ME - 472

Heat and Mass Transfer

Heat Conduction Equations in
Cylindrical & Spherical Coordinates
By
Prof. Dr. Asad Naeem Shah
 Heat Conduction Equation in
cylindrical co-ordinates (r, θ, z)
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.

• Area at which heat enters (in radial direction) = ABEF

• Area at which heat leaves (in r-direction) = CDHG
• Dimensions of element of a cylinder = (dr, ds = rdθ,& dz)
• Heat inflow = qr, qθ & qz
• Heat outflow = qr+dr, qθ+dθ & qz+dz
• For unsteady state conditions:
qin – qout + qgen = rate of change of I. E.

• Thus
T
(qr  q  qz )  (qr  dr  q  d  qz  dz )  qV  Vc  (1)
t
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.

• Using Taylor’s expansion theorem, and considering only

first two terms in each case:

qr  dr  qr  (qr )dr
r
• Eq. (1) leads to:
   T
 (qr )dr  (q )d  (qz )dz  qV  Vc  (2)
r  z t
• But, q = -KA(dT/thickness), where A = area
perpendicular to the heat flow; so

T T T
qr   K (rd )(dz ) ; q   K (dr )(dz ) & qz   K (rd )(dr )
r r z
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.

1  T 1  T  T q 1 T
(r ) 2 ( ) ( )   (3)
r r r r   z z K  t
K

c
A

C D
0

E B
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in cylindrical co-ordinates Cont.
 Heat Conduction Equation in
Spherical Co-ordinates (r, θ, Φ)
• qr = heat entering through ABGH in r-direction
• qθ = heat entering through ADFH in θ-direction
• qΦ = heat entering through GHEF in Φ-direction
• Heat inflow = qr, qθ & qΦ
• Heat outflow = qr+dr, qθ+dθ, & qΦ+dΦ
• For unsteady state conditions:
qin – qout + qgen = Rate of change of I.E

• Thus
T
(qr  q  q )  (qr  dr  q  d  q  d )  qV  Vc  (1)
t
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.

• Expansion by Taylor’s theorem and neglecting of higher

terms lead to:
   T
 (qr )dr  (q )d  (q )d  qV  Vc  (2)
r   t

• But, q = -KA(dT/thickness), where A = area perpendicular

to the heat flow. However;
• (dr) & {(rdθ)(rsinθdΦ)} be the thickness and area for r-direction
• (rdθ) & {(dr)(rsinθdΦ)} be the thickness and area in case of θ-
direction, respectively
• (rsinθdΦ) & {(dr)(rdθ)} be the thickness and area in case of Φ-
direction, respectively
 Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.

• Thus Eq. (2) leads to:

 T  T  drd T T
 [ Kd sin dr (r 2 )]dr  [ Kdrd (sin  )]d  [ K ( )]d  qV  Vc  (3)
r r    sin   t

• Simplifying & dividing by KV

where V  r 2
sin  .dr.d .d

• Finally, Eq. (3) gives:

1  2 T 1  T 1  T q 1 T
( r )  (sin  )  ( )    (4)
r r
2
r r sin  
2
 r sin   
2 2
K  t
where K

c
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.
Heat Conduction Equation in Spherical co-ordinates Cont.
 PROBLEM
In a domestic air conditioning system copper tubing is
soldered in place from the condenser unit to the evaporator
unit. The refrigerant keeps the inside wall of the tubing at
4ºC. In order that little heat is gained through the tube wall, it
is covered with a sponge type of insulation that is 12 mm
thick and has thermal conductivity of 0.03 W/m.K. The
outside surface temperature of the insulation is 21ºC.
Determine the heat gain per unit length of tubing. For copper
k = 399 W/m.K; r1 = 13.4 mm; r2 = 14.3 mm
 Home Assignment

Examples: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5

Problems: 2.1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 16,

17, 20, 26, 27, 56
Thanks