Heat Transfer

Conduction
 Conduction

HEAT CONDUCTION
Nature of heat conduction

• When a temperature difference exists within a

material thermal energy is transmitted from the
hot to the cold region in order to eliminate
temperature difference.
• This mechanism is present in all material
substances, gases, liquids and solids.
 Conduction

• In the case of gases the molecules are in continuous

motion, colliding with each other and thus exchanging
momentum and energy.

• Molecules in high temperature regions possess more

kinetic energy. When a molecule moves from a high to a
low temperature region it transports this energy to the
lower temperature part of the gas and gives it up
through collisions with lower energy molecules.

• These molecules then have more energy which is

reflected in an increased temperature.
 Conduction

• In the case of liquids the heat conduction mechanism

is similar to that in gases.

• Liquid molecules are more closely spaced and inter-

molecular forces also influence the process.

• Collisions take place more frequently in liquids than

gases

• Consequently heat transfer rates tend to be larger, for

a given temperature gradient.
 Conduction

• In solids heat is conducted through two mechanisms.

• The greater levels of vibrations in the molecular

structure caused by high temperatures rapidly transmit
through the rigid structure of solids.

• Many solids transmit heat at a much higher rate than

either liquids or gases.

• In addition, heat may be transferred by the motion of

free electrons through the lattice structure, in much the
same way as molecules in gases and liquids.

• Electrical conductors are therefore also good thermal

conductors, because they contain a greater number of
free electrons.
Conduction
 Conduction

Dimensions & Values

• has the dimensions of energy per unit time per unit

area, i.e. J/(s.m2) or W/m2.

• k is a positive constant. It is a property of the material. Its

dimensions are W/(m.K).

• Values of k for some materials are given in Tables 2.1 to

2.5.
 Conduction

Metals: k (W/mK)
Aluminium 205
Brass 109
Bronze 110
Copper 401
Gold 310
Iron 80
Iron, wrought 59
Iron, cast 55
Lead 35
Nickel 91
Platinum 70
Silver 429
Steel, Carbon 1% 43
Stainless Steel 16
Tin 67
Titanium 22
Tungsten 174
Zinc 116
 Conduction

Non-Metallic Solids: k (W/mK)

Acrylic 0.2
Asphalt 0.75
Bitumen 0.17
Breeze block 0.10 - 0.20
Brick dense 1.31
Diamond 1000
Glass 1.05
Ground or soil, moist area 1.0
Ground or soil, dry area 0.5
Hardwoods (oak, maple..) 0.16
Marble 2.08 - 2.94
Ice 2.18
Paper 0.05
Phenolic cast resins 0.15
Porcelain 1.5
Quartz mineral 3
Rubber, natural 0.13
 Conduction

Liquids: k (W/mK)
Ammonia 0.54
Benzene 0.16
Freon –R12 0.09
Mercury, liquid 8.3
Oil, lubricating SAE 50 0.15
Water 0.58
 Conduction

Gases: k (W/mK)
Air, atmosphere 0.024
Argon 0.016
Carbon dioxide 0.0146
Carbon monoxide 0.0232
Chlorine 0.0081
Freon R-12 0.007
Helium 0.142
Hydrogen 0.168
Methane 0.030
Nitric oxide 0.0238
Nitrogen 0.024
Oxygen 0.024
Propane 0.015
Water vapour 0.016
 Conduction

Values and Temperature Dependence

• From the Table it can be seen that most metals have

higher conductivity values than non-metallic solids and
most liquids have higher values than gases.

• Thermal conductivity is normally a function of

temperature.
 In gases, as shown in Fig. 2.1, the conductivity increases
with increase in temperature. However, for liquids the
dependence is more complex

 As is the case for solids (Fig. 2.2).

Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

Insulation

• Of particular importance in conduction heat transfer is the

insulation of flowing fluids and of stored cryogenic (very low
temperature) liquids.

• Special materials have been developed designed to prevent

heat conduction from or to these fluids.

• These materials have very low values of k. Typical values of k

are illustrated in Table 2.5.

