Chapter 7.

2: Fundamentals of
Thermal Radiation
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
UiTM Pasir Gudang
 Objectives
When you finish studying this chapter, you should be
able to:
• Understand the idealized blackbody, and calculate
the total and spectral blackbody emissive power,
• Calculate the fraction of radiation emitted in a
specified wavelength band using the blackbody
radiation functions,
• Develop a clear understanding of the properties
emissivity, absorptivity, relflectivity, and
transmissivity on spectral, directional, and total
basis,
• Apply Kirchhoff law’s law to determine the
absorptivity of a surface when its emissivity is
known,
• Appreciate the importance of greenhouse effect.
 Introduction
• Unlike conduction and convection, radiation does not
require the presence of a material medium to take place.
• Electromagnetic waves or electromagnetic radiation
─ represent the energy emitted by matter as a result of
the changes in the electronic configurations of the
atoms or molecules.
• Electromagnetic waves are characterized by their
frequency n or wavelength l
c
l (12-1)
n
• c ─ the speed of propagation of a wave in that medium.
 Blackbody Radiation
• A body at a thermodynamic (or absolute)
temperature above zero emits radiation in
all directions over a wide range of
wavelengths.
• The amount of radiation energy emitted
from a surface at a given wavelength
depends on:
– the material of the body and the condition of its surface,
– the surface temperature.
• A blackbody ─ the maximum amount of radiation that can be
emitted by a surface at a given temperature.
• At a specified temperature and wavelength, no surface can emit
more energy than a blackbody.
• A blackbody absorbs all incident radiation, regardless of
wavelength and direction.
• A blackbody emits radiation energy uniformly in all directions
per unit area normal to direction of emission.
• The radiation energy emitted by a blackbody per unit
time and per unit surface area (Stefan–Boltzmann
law) Eb T   s T 4  W/m 2  (12-3)

s=5.67 X 10-8 W/m2·K4.

• Examples of approximate blackbody:
– snow,
– white paint,
– a large cavity with a small opening.
• The spectral blackbody
Ebl  l , T   5
C1
l exp  C2 lT   1

emissive power
W/m 2
 μm  (12-4)

C1  2 hc02  3.74177 108  W  μm 4 m 2 

C2  hc0 / k  1.43878 10 4  μm  K 
• The variation of the spectral blackbody emissive power with
wavelength is plotted in Fig. 12–9.
• Several observations can be made
from this figure:
– at any specified temperature a
maximum exists,
– at any wavelength, the amount of
emitted radiation increases with
increasing temperature,
– as temperature increases, the curves
shift to the shorter wavelength,
– the radiation emitted by the sun
(5780 K) is in the visible spectrum.
• The wavelength at which the peak occurs is given by Wien’s
displacement law as
 lT max power  2897.8   m  K  (12-5)
• We are often interested in the amount of
radiation emitted over some wavelength
band.
• The radiation energy emitted by a
blackbody per unit area over a
wavelength band from l=0 to l l1 is
determined from
 
l1
Eb ,0l1 T    Ebl  l , T d l W/m 2 (12-7)
0

• This integration does not have a simple closed-form solution.

Therefore a dimensionless quantity fl called the blackbody
radiation function is defined:
ln
 Ebl  l , T d l
f ln T   0
; n  1 or 2 (12-8)
sT 4

• The values of fl are listed in Table 12–2.

Table 12-2 ─ Blackbody Radiation
Functions fl
l1
Ebl  l , T d l
f l1 T   
0

sT 4

(12-8)

f l1 l2 T  
f l2 T   f l1 T 

(12-9)
 Radiative Properties
• Many 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.
• In these materials thermal radiation is emitted or
absorbed within the first few microns of the surface.
• Some materials like glass and water exhibit different
behavior at different wavelengths:
– Visible spectrum ─ semitransparent,
– Infrared spectrum ─ opaque.
 Emissivity
• Emissivity of a surface ─ the ratio of the radiation
emitted by the surface at a given temperature to the
radiation emitted by a blackbody at the same
temperature.
• The emissivity of a surface is denoted by e, and it
varies between zero and one, 0≤e ≤1.
• The emissivity of real surfaces varies with:
– the temperature of the surface,
– the wavelength, and
– the direction of the emitted radiation.
• Spectral directional emissivity ─ the most elemental
emissivity of a surface at a given temperature.
• Spectral directional emissivity
I l ,e  l , q ,  , T 
e l ,q  l ,q ,  , T   (12-30)
I bl  l , T 

