BMCT 3143 – HEAT & MASS

TRANSFER
Radiation
RADIATION
INTRODUCTION
• A hot object in a vacuum
chamber will eventually cool
down and reach thermal
equilibrium with its
surroundings by a heat
transfer mechanism:
radiation.
Radiation differs from conduction and
convection in that it does not require the
presence of a material medium to take
place.
Radiation transfer occurs in solids as well as
liquids and gases.
Nature of Radiation
Accelerated charges or changing electric currents give rise to electric and
magnetic fields. These rapidly moving fields are called electromagnetic waves
or electromagnetic radiation, and they represent the energy emitted by matter as
a result of the changes in the electronic configurations of the atoms or
molecules.
Electromagnetic waves transport energy just like other waves. They are
characterized by their frequency, ν or wavelength, λ. These two properties in a
medium are related by

c = c0 /n
c, the speed of propagation of a wave in that medium
c0 = 2.9979 × 108 m/s, the speed of light in a vacuum
n, the index of refraction of that medium
n = 1 for air and most gases, n = 1.5 for glass, and n = 1.33 for water
Thermal radiation
The type of electromagnetic radiation that is related to
heat transfer is the thermal radiation emitted as a result
of energy transitions of molecules, atoms, and electrons
of a substance.
Temperature is a measure of the strength of these
activities at the microscopic level, and the rate of
thermal radiation emission increases with increasing
temperature.
Thermal radiation is continuously emitted by all matter
whose temperature is above absolute zero.

Everything
around us
constantly
emits
thermal
radiation.
The electromagnetic wave spectrum.
The Electromagnectic Spectrum
Light is simply the visible portion of the
A body that emits some radiation in the
electromagnetic spectrum that lies
visible range is called a light source.
between 0.40 and 0.76 µm.
The sun is our primary light source.
The electromagnetic radiation emitted by
the sun is known as solar radiation, and
nearly all of it falls into the wavelength band
0.3–3 µm.
Almost half of solar radiation is light (i.e., it
falls into the visible range), with the
remaining being ultraviolet and infrared.

The radiation emitted by bodies at room temperature falls into the infrared region of the
spectrum, which extends from 0.76 to 100 µm.
The ultraviolet radiation includes the low-wavelength end of the thermal radiation
spectrum and lies between the wavelengths 0.01 and 0.40 µm. Ultraviolet rays are to be
avoided since they can kill microorganisms and cause serious damage to humans and
other living beings.
About 12 percent of solar radiation is in the ultraviolet range. The ozone (O3) layer in the
atmosphere acts as a protective blanket and absorbs most of this ultraviolet radiation.
 Microwaves in the range of
102-105µm are very suitable
for use in cooking since they
are reflected by metals,
transmitted by glass and
plastics, and absorbed by
food (especially water)
molecules.

In heat transfer studies, we are interested in the energy emitted by bodies

because of their temperature only. Therefore, we limit our consideration to
thermal radiation.
• Radiation is a volumetric phenomenon when the
electrons, atoms, and molecules of all solids,
liquids, and gases above absolute zero temperature
are constantly in motion, and thus radiation is
constantly emitted, as well as being absorbed or
transmitted throughout the entire volume of
matter.
• Radiation is a surface phenomenon when the
radiation emitted by the interior regions can never
reach the surface and the radiation incident on
such bodies is usually absorbed within a few
microns from the surface-for opaque
(nontransparent) solid such as metals, wood and
rocks.
Blackbody radiation
• Different bodies may emit different amounts of radiation per unit
surface area.
• A blackbody emits the maximum amount of radiation by a surface at a
given temperature- an ideal emitter
• A blackbody absorbs all incident radiation, regardless of wavelength
and temperature -ideal absorber
• Radiation emitted is function of wavelength and temperature only, (not
direction). Thus a blackbody is a diffuse (independent of direction) emitter.

The radiation energy emitted by a

blackbody:

Blackbody emissive power

Stefan–Boltzmann constant
Spectral blackbody emissive power:
The amount of radiation energy emitted by a
blackbody at a thermodynamic temperature
T per unit time, per unit surface area, and per
unit wavelength about the wavelength λ.

Planck’s
law

Boltzmann’s constant
The variation of the blackbody emissive power with wavelength for several temperatures

The wavelength at which the

peak occurs for a specified
temperature is given by Wien’s
displacement law:

Note:
a) For a given λ, Eλ,b
increases with T
b) Comparatively more
radiation appears at shorter
wavelength as T increases.
c) At high temperature(sun
∼5800K) much radiation is
in visible part of spectrum
Wien’ s Displacement Law
• Curves of radiative flux vs wavelength, have the same form
for every temperature, but as T increases the height of curve
increses and peak moves to shorter λ.
The Stefan-Boltzman law Eb=σT4 gives the total radiation emitted by a blackbody
at all wavelengths from λ = 0 to λ= ∞ . But in practice, the amount of radiation
emitted over some wavelentgh band is focusing interest. The radiation energy
emitted by a blackbody per unit area over a wavelength band from λ = 0 to λ is

Blackbody radiation function fλ:

The fraction of radiation emitted from a
blackbody at temperature T in the
wavelength band from λ = 0 to λ.
EXAMPLE 1

• Consider a 20cm x 20cm x 20cm cubical body at 900 K

suspended in the air. Assuming the body closely approximates
a blackbody, determine