• Thus the lower values of k shown here are several orders of

magnitude less than for the materials shown in Table 2.1.
 Conduction

Insulants: k (W/mK)
Asbestos, loosely packed 0.15
Balsa wood 0.048
Brick, insulating 0.15
Cork board 0.043
Cotton wool 0.029
Felt insulation 0.04
Fiberglass 0.04
Foam glass 0.045
Kapok insulation 0.034
Magnesia insulation (85%) 0.07
Mineral wool, wool blankets 0.04
Perlite, atmospheric pressure 0.031
Perlite, partial vacuum 0.00137
Plastics, foamed 0.03
Polystyrene, expanded styrofoam 0.03
Rock Wool insulation 0.045
Rubber, cellular 0.045
Sawdust 0.08
Sheep wool 0.039
Straw slab insulation, compressed 0.09
Urethane foam 0.021
Vermiculite granules 0.065
 Conduction

Linear Temperature Variation

• One corollary of Fourier’s law is that in a material with

uniform thermal conductivity, with a steady flow of
thermal energy, the temperature profile must be linear.

• This follows because, for steady conditions, the value of

must be the same throughout the material.
T
• If k is also uniform, then so must be x .

• Hence integrating with respect to x yields T as a linear

function of x.
 Conduction

Example 1
• One face of a copper plate 3 cm thick is maintained at
400C, and the other face is maintained at 100C. What
is the heat transfer rate through the plate?

• The thermal conductivity of copper varies with

temperature (Fig. 2.2). If a uniform value is to be taken,
then this should be determined at the median
temperature.

• From Fig. 2.2, k for copper at a median temperature of

250C is 380 W/mK. From Fourier’s law
 Conduction

Heat Conduction Equation in Cartesian Co-ordinates

• The objective is to produce an equation which describes

the temperature distribution within a material when
conduction is the only mode of heat transfer.

• The analysis will be aiming to derive an equation which

allows for:

 (a) Temperature variation in two directions (2

dimensional problems);

 (b) Changes of temperature with time (unsteady

problems);

 (c) Heat generation within the material.

 Conduction

• Consider the 2-D system shown in Figure 2.3.

1m
y

q’’y+dy x
q’’x dy q’’x+dx
q’’y dx

Figure 2.3 Heat Conduction Control Volume.

Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

 2T  2T
kdxdy(  )
x 2 y 2
 Conduction

• Inserting terms in the energy balance equation and

manipulation leads to:

k
• The dimensional group  c is often denoted by  and
is known as the thermal diffusivity. It has the units m2/s.
 Conduction

Solution?

• The two dimensional heat conduction equation just

derived is a partial differential equation. As such it is not
generally possible to solve it analytically.

• In addition, boundary conditions on all four boundaries

are required for solution.

• In certain very restricted circumstances, analytical

solution is possible. If interested. additional lecture
notes available.
 Conduction

Steady State 1-D Heat Conduction without Heat Generation

• Consider a plane wall with the two sides separated by a

distance L at temperatures T1 and T2 and with uniform
thermal conductivity k.

• For 1-D heat flow and In the absence of heat generation,

the steady state heat conduction equation becomes

d 2T
0
dx 2
 Conduction

• To determine the temperature distribution across the wall

this equation must be integrated twice, and the two
boundary conditions applied

d 2T dT
 2 dx  dx  A
dx

dT
(  A)dx  T  Ax  B
dx

• Thus T  Ax  B  0
 Conduction

• At x = 0, T = T1

• At x = L, T = T2

B  T
• These lead to 1
(T  T )
A 1 2
L
• So the temperature distribution is given by
(T  T )
T T  1 2 x
1 L
 Conduction

 As deduced earlier, the steady-state temperature

variation in a plane wall with uniform thermal conductivity
and zero heat generation is linear.

 The heat transfer rate, obtained from Fourier’s law, is, as

deduced earlier,
 Conduction
Non-Uniform Thermal Conductivity

• If the thermal conductivity varies with position, then in

the derivation of the heat conduction equation above, k
must remain inside the differential. That is,
 T  T
• Heat In - Heat Out = dxdy (  x (k  x )   y (k  y ))

• The 1-D steady heat conduction equation without heat

generation then becomes
d dT
(k )0
dx dx
 Conduction

• This equation must be integrated twice to find the

temperature distribution.
• In this case knowledge of the variation of k is required.
For example, if k is a linear function of T, k = k0(1 + T),
then integrating twice gives 2
T
T   Ax  B
2
• From the boundary conditions
T2
B T   1 Then the heat transfer rate
1 2

(T  T ) (T 2  T 2 )
A 2 1  2 1
L 2L
 Conduction

Composite Plane Wall

• Now consider a composite plane wall consisting of three

layers of different (but uniform, within each layer) thermal
conductivity.

