat
transfer, a hot surface heats the surrounding fluid, which is then carried away by fluid
movement such as wind. The warm fluid is replaced by cooler fluid, which can draw
more heat away from the surface. Since the heated fluid is constantly replaced by cooler
fluid, the rate of heat transfer is enhanced. Consider a heated plate as shown in figure 2.
The temperature of the plate is T
w
, and the temperature of the fluid is T

. As the velocity
of the fluid layer at the wall is zero, the actual physical mechanism of heat transfer takes
place at the wall is a conduction process which depends on the thermal conductivity of
the fluid and the fluid temperature gradient at the wall. However, this fluid temperature
gradient is determined by the velocity profile of the fluid itself a higher overall velocity
produces a larger temperature gradient. As viscosity influences the velocity profile of the
fluid, we are speaking of convection that takes into consideration of the fluid thermal
properties and viscosity. The overall effect of convection can be expressed as Newtons
law of cooling:

q = h A (T
w
T

) (1.4)

Here the heat transfer rate is related to the overall temperature difference between the
wall and the fluid and the surface area A. The quantity h is called the convection heat-
transfer coefficient. The units of h are in watts per m
2
per C. If a heated plate were
exposed to ambient room air without an external source of motion, a movement of the air
would be experienced as a result of the density gradient near the wall. We call this
natural, or free, convection as opposed to forced convection, which is experienced in the
case of the fan blowing air over a plate.
EME4016 Heat Transfer
5


Figure 2




Convection energy balance on a flow channel

As shown in figure 3, the heated wall at T
w
loses heat to the cooler fluid, which
consequently rises in temperature as it flows from inlet conditions at T
i
to exit conditions
at T
e
. Using the symbol i to designate the enthalpy, the energy balance on the fluid is

q =

m (i
e
i
i
)

where

m is the fluid mass flow rate. For many single phase liquids and gases operating
over reasonable temperature ranges i = c
p
T and we have

q =

m c
p
(T
e
T
i
) = h A (T
w, avg
T
fluid, avg
) (1.5)

where T
e
, T
i
,T
fluid, avg
are called energy average temperatures.





Figure 3


Radiation heat transfer

In contrast to conduction and convection, where energy transfers through material
medium, radiation heat transfer does not require a medium to pass through; thus, it is the
only form of heat transfer present in vacuum. It uses electromagnetic radiation (photons),

EME4016 Heat Transfer
6
which travels at the speed of light and is emitted by any matter with temperature above 0
degrees Kelvin (273 C). This is called thermal radiation. Radiation heat transfer occurs
when the emitted radiation strikes another body and is absorbed. We all experience
radiation heat transfer everyday; solar radiation, absorbed by our skin, is why we feel
warmer in the sun than in the shade.

The ideal thermal radiator, or blackbody, will emit energy at a rate that can be expressed
as Stefan-Boltzmann law of thermal radiation:

q
emitted,blackbody
=E
b
= A T
4


where is the proportionality constant and is called the Stefan-Boltzmann constant with
the value of 5.669 10
-8
W/m
2
K
4
. The equation (1.6) governs only radiation emitted by
a blackbody. The heat flux emitted by a real surface is less than a blackbody. Hence, the
energy emitted is given by

q
emitted,blackbody
=E
b
= A T
4


where is a radiative property of the surface termed emissitivity with 0 1.

Irradiation G is radiation incident on a unit of surface area whereby a portion or all of the
irradiation may be absorbed by the surface. The rate at which radiant energy is absorbed
is evaluated from a surface radiative property termed absorptivity .. Hence,

G
abs
= .G

A special case occurs for radiation exchange between a small surface at Ts and a much
larger, isothermal surface at T
sur
that surrounds the smaller one.


q= q/A= E
b
- G
abs
= A( T
1
4
-T
sur
4
) (1.6)

assuming that =.













EME4016 Heat Transfer
7


Appendices




References:

1. F. P. Incropera, D. P. DeWitt, T. L. Bergman and A. S. Lavine, Introduction to Heat Transfer, 5
th

Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2007.
2. J. P. Holman, Heat Transfer, 9
th
Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2002.