ME 311: Heat Transfer

Tutorial 1: Conduction

Q 1. Two horizontal plates are spaced 1 m apart containing a gas whose thermal conductivity
has a strong dependence on temperature. The upper one is kept at 300 K and the lower one at
280 K. Neglect radiation and compute the heat flux in the gap. Use the following power-law
fit for temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of the gas filling the gap between
the plates: k = 0.1×T W/mK. Is the mid-point temperature greater than mena temperature
of the plates?

Q 2. Fluid at 550 K is being transported from one area of the factory to another using a steel
tube (k = 16.5 W/mK) having an inside diameter of 8 cm and thickness of 2 mm with a 6 mm
asbestos insulation (k = 0.5 W/mK). The fluid flowing inside has heat transfer coefficient of
1250 W/m2 K. The tube-insulation assembly is surrounded by ambient air at 300 K having
heat transfer coefficient equal to 230 W/m2 K. Sketch the equivalent thermal circuit of the
system. Calculate the heat lost by the tube per meter of length. Also calculate temperature
at the outside diameter of the tube.

Q 3. The left side of a slab of thickness L = 1 m is kept at 0◦ C. The right side is cooled by air
at T∞ ◦ =120◦ C blowing on it. Convective heat transfer coefficient h is known (= 15 W/m2 K)
and constant. An exothermic reaction takes place in the slab such that heat is generated at
A(T − T∞ ) W/m3 , where A is a constant (= 10). Find temperature at the slab center and at
the right side.

Q 4. A new design of a nuclear rod (length L) is proposed. As per the proposal, the rod
consist of two segments: an inner non-nuclear core (Core 1) of radius r1 which is wrapped
around by a nuclear annulus (Core 2) having outer radius r2 . The volumetric heat generation
in nuclear core (Core 2) is q̇. The thermal conductivities of the materials used in the two
cores (from inner to outer) are k1 and k2 respectively. The nuclear rod assembly is placed in
a liquid at T∞ ambient temperature having h heat transfer coefficient.

Express the steady state temperature distribution in the two cores in terms of other variables.
Estimate the total heat transfer from the rod assembly to the surrounding liquid.

Q 5. Heat is generated at 54500 W/m3 in a 0.16 m diameter sphere. The sphere is cooled by
natural convection with fluid at 0◦ C, and h = 5(Tw − T∞ )1/4 W/m2 K, ksphere =12.5 W/m2 K.
Starting from governing equation, get the expression of temperature distribution as a function
of radius. Find the wall temperature and center temperature of the sphere. Neglect radiation.
Can you justify neglecting radiative heat transfer in this problem?

Q 6. A radioactive material of thermal conductivity k is cast as a solid sphere of radius ro

and placed in a liquid bath for which the temperature T∞ and convection coefficient h are
known. Heat is uniformly generated within the solid at a volumetric rate of q̇ = a(1 − r/ro ).
Obtain the steady-state radial temperature distribution in the solid, expressing your result in
terms of ro , q̇ , k, h, and T∞ .

Q 7. A composite cylindrical assembly consist of two segments: an inner core (Core 1) of

radius r1 and outer core (Core 2) having outer radius r2 . The outer core contains reactive

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mixture with constant volumetric heat generation in outer core (Core 2) equal to q̇. The
thermal conductivity of the materials used in the two cores (from inner to outer) are k1 and
k2 respectively. This composite cylindrical assembly is situated on the outer side of a satellite
traveling in deep space. The system reaches steady state.

a) Estimate the total heat transfer from the rod assembly to the surrounding.
b) For L = 1 m, r1 = 0.5 m, r2 = 1 m, k1 = 1 W/mK, k2 = 20 W/mK and q̇ = 105 W/m3 ,
Stephan-Boltzmann constant σ = 5.67 × 10−8 W/K4 , find the temperature at the outermost
point on the rod assembly (at r2 ).

Q 8. One end of a copper rod 30 cm long is held at 200◦ C, and the other end is held at 93◦ C.
The heat transfer coefficient around the rod is 17 W/m2◦ C. If T∞ = 38◦ C and the diameter
of the rod is 1.25 cm, what is the net heat removed by the air around the rod?

Q 9. A cylindrical fin has a constant imposed heat flux of q1 at one end and q2 at the other
end, and it is cooled convectively along its length. Develop the dimensionless temperature
distribution in the fin. Specialize this result for q2 = 0 and L → ∞ and get an expression for
very long fin case.

Q 10. Annular fins, 12 in number, having k =70 W/mK and 0.75 mm thickness, protrude 25
mm from a cylindrical surface of 75 mm diameter and 1 m length placed in an atmosphere of
45◦ C. If the cylindrical surface is maintained at 150◦ C and the heat transfer coefficient is 25
W/m2 K, calculate rate of heat transfer, percentage increase in heat transfer due to fins, the
temperature at the centre of the fins, fin efficiency and fin effectiveness.

Q 11. A metal rod of length 2L, diameter D, and thermal conductivity k is inserted into a
perfectly insulating wall, exposing one-half of its length to an air stream that is of temperature
T∞ and provides a convection coefficient h at the surface of the rod. An electromagnetic field
induces volumetric energy generation at a uniform rate q̇ within the embedded portion of the
rod.

