Objectives

• 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.
• Analyze finned surfaces, and assess how efficiently and
effectively fins enhance heat transfer.
• Solve multidimensional practical heat conduction problems using
conduction shape factors.
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.
* 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, , z, t)
- spherical T(r, , , t).
Steady versus Transient Heat Transfer

• Steady implies no change

with time at any point within
the medium.
Example: Heat transfer through
the walls of a house is steady
when the conditions inside the
house and the outdoors remain
constant for several hours.

• Transient implies variation

with time or time
dependence.
Example: The cooling of an apple
in a refrigerator, on the other hand
is a transient heat transfer process
since the temperature at any fixed
point within the apple will change
with time during cooling.
 • In the special case of
variation with time but
not with position, the
temperature of the
medium changes
uniformly with time.
Such heat transfer
systems are called
lumped systems.
• Interior temperature of
some bodies remains
essentially uniform at
all times during a heat
transfer process.

A small copper ball can be

modeled as a lumped system,
but a roast beef cannot.
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.
 One-dimensional if the temperature in the medium varies in one
direction only and thus heat is transferred in one direction, and the
variation of temperature and thus heat transfer in other directions
are negligible or zero.
 Two-dimensional if the temperature in a medium, in some cases,
varies mainly in two primary directions, and the variation of
temperature in the third direction (and thus heat transfer in that
direction) is negligible.
 A medium through which heat is conducted may involve the
conversion of mechanical, electrical, nuclear or chemical energy into
heat – known as heat (or thermal energy) generation.
 Heat generation is a volumetric phenomenon. Heat
 The rate of heat generation unit: W/m3 or Btu/h·ft3. Generation
 The rate of heat generation in a medium may vary with time as well
as position within the medium.
Examples:
 electrical energy being converted to heat at a rate of I2R
 fuel elements of nuclear reactors
 exothermic chemical reactions
STEADY HEAT CONDUCTION IN PLANE WALLS
Heat transfer through the wall of a house can be
modeled as steady and one-dimensional.
The temperature of the wall in this case depends
on one direction only (say the x-direction) and
can be expressed as T(x).

for steady operation

In steady operation, the rate of heat transfer
through the wall is constant.

Fourier’s law of
heat conduction
 The rate of heat conduction through
a plane wall is proportional to the
average thermal conductivity, the
wall area, and the temperature
difference, but is inversely
proportional to the wall thickness.
Once the rate of heat conduction is
available, the temperature T(x) at
any location x can be determined by
Under steady conditions, the
replacing T2 by T, and L by x.
temperature distribution in a plane
wall is a straight line: dT/dx = const.
Thermal Resistance Concept

Conduction resistance of the wall:

Thermal resistance of the wall
against heat conduction.
Thermal resistance of a medium
depends on the geometry and the
thermal properties of the medium.
which is the electric
resistance.
Analogy between thermal and electrical
resistance concepts.
rate of heat transfer  electric current
thermal resistance  electrical resistance
temperature difference  voltage
difference
Newton’s law of cooling

Convection resistance of the surface:

Thermal resistance of the surface
against heat convection.

Schematic for convection resistance at a surface.

When the convection heat transfer coefficient is very large (h → ),

the convection resistance becomes zero and Ts  T.
That is, the surface offers no resistance to convection, and thus it does
not slow down the heat transfer process.
This situation is approached in practice at surfaces where boiling
and condensation occur.
 Radiation resistance of the surface:
Thermal resistance of a surface
against radiation.

Radiation heat transfer coefficient

where hcombined is the

combined heat transfer
coefficient.

Schematic for convection and

radiation resistances at a surface.
 Thermal Resistance Network

The thermal resistance network for heat transfer through a plane wall subjected to
convection on both sides, and the electrical analogy.
Temperature drop
The temperature drop across any layer is
proportional to the thermal resistance of
the layer.
The larger the resistance, the larger the
temperature drop.