T2 T3
 Conduction

• From the analysis of a single wall it can be concluded

that the temperature varies linearly within each layer.

• The heat transfer rates across each layer must all be the
same, for steady-state conditions to apply. Thus

or
Conduction
 Conduction

Example 2

• Consider the case where material 1 is copper and

material 3 is aluminium.

• In case (a) take material 2 to be zinc.

• In case (b) take material 2 to be cork board.

• Take L1 = L2 = L3 = 1cm. If T1 = 800C and T4 = 200C

• Obtain the heat transfer rate per unit area and the
temperatures T2 and T3.
 Conduction
Solution

• From Tables 2.1 and 2.5, k1 = 401W/mK, k3 = 205W/mK.

• (a) k2 = 116W/mK
 Conduction
Solution

• From Tables 2.1 and 2.5, k1 = 401W/mK, k3 = 205W/mK.

• (b) k2 = 0.043W/mK
 Conduction
• Note that the value of heat transfer rate has been
reduced by more than three orders of magnitude by the
introduction of an insulant in place of one of the metal
sheets.

• In case (b) the heat transfer rate is dominated by the

thermal conductivity of the cork board insulation and
virtually all the temperature drop is through the insulant.

• These results raise questions as to the resistance of

different materials to the passage of heat through them.

• This in turn leads on to ideas about analogies with

Ohm’s law for simple electrical circuits.
Conduction
 Conduction

• The combination of area A, thermal conductivity k and

wall thickness L provide a thermal resistance R  L to
kA
the heat flow, analogous to Ohm’s law in electrical
circuits.

• An analogous electric circuit would be:

L
R
kA
 Conduction

R R R R
total 1 2 3

L L L
R  1 R  2 R  3
1 k A 2 k A 3 k A
1 2 3
 Conduction
• Thermal resistances can also occur in parallel. Consider
the composite plane wall below.

• In this case the equivalent electrical circuit would be:

qx
 Conduction
• And the total resistance to heat transfer is given by:
1
R R  R
total 1 1 1 4

R R
2 3

• In this case the 1-D nature of the heat flow is

compromised.
• Perhaps a better example is the vacuum flask shown in
Chapter 1.
• Here convective heat transfer and thermal radiation
occur in parallel.
• It will be shown later that these other two modes of heat
transfer can also be analysed in terms of thermal
resistances.
 Conduction

Convection Boundary Conditions

• Consider now the heat transfer rate from a fluid at

temperature TF to a wall at surface temperature TW.

Because of the action of convection

within the fluid, the heat conduction
equations derived earlier cannot be
applied in the fluid region

• The actual equations for convective fluid flow will be

derived later in the course.
Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

• The determination of h values will be discussed in more

detail later in the course. For the present h may be
considered as a constant.

• From Newton’s law of cooling, we can see that the

thermal resistance between the fluid and the wall is
1
R 
W hA
• The analogous electrical circuit is as shown below.
 Conduction
Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

• A more common case involves two fluids of different

temperatures separated by a solid wall.

• This situation is equivalent to having three thermal

resistances connected in series between the hot and
cold fluid temperatures.
Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

U 1
1 L 1
hH k hC
 Conduction

Example 3

• Obtain the heat transfer rate and the overall heat transfer
coefficient between hot water at 600C and cold air at
100C, separated by an aluminium sheet of surface area
A = 1m2 and thickness L = 3cm.

• Take convective heat transfer coefficients hC =

50W/m2K for the air and hH = 600W/m2K for the water.

• Also evaluate the surface temperatures T1 and T2.

 Conduction

1
U 1   45.83
1  0.03  1 0.00167  0.00015  0.02
600 205 50
 Conduction

• Note that the value of heat transfer rate is dominated by

the air-side convective heat transfer coefficient

• Therefore most of the temperature drop across the

system takes place at this boundary.
 Conduction
Internal Heat Generation

• When internal heat generation occurs within a particular

medium, the temperature variation across that medium
is no longer linear, even for steady-state conditions.