• The subscripts l and q are used to designate

spectral and directional quantities, respectively.
• The total directional emissivity (intensities
integrated over all wavelengths)
I e q ,  , T 
eq q ,  , T   (12-31)
I b T 

• The spectral hemispherical emissivity

El  l , T 
el l,T   (12-32)
Ebl  l , T 
• The total hemispherical emissivity
E T 
e T   (12-33)
Eb T 
• Since Eb(T)=sT4 the total hemispherical
emissivity can also be expressed as

E T   e l  l , T  Ebl  l , T  d l
e T    0
(12-34)
Eb T  sT 4

• To perform this integration, we need to know

the variation of spectral emissivity with
wavelength at the specified temperature.
 Gray and Diffuse Surfaces
• Diffuse surface ─ a surface
which properties are
independent of direction.

• Gray surface ─ surface

properties are independent of
wavelength.
 Absorptivity, Reflectivity, and
Transmissivity
• When radiation strikes a surface,
part of it:
– is absorbed (absorptivity, a),
– is reflected (reflectivity, r),
– and the remaining part, if any, is
transmitted (transmissivity, t).

• Absorptivity: Absorbed radiation Gabs

a  (12-37)
Incident radiation G
Reflected radiation Gref
• Reflectivity: r  (12-38)
Incident radiation G
Transmitted radiation Gtr
• Transmissivity: t   (12-39)
Incident radiation G
• The first law of thermodynamics requires that
the sum of the absorbed, reflected, and
transmitted radiation be equal to the incident
radiation.
Gabs  Gref  Gtr  G (12-40)

• Dividing each term of this relation by G yields

a  r t  1 (12-41)

• For opaque surfaces, t=0, and thus

a  r 1 (12-42)
• These definitions are for total hemispherical
properties.
• Like emissivity, these properties can also be
defined for a specific wavelength and/or
direction.
• Spectral directional absorptivity
I l ,abs  l , q ,  
a l ,q  l ,q ,    (12-43)
I l ,i  l , q ,  

• Spectral directional reflectivity

I l ,ref  l , q ,  
rl ,q  l ,q ,    (12-43)
I l ,i  l , q ,  
• Spectral hemispherical absorptivity
Gl ,abs  l 
al  l   (12-44)
Gl  l 

• Spectral hemispherical reflectivity

Gl ,ref  l 
rl  l   (12-44)
Gl  l 

• Spectral hemispherical transmissivity

Gl ,tr  l 
t l l   (12-44)
Gl  l 
• The average absorptivity, reflectivity, and
transmissivity of a surface can also be defined in
terms of their spectral counterparts as
  

a
 0
a l Gl d l
, r

0
rl Gl d l
, t

0
t l Gl d l
   (12-46)
 0
Gl d l 
0
Gl d l 
0
Gl d l

• The reflectivity differs somewhat from the other

properties in that it is bidirectional in nature.
• For simplicity, surfaces are assumed to reflect in a
perfectly specular or diffuse manner.
 Kirchhoff’s Law
• Consider a small body of surface area
As, emissivity e, and absorptivity a at
temperature T contained in a large
isothermal enclosure at the same
temperature.
• Recall that a large isothermal enclosure forms a
blackbody cavity regardless of the radiative properties
of the enclosure surface.
• The body in the enclosure is too small to interfere with
the blackbody nature of the cavity.
• Therefore, the radiation incident on any part of the
surface of the small body is equal to the radiation
emitted by a blackbody at temperature T.
G=Eb(T)=sT4.
• The radiation absorbed by the small body per
unit of its surface area is
Gabs  a G  as T 4

• The radiation emitted by the small body is

Eemit  es T 4
• Considering that the small body is in thermal
equilibrium with the enclosure, the net rate of
heat transfer to the body must be zero.
Ases T 4  Asas T 4
• Thus, we conclude that
e T   a T  (12-47)
• The restrictive conditions inherent in the derivation of
Eq. 12-47 should be remembered:
– the surface irradiation correspond to emission from a
blackbody,
– Surface temperature is equal to the temperature of the
source of irradiation,
– Steady state.
• The derivation above can also be repeated for radiation
at a specified wavelength to obtain the spectral form of
Kirchhoff’s law:
• This relation is valid when the irradiation or the
emitted radiation is independent of direction.
e l T   a l T  (12-48)
• The form of Kirchhoff’s law that involves no
restrictions is the spectral directional form
e l ,q T   a l ,q T 