U is the overall heat

transfer coefficient
Once Q is evaluated, the
surface temperature T1 can
be determined from
The temperature drop across a layer is
proportional to its thermal resistance.
Multilayer
Plane Walls

The thermal resistance

network for heat transfer
through a two-layer plane
wall subjected to
convection on both sides.
 THE COMPOSITE WALL
Example Heat transfer
hA k1 k2 k3 kn hB
The wall of a analysis
building TA
Fluid B
The concept
A row of brick T1 ………. of thermal
T0
An air gap T2 resistance
A second row of
T3
brick q Tn-1
q An electrical
Cement
The outside analogy
Fluid A Tn
surface
TB

x1 x2 x3 xn
Conduction RA R1 R2 R3 Rn RB
q Convection
RA R1 R2 R3 Rn RB
I

Electrical
analogy:
Conduction Convection
thermal resistance thermal resistance
EXAMPLE 1

Consider a 1.5 m high and 2.4 m wide glass window whose

thickness is 6 mm and thermal conductivity is k = 0.78
W/m.K. Determine the steady rate of heat transfer through
this glass window and the temperature of its inner surface
for a day during which the room is maintained at 24oC while
the temperature of the outdoors is -5oC. Take the
convection heat transfer coefficients on the inner and outer
surfaces of the window to be h1= 10 W/m2.K and h2 = 25
W/m2K, and disregard any heat transfer by radiation.
 THERMAL CONTACT RESISTANCE

Temperature distribution and

heat flow lines along two solid
plates pressed against each
other for the case of perfect
and imperfect contact.

• When two such surfaces are pressed against each other, the peaks form good
material contact but the valleys form voids filled with air.
• These numerous air gaps of varying sizes act as insulation because of the low
thermal conductivity of air.
• Thus, an interface offers some resistance to heat transfer, and this resistance
per unit interface area is called the thermal contact resistance, Rc.
 The value of thermal contact
resistance depends on:
• surface roughness
• material properties
hc is called the thermal • temperature and pressure at the
contact conductance interface
• type of fluid trapped at the
interface

Rc is the inverse of hc

Thermal contact resistance is significant and can even dominate the

heat transfer for good heat conductors such as metals, but can be
disregarded for poor heat conductors such as insulations.
The thermal contact resistance can be
minimized by applying
• a thermal grease such as silicon oil
• a better conducting gas such as helium or Effect of metallic coatings on
hydrogen thermal contact conductance.
• a soft metallic foil such as tin, silver,
copper, nickel, or aluminum
GENERALIZED THERMAL RESISTANCE NETWORKS

Thermal resistance
network for two
parallel layers.
Two assumptions in solving complex
multidimensional heat transfer
problems by treating them as one-
dimensional using the thermal
resistance network are
(1) any plane wall normal to the x-axis is
isothermal (i.e., to assume the
temperature to vary in the x-direction
only)
(2) any plane parallel to the x-axis is
adiabatic (i.e., to assume heat transfer to Thermal resistance network for
occur in the x-direction only combined series-parallel
arrangement.
EXAMPLE 2
 HEAT CONDUCTION IN CYLINDERS AND SPHERES
Heat is lost from a hot-water pipe to
the air outside in the radial
direction, and thus heat transfer
from a long pipe is one-
dimensional.
Heat transfer through the
pipe can be modeled as steady
and one-dimensional (fluid
temperatures inside and outside
remain constant).
The temperature of the pipe
depends on one direction
only (the radial r-direction)
and can be expressed as T =
T(r).
The temperature is
independent of the azimuthal
angle or the axial distance.
This situation is
approximated in practice in
long cylindrical pipes and
spherical containers.
A long cylindrical pipe (or spherical
shell) with specified inner and outer
surface temperatures T1 and T2.

is the conduction resistance/thermal resistance of the cylinder layer.

28
 A spherical shell
with specified
inner and outer
surface
temperatures T1
and T2.

is the conduction resistance of the spherical layer.

29
 where

for a cylindrical layer, and

The thermal resistance

network for a cylindrical
(or spherical) shell
subjected to convection
from both the inner and for a spherical layer
the outer sides. 30
Multilayered Cylinders and Spheres

The thermal resistance

network for heat
transfer through a
three-layered composite
cylinder subjected to
convection on both
sides.