Derive an expression for the steady-state temperature Tb at the base of the exposed half of
the rod. The exposed region may be approximated as a very long fin. Derive an expression
for the steady-state temperature To at the end of the embedded half of the rod. For h = 100
W/m2 K, T∞ = 20◦ C, D = 5 mm, L = 50 mm, k = 25 W/mK and q̇ = 1 × 106 W/m3 ,
calculate temperatures at x = −L/2 and x = L/2.

Q 12. A two-dimensional 1m×1m square plate is subjected to the following boundary condi-
tions:

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 T (x, y = 0) = 0◦ C
T (x, y = 1) = 0◦ C
T (x = 0, y) = 0◦ C  ◦
T (x = 1, y) = 10 × sin 10πy
1
C

Calculate the steady state temperature (you can terminate after 3 terms in case of series so-
lution) at (x = 0.25, y = 0.75). Begin with 2D heat equation, derive the general solution and
get the constants of integration using the given boundary conditions.

Q 13. Steel is sequentially heated and cooled (annealed) to relieve stresses and to make it less
brittle. Consider a 100 mm thick plate (k= 45 W/m2 K, ρ = 800 kg/m3 , cp =500 J/kgK)
that is initially at a uniform temperature of 300◦ C and is heated (on both sides) in a gas-fired
furnace for which T∞ =700◦ C and h=500 W/m2 K. How long will it take for a minimum
temperature of 550◦ C to be reached in the plate?

Q 14. A copper shell (Area Ac , volume Vc , spe-

cific heat capacity cc , density ρc ) is submerged at the
center of another large container (Outer surface area
Am ) filled with liquid mercury (Volume Vm , specific
heat capacity cm , density ρm ). The system is ini-
tially at a uniform temperature Ti . The tempera-
ture of container wall is suddenly raised to Ts . As-
sume negligible Biot number for either of the materi-
als.

a) Derive the governing equation for the variation of tempera-

ture of copper (Tc ) and that of mercury (Tm ) with time.
b) Combine the equations to form a second-order ordinary dif-
ferential equation for Tc .
c) Further get the analytical expression for variation of temperature of the copper shell
with time using appropriate initial condition(s). (Hint: You can assume θ = Tc − Ts ,
τc = ρc Vc cc /hc Ac , τm = ρm Vm cm /hm Am , when solving the second-order ODE )

Q 15. A T-type thermocouple initially at 30◦ C is transferred to water at 85◦ C, and then oil
at 150◦ C and finally back to air at 50◦ C. Assume in each case, the transfer is instantaneous.
Duration of time in each medium is 45 s. Time constants are given as follows: air to water =
36 s; water to oil = 5 s; oil to air = 12 s. Find the final temperature of the thermocouple.

Q 16. Initially an egg (d = 3 cm, k = 0.6 W/mK) is at 25◦ C uniform temperature and
immediately dropped into a pan of hot water maintained at 100◦ C. No significant heat release
or change of properties occurs during cooking. The convective heat transfer coefficient between
the egg and the water is 140 W/m2 K. Compared to external convective film resistance, internal
thermal resistance of an egg is negligible. Estimate the time required to cook the egg. Assume

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the egg is cooked when its temperature reaches 96◦ C. Comment on assumptions.

Q 17. Lord Kelvin made an interesting estimate of the age of the earth in 1864. He assumed
that the earth was initially a mass of molten rock at 4144 K. It is continuously cooled by
outer space at 0 K ever since. To do this, he assumed that Bi for the earth is very large and
that cooling had thus far penetrated through only a relatively thin layer. Using α rock =
1.18×10−6 m2 /s and the measured surface temperature gradient of the earth, 27◦ C/m. Find
Kelvin’s value of Earth’s age using the unsteady semi-infinite conduction theory. Comment
on why his estimates were grossly wrong.

Q 18. A 3 cm thick slab of aluminum (αAl = 9.7 × 10−5 m2 /s, κAl = 237 W/mK) initially
at 50◦ C is suddenly bolted with a 5 cm slab of copper (αCu = 1.1 × 10−4 m2 /s, κCu = 401
W/mK). The initial temperature of the copper slab is 20◦ C. The other surfaces are insulated

a) What is the initial temperature at the point of contact?

b) Estimate how long the interface will keep its initial temperature.(Hint: Let function f (x)
asymptote with a horizontal line y = A at x = ∞. From practical point of view, it can be said
that f (x) reaches asymptote at x when f (x) = 0.99 × A.)

Q 19. A thin slab (L = 5m) has boundary conditions: T (x = 0) = 150◦ C and T (x = L) =

0◦ C. Assume ∆x = 1m and calculate the temperature at intermediate nodes using Gauss-
Seidel iterative scheme. Use the central difference scheme for numerical differentiation. The
initial guess temperture at the internal nodes is 50◦ C. Obtain temperature distribution after
three iterative steps. Also calculate the final steady state temperature using Matrix inversion
method. Comment on the difference in the results from the two different methods.

Q 20. A thin slab (L = 5m) is initially at a steady state such that T (x = 0) = 120◦ C
and T (x = L) = 0◦ C. The boundary conditions are suddenly reversed at (t = 0s). Assume
∆x = 1m, ∆t = 1s and α = 0.25. Obtain temperature distribution at t = 3s using FTCS
method.