• This is because the generated heat must flow out of the

medium in both directions, so there is no longer a
uniform heat flow in one direction across the system.

• This is illustrated in the following example.

 Conduction
Example 4
• A plane metal wall of thickness L and thermal
conductivity kL is used to conduct electrical current.
• As a result there is uniform heat generation within the
metal at a rate per unit volume.
• On both sides of the metal wall there is a layer of
insulator of thickness t and thermal conductivity kt.
• The whole block is immersed in a fluid of temperature TF.
• The convection heat transfer coefficient between the
fluid and the block is h.

• Obtain equations for the temperature at the centre of the

wall and at the inner and outer edges of the insulator.
 Conduction

• Evaluate these temperatures and find the heat transfer

rate per unit area to the surrounding fluid, if

• L = 0.04m, t = 0.001m, = 106W/m3, kL = 20W/mK,

• kt = 0.1W/mK, TF = 200C and h = 500W/m2K.
 Conduction

Solution
• For steady-state conditions, the heat generation rate per
unit volume within the metal must equal the heat flow
rate through the insulant and out to the fluid, i.e.

• Because of the symmetry only one half of the plane need

be considered.
 Conduction

• Then per unit area of insulant,

• As there is no heat generation within the insulator, from

our heat conduction analysis above, this heat transfer
rate is also given by

• Thus
 Conduction

• To find the temperature T2 at the outer edge of the

insulator layer, we must apply either Fourier’s law
through the insulator or Newton’s law of cooling. Thus
either

• Or

• In both cases, the result is

 Conduction

dT
0
dx
A0
Conduction
 Conduction

• Thus we see that within the metal where uniform heat

generation is taking place, the temperature profile is
quadratic

• The maximum temperature is located at the centre

plane.
Conduction
 Conduction

• And

• In this example the temperature does not vary greatly

across the metal, because of the presence of the
insulation layer, which causes the major temperature
drop to occur across the insulation with a smaller drop
across the convection layer.
 Conduction

1-D Heat Conduction Equation in Cylindrical Co-ordinates

• Heat transfer analysis through the walls of circular pipes

is best dealt with using a cylindrical system of co-
ordinates.

• The problem is made 1-D by assuming no variations in

the circumferential and axial directions, i.e. radial
variations only are considered.

• An energy balance is made over the annular control

volume shown below.
Conduction

rrc
T
t
 Conduction

• By neglecting terms containing r2,

• Heat In - Heat Out =

• In cylindrical co-ordinates, Fourier’s law is

k T  T
• Thus Heat In - Heat Out = rr (  (k
r r r r
))

• The energy balance equation then becomes

 Conduction

• Dividing through

• This is the general 1D heat conduction equation in

cylindrical co-ordinates

• If k is assumed uniform, then

k
• With diffusivity  
c
 Conduction

Steady Heat Conduction through Cylinder Walls

• Consider a long cylinder of length L of internal radius ri

and external radius ro, with internal and external surface
temperatures Ti and To.

• The objective is to determine the heat transfer rate

through the cylinder wall.

• The assumption of 1-D conditions is made, i.e. heat is

conducted only in the radial direction and the
temperature also only varies in the radial direction.
 Conduction

• In the absence of internal heat generation, and temporal

variations, the heat conduction equation reduces to
1 dT d 2T
 0
r dr dr2

• This equation can be rewritten as

dT d 2T
r 0
dr dr 2
• Or d
(r
dT
)0
dr dr

• This equation is integrable

 Conduction

• Integrating once yields dT

r A
dr
• This equation can be rewritten as dT  A
dr r
• As this allows a second integration

• Integrating for a second time yields T  A ln( r )  B

• To find the constants A and B, we need to apply 2

boundary conditions. In this case the conditions are:

• At r = ri, T = Ti and at r = ro, T = To.

 Conduction
To  Ti To  Ti
• These lead to A  B  Ti  ln( ri )
ro ro
ln( ) ln( )
ri ri
• Thus

To  Ti To  Ti T T r
T ln( r )  Ti  ln( ri )  Ti  o r i ln( )
ro ro o r
ln( ) ln( ) ln( ) i
ri ri r
i
Conduction

ro
ln( )
ri
R
2 Lk
Conduction
 Conduction

Cylinders with Convection Boundary Conditions

• Consider a pipe of length L containing an internal fluid at

temperature TFi and surrounded by an external fluid at
temperature TFo.