(a) The rate at which the cube emits radiation energy, in W

(b) The spectral blackbody emissive power at a wavelength of
4µ.m.
Solution
• An isothermal cubical body is suspended in the air. The rate at which the cube emits radiation
energy and the spectral blackbody emissive power are to be determined.
• Assumptions The body behaves as a black body.
(a) The total blackbody emissive power is determined from Stefan-Boltzman
Law to be

As = 6a 2 = 6(0.2 2 ) = 0.24 m 2

Eb (T ) = σT 4 As = (5.67 × 10−8 W/m2 .K 4 )(900 K)4 (0.24 m 2 ) = 8928 W

(b) The spectral blackbody emissive power at a wavelength of 4 is
determined from Plank's distribution law,

C1 3.74177 × 10 8 W ⋅ µm 4 /m 2
E bλ = =
5  C2  
λ exp 
  1 . 43878 × 10 4
µ m ⋅ K  
 − 1 ( 4 µm) exp 
5
 − 1
  λT     ( 4 µm)(900 K)  
= 6841 W/m 2 ⋅ µm = 6.84 kW/m 2 ⋅ µm
EXAMPLE 2

• A 3 mm thick glass window transmits 90 percent of the

radiation between λ = 0.3 and 3.0 µ.m. and is essentially
opaque for radiation at other wavelengths. Determine the rate
of radiation transmitted through a 3 m x 3 m glass window
from blackbody sources at

(a) 5800 K
(b) 1000 K
EXAMPLE 3
RADIATION INTENSITY
• Radiation is emitted by all parts of a plane
surface in all directions into the
hemisphere above the surface, and the
directional distribution of emitted (or
incident) radiation is usually not uniform.
• Therefore, we need a quantity that
describes the magnitude of radiation
emitted (or incident) in a specified
direction in space.
• This quantity is radiation intensity,
denoted by I (W/m2. sr).

• Rate of radiant energy propagation in a

particular direction, per unit area normal
to the direction per unit solid angle about
the direction .
• EMITTED RADIATION
RELATION TO......

IRRADIATION

• Rate at which radiation is incident on a surface

from all directions per unit area of the surface, G
(W/m2).

RADIOSITY

• Accounts for all the radiant energy leaving a

surface.
• Rate at which radiation leaves a surface due to
emission and reflection in all directions per unit
area of the surface, J (W/m2).
RADIATIVE PROPERTIES
Most materials encountered in practice, such as metals, wood, and bricks, are opaque to
thermal radiation, and radiation is considered to be a surface phenomenon for such materials.
Radiation through semitransparent materials such as glass and water cannot be considered to
be a surface phenomenon since the entire volume of the material interacts with radiation.
A blackbody can serve as a convenient reference in describing the emission and absorption
characteristics of real surfaces.

Emissivity
• Emissivity: The ratio of the radiation emitted by the surface at a given temperature to the
radiation emitted by a blackbody at the same temperature. 0 ≤ ε ≤ 1.
• Emissivity is a measure of how closely a surface approximates a blackbody (εε = 1).
• The emissivity of a real surface varies with the temperature of the surface as well as the
wavelength and the direction of the emitted radiation.
• The emissivity of a surface at a specified wavelength is called spectral emissivity ελ. The
emissivity in a specified direction is called directional emissivity εθ where θ is the angle
between the direction of radiation and the normal of the surface.
 Spectral
directional
emissivity
Total
directional
emissivity

Spectral
hemispherical
emissivity

Total
hemispherical
emissivity

This is the ratio of the total radiation energy

emitted by the surface to the radiation emitted
by a blackbody of the same surface area at the
same temperature.
A surface is said to be diffuse if its properties are independent of direction,
and gray if its properties are independent of wavelength.
The gray and diffuse approximations are often utilized in radiation
calculations.
EXAMPLE 4
• The spectral emissivity function of an opaque surface at
1000K is approximated as
ελ = ε1 = 0.4, 0 ≤ λ < 3 µm
ε2 = 0.7, 3 µm ≤ λ< 6 µm
ε3 = 0.3, 6 µm ≤ λ< ∞

Determine the average emissivity of the surface and the rate of

radiation emission from the surface in W/m2.
 Irradiation, G:
Radiation flux
incident on a
surface.

Absorptivity,
Reflectivity, and
Transmissivity

for opaque surfaces

EXAMPLE 5
The emissivity of a surface coated with aluminium oxide can
approximated to be 0.15 for radiation at wavelength less than 5
µm and 0.9 for radiation at wavelengths greater 5 µm. Determine
the average emissivity of this surface at
a) 5800 K
b) 300 K

What can you say about the absorptivity of this surface for
radiation coming from sources at 5800K and 300K?
Example :

A small solid metallic sphere has an opaque, diffuse coating

for which αλ = 0.8 for λ≤ 5µm and αλ = 0.1 for λ≥ 5µm . The
sphere, which is initially at a uniform temperature of 300 K, is
inserted into a large furnace whose walls are at 1200 K.
Determine the total, hemispherical absorptivity and emissivity
of the coating for the initial condition and for the final, steady
state condition.
Analysis:
Another example……
Another example……
A thin coating, which is applied to long cylindrical copper rods of 10 mm
diameter is cured by placing the rods horizontally in a large furnace whose
walls are maintained at 1300K. The furnace is filled with nitrogen gas, which is
also at 1300K and at a pressure of 1 atm. The coating is diffuse, and its spectral
emissivity has the distribution shown.

(a) What are the emissivity and absorptivity of the coated rods when the air
temperature is 300K?
(b) What is the initial rate of change of their temperature?
(c) What are the emissivity and absorptivity of the coated rods when they reach a
steady state temperature.