31
 Once heat transfer rate Q has been
calculated, the interface temperature
T2 can be determined from any of the
following two relations:

32
 THE COMPOSITE CYLINDER

Conduction q Convection
Fluid A

r1
r2
r3 ri
…
rn Fluid B
Conduction Convection
thermal resistance thermal resistance
ro

RB R1 R2 R3 Rn RA
q
RB R1 R2 R3 Rn RA
I
 THE COMPOSITE SPHERE

Conduction Q Convection
Fluid A

r1
r2
r3 ri
…
rn Fluid B
Conduction Convection
thermal resistance thermal resistance
ro

RB R1 R2 R3 Rn RA
Q
RB R1 R2 R3 Rn RA
I
CRITICAL RADIUS OF INSULATION
Adding more insulation to a wall
or to the attic always decreases heat
transfer since the heat transfer area
is constant, and adding insulation
always increases the thermal
resistance of the wall without
increasing the convection
resistance.
In a cylindrical pipe or a spherical
shell, the additional insulation
increases the conduction
resistance of the insulation layer
but decreases the convection An insulated cylindrical pipe exposed
resistance of the surface because of to convection from the outer surface
the increase in the outer surface and the thermal resistance network
area for convection. associated with it.
The heat transfer from the pipe
may increase or decrease,
depending on which effect
dominates.
35
The critical radius of insulation
for a cylindrical body:

The critical radius of

insulation for a spherical
shell:

The largest value of the critical

radius we are likely to
encounter is

We can insulate hot-water or

steam pipes freely without
worrying about the possibility of
increasing the heat transfer by
insulating the pipes.
The variation of heat transfer
rate with the outer radius of the
insulation r2 when r1 < rcr.
36
EXAMPLE 3 [Prob: 3-76 (Y. Cengel)]

Superheated steam at an avarage temperature 200oC is

transported though a steel pipe (k = 50 W/m.K, Do= 8 cm,
Di= 6 cm and L= 20 m. The pipe is insulated with a 4 cm
thick layer of gypsium plaster (k = 0.5 W/m.K). The
insulated pipe is placed horizontally inside a warehouse
where the average air temperature is 10oC. The steam and
the heat transfer coefficients are estimated to be 800 and
200 W/m2.K, respectively.
Calculate :-
(a) The daily rate of heat transfer from the superheated
steam.
(b) The temperature on the outside surface of the Gypsum
pluster insulation.
HEAT TRANSFER FROM FINNED SURFACES
Newton’s law of cooling: The rate of heat transfer
from a surface to the surrounding medium

When Ts and T are fixed, there are two

ways to increase the rate of heat transfer:
• Increase the convection heat transfer
coefficient h. This may require the
installation of a pump or fan, or
replacing the existing one with a larger
one, but this approach may or may not
be practical. Besides, it may not be
adequate.
• Increase the surface area As by attaching to
the surface extended surfaces called fins
made of highly conductive materials
such as aluminum.

38
 CONDUCTION-CONVECTION SYSTEMS
System that involve the heat transfer through a material by CONDUCTION and
dissipated to the surrounding by CONVECTION: FIN APPLICATION
Energy Balance:
dqconv=hPdx( T - Th )
E in, left face = E out, right face + E lost, convection

To
t

A
qx qx+dx

dx
Base

Z
L
x

Fin of uniform cross sectional area

protruding from a flat wall

Boundary condition Boundary condition at fin base

depend on the
physical situation:
4 CASES
General
solution
 1 Infinitely Long Fin
(Tfin tip = T)

Boundary condition at fin tip

Boundary conditions at the fin

The variation of temperature along the fin base and the fin tip.

The steady rate of heat transfer from the entire fin

 Under steady conditions, heat
transfer from the exposed surfaces
of the fin is equal to heat conduction
to the fin at the base.
The rate of heat transfer from the fin could also
be determined by considering heat transfer from
a differential volume element of the fin and
integrating it over the entire surface of the fin:

A long circular fin of uniform

cross section and the variation
of temperature along it.
2 Negligible Heat Loss from the Fin Tip
(Adiabatic fin tip, Qfin tip = 0)
Fins are not likely to be so long that their temperature approaches the
surrounding temperature at the tip. A more realistic assumption is
for heat transfer from the fin tip to be negligible since the surface area
of the fin tip is usually a negligible fraction of the total fin area.

Boundary condition at fin tip

The variation of temperature along the

fin

Heat transfer from the entire fin

3 Specified Temperature (Tfin,tip = TL)
In this case the temperature at the end of the fin (the fin tip) is
fixed at a specified temperature TL.
This case could be considered as a generalization of the case of
Infinitely Long Fin where the fin tip temperature was fixed at T.
4 Convection from Fin Tip
The fin tips, in practice, are exposed to the surroundings, and thus the proper
boundary condition for the fin tip is convection that may also include the effects
of radiation. Consider the case of convection only at the tip. The condition
at the fin tip can be obtained from an energy balance at the 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

t is the thickness of the rectangular fins.