• Heat is convected from the internal fluid to the internal

surface of the pipe (hi). It is then conducted through the
pipe wall. Finally it is convected from the outer surface of
the pipe to the surrounding fluid (ho).
Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

1
Ui 
1 Uo 
ro ro
ri ln( ) ro ln( )
1 ri ri ro ri 1
   
hi k roho ri hi k ho
 Conduction

Example 5

• Water at TFi = 600C flows along a copper pipe of inner

and outer radii ri = 0.03m and ro = 0.035m respectively in
a room at TFo = 150C. The internal and external
convective heat transfer coefficients are hi = 500W/m2K
and ho = 5W/m2K, respectively (see Table 2.6).

• Obtain the heat transfer rate from the water to the room,
per unit length of the pipe, and the inner and outer pipe
wall temperatures Ti and To respectively.
Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

• To reduce the heat losses from pipes, a layer of

insulation may be wrapped around the pipe.

• The question is – what is the correct thickness of this

layer?

• Intuitively it would seem that the thicker the layer is the

smaller will be the heat loss.

• But is this true?

 Conduction

Critical Radius of Insulation

• In the case of pipe insulation it is necessary to know how

beneficial the addition of further insulation is likely to be.

• Consider insulation around a pipe. The inner surface of

radius ri is at temperature Ti. The outer surface of radius
ro is exposed to a fluid at temperature TF with a
convection heat transfer coefficient h. The thermal
conductivity of the insulation is k.
Conduction
 Conduction
1 d
• Then [ln( rro )  k ]  0
2kL dro i hro
1 k
• i.e.  0
ro hr 2
o
k
• Thus ro,crit 
h
• To check whether this is a maximum or minimum,
differentiate again to get
   
d R  1   1  2k   1  2k 1  h2 at ro
2    = ro,crit.
dro2 2kL  r 2 hr 3  2kLr2  hr 
 2Lk 3
 o o  o  o 

• This is > 0, thus there is only one minimum of R, leading

to a maximum of heat transfer.
 Conduction
• Thus if ro is less than the critical radius, addition of extra
insulation, i.e. increasing ro, will decrease R, and hence
increase the heat transfer rate.
 This is because of the increase in the surface area in contact
with the fluid.
 However, if ro > ro,crit, additional insulation will increase R
leading to a decrease in heat transfer.
 This is because of the increased resistance to heat transfer
through the insulation.

ri ro,crit ro
 Conduction

Example 6

• Calculate the critical radius of insulation of asbestos, k =

0.17 W/mK, surrounding a pipe exposed to room air at
20C with h = 3.0 W/m2K.

• Calculate the heat loss from a 200C, 5.0 cm diameter

pipe when covered with either the critical radius of
insulation or without insulation
Conduction

ro,crit  k  0.0567m
h
Conduction
Conduction

R=Ri

ri ro,crit ro
Conduction

R=2Ri

ri ro,crit ro
 Conduction

• This is an easier equation to solve since the 1/3ro term

becomes relatively less important as ro increases. The
solution is 2.3m!!

• Clearly this is unacceptable and a different question

needs to be posed.
Conduction
 Conduction
Example 7

• Consider the setup in Example 5, but now with a t =

0.005m thickness of fibreglass wrapped around the pipe.

Solution
• We assume that the outer convective heat transfer
coefficient is not altered by this change in the setup.

• From Table 2.5, kt = 0.04W/mK.

 Conduction
• Then r  kt  0.04  0.008m
o,crit
ho 5

• Thus here ri denoted in this example as ro > ro,crit,

R>Ri

ro,crit ro ro+t

• Additional insulation will increase R leading to a

decrease in heat transfer.
Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction
Radial Heat Conduction with Internal Heat Generation

• The temperature distribution within the volume in which

heat generation is taking place is significantly altered,
just as for the plane case. Consider by example.

Example 8

• Take Example 4 above, but with a metal cylinder of

diameter D = 0.04m in place of the plane wall. Obtain the
equivalent data as in Example 4.
Conduction
Conduction
 Conduction

dT  0
dr
Conduction
Conduction
Conduction
Conduction
Conduction