D is the diameter of the cylindrical fins.
Corrected fin length Lc is defined such
that heat transfer from a fin of length Lc
with insulated tip is equal to heat
transfer from the actual fin of length L
with convection at the fin tip.
 FINS:
Varying cross sectional area, attach to circular surface

More complex differential equations and mathematic techniques

Fin Efficiency, f

Profile area of Corrected

the fin, Am length, Lc
Specific Chart for Different
Types of Finned Surface
 Fin Efficiency, f

Rectangular and Specific Chart for Different Circumferential

Triangular Fins Types of Finned Surface Rectangular Fins
48
• Fins with triangular and parabolic profiles contain less material and are more efficient than
the ones with rectangular profiles. More suitable for applications requiring minimum
weight.
• The fin efficiency decreases with increasing fin length. The longer the fin, the larger the
heat transfer area and thus the higher the rate of heat transfer from the fin.
• The larger the fin, the bigger the mass, the higher the price and the larger the fluid friction,
• Fin lengths that cause the fin efficiency to drop below 60 percent usually cannot be
justified economically and should be avoided.
• The efficiency of most fins used in practice is above 90 percent.
49
 Fin
Effectiveness

• The thermal conductivity k of the fin

material should be as high as possible.
Use aluminum, copper, iron.
• The ratio of the perimeter to the cross-
sectional area of the fin p/Ac should be as
high as possible. Use slender pin fins.
• Low convection heat transfer coefficient h.
Place fins on the gas (air) side.
The total rate of heat transfer from a
finned surface

Overall effectiveness for a finned surface

The overall fin effectiveness depends

on the fin density (number of fins per
unit length) as well as the
effectiveness of the individual fins.
The overall effectiveness is a better
measure of the performance of a Various surface areas associated
finned surface than the effectiveness with a rectangular surface with
of the individual fins. three fins.
Proper Length of a Fin

mL = 5  an infinitely long fin

Because of the gradual temperature drop mL = 1 offers a good compromise
along the fin, the region near the fin tip makes between heat transfer performance
little or no contribution to heat transfer. and the fin size.
 EXAMPLE

Consider a very long rectangular fin attached

to a flat surface such that the temperature at
the end of the fin is essentially that of the

40°C
surrounding air , 20oC. Its width is 5 cm,
thickness is 1 mm, thermal conductivity is
200 W/m.K and base temperature is 40oC.

20°C
The heat transfer coefficient is 20 W.m2.
Estimate the fin temperature at a distance of 5
cm from the base and the rate of heat loss
from the entire fin.
 TRY
PROB 3-115 &
PROB 3-191 !!
Ans 3-115
Ans 3-191
THE CONDUCTION SHAPE FACTOR
Two dimensional heat transfer from one surface to another is given by

Q = k S Toverall
The value of S have been worked out for several geometries and are summarized in Table 3-7 (Cengel Text Book)

S: conduction shape factor

k: thermal conductivity of the medium between the surfaces
The conduction shape factor depends on the geometry of the system only. Conduction shape factors are
applicable only when heat transfer between the two surfaces is by conduction.

Relationship between the

conduction shape factor
and the thermal resistance
CONDUCTION SHAPE FACTORS, S:
Geometry and Physical Conditions
EXAMPLE : Buried Pipe(example 3.1 –J.P. Holman Text Book)

A horizontal pipe 15 cm in diameter and 4 m long is

buried in the earth at depth of 20 cm. The pipe wall
temperature is 75 oC, and the earth surface temperature
is 5 oC. Assuming that the thermal conductivity of the
earth is 0.8 W/m.oC, calculate the heat loss by the pipe.
EXAMPLE : CUBICAL FURNACE (example 3.2 –J.P. Holman Text Book)

A small cubical furnace 50 by 50 by 50 cm on the inside

is constructed of fireclay brick (k = 1.04 W/m.K) with a
wall thickness of 10 cm. The inside of the furnace is
maintained at 500oC, and the outside is maintained at
50oC. Calculate the heat lost through the walls.