Heat Transfer

Introduction
 Introduction

1.1 Nature of the Subject

• HEAT TRANSFER is the science which seeks to

predict the energy transfer which takes place
within and between material bodies due to
temperature differences.
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• THERMODYNAMICS defines this energy as heat or

thermal energy.

• It basically represents molecular kinetic energy due

to their microscopic motion.

• The laws of thermodynamics determine the amount

of heat that can be transferred between materials of
different temperatures, but not the rate at which this
happens.
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Example 1.1

• Consider a hot metal bar of mass mh at temperature

Th immersed in a thermally insulated (no heat loss)
container of cold water of mass mc and temperature
Tc.

• After some (unknown) time thermal equilibrium must

be reached in which the whole system is at a final
temperature Tf.
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• By the First Law of Thermodynamics, heat lost by the

metal must be equal to that gained by the water, i.e.

Q  m c (T T )  mcc p,c(T Tc)

h p,h h f f

• Thus the final temperature Tf is given by

m c T  mcc p,cTc
T  hmpc,h h  m c
f h p,h c p,c
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• Thermodynamics thus tells us the final end state

(equilibrium) conditions, but cannot give any information
on the path to that end state.

• Heat transfer analysis will predict how long it would take

to reach the final conditions, and how the metal and
water temperatures vary with time.
Th

T
Tf

Tc
0 tf Time
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• Heat transfer thus supplements the laws of

thermodynamics by providing additional
experimentally-based rules which may be used
to establish energy transfer rates.
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1.2 Relevance to Engineering

• Thermodynamics often considers ideal processes in

which heat transfer takes place due to infinitesimally
small temperature differences.

• In practise some of the available temperature drop,

which might be used for the production of energy, must
be sacrificed to ensure that the required quantity of heat
is transferred through a reasonably sized area in a
reasonable time scale, e.g. in a heat exchanger.
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• The following are a few engineering examples of

where heat transfer plays an important role:

1. THERMAL POWER PLANT

• Gas and steam turbines, i.c. engines, oil, gas, coal-
fired and nuclear power stations

• Understanding of heat transfer processes is

necessary in order to design efficient engines and
effective heating/cooling systems.
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2. INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES

• Production of steel, chemicals, paper, etc.

• The use of heat is central in such processes.

• Achieving the correct heating rates can be crucial to

the quality of the final product.
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3. COOLING OF POWER CONSUMING

EQUIPMENT

• The correct cooling rates are again crucial

• Otherwise overheating and damage may occur.

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4. DESIGN OF THERMALLY EFFICIENT

BUILDINGS

• Understanding of the effects of insulation on heat

transfer rates is paramount.

5. DOMESTIC HEATING SYSTEMS

• The design of such systems requires knowledge of

how heat transfer rates can be manipulated by
geometry, fluid flow rates, etc.
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Modes of Heat Transfer

• There are three different mechanisms by which a

system may undergo a heat transfer interaction with
its surroundings
 Introduction

CONDUCTION

• This mode of heat transfer can take place through

all substances (gases, liquids and solids)

• But is most relevant in the case of solids where it is

the only possible mode.

• When a temperature gradient exists in a substance,

see Fig. In notes, heat is transmitted from the hot to
the cold region through molecular actions
(translational, vibrational and rotational).
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• More molecules move from hot to cold resulting in a

net rate of heat transfer from hot to cold.

• As will be shown later the heat flow (or transfer) rate

is proportional to the local temperature gradient:
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CONVECTION

• When a motionless fluid is brought into contact with

a heated surface, the mechanism for heat transfer is
conduction, as outlined above.

• If however the fluid is caused to flow over the

surface, it transports heat away that it receives from
the surface.

• This process of transport of heat by bulk fluid

movement is termed convection; it is a process that
can only occur in gases and liquid
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• There are two major kinds of convective heat

transfer: the classification is made according to the
way in which the motion of the fluid is brought about.

• If the motion is produced by an external force, such

as a pump or fan, then the process is termed forced
convection.

• An example is the cooling of computer circuitry by a

fan mounted inside the casing.
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• Figure shows the development of both a flow and

thermal boundary layer due to forced convection.
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• If the motion arises solely as a result of buoyancy

forces, which are themselves a product of gradients
in the fluid density due to non-uniform temperatures,
the process is termed natural convection.

• Examples are the heating of a room by a domestic

‘radiator’, and the upward flow of combustion
products (smoke) from a cigarette. Or water in a
cooking pot:
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RADIATION

• This is the transfer of thermal energy due to

electromagnetic waves, and is characterised by
wavelength.

• As far as heat transfer is concerned the

wavelengths of interest are those which lie beyond
the long-wavelength end of the visible light
spectrum, i.e. beyond the wavelength of colour red.

• For this reason thermal radiation is often referred to

as infra-red radiation.
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• Thermal radiation between bodies results in the

transfer of heat because the radiant energy emitted
from one body and impinging on the other is partially
absorbed by the latter
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• This process may occur in the absence of an

intervening medium whilst conduction and
convection cannot.

• Thus for example radiation is the only mode of heat

transfer that can occur between an orbiting space
satellite and its surroundings.
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• Radiation may also occur through media which are

fully or semi transparent to it.

• It will be shown later that the net heat transfer rate

between two bodies at temperatures Th and Tc is
proportional to

T 4 Tc4
h
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• In most practical circumstances two or more of the

above heat transfer mechanisms may be operating
simultaneously, either in series or in parallel.

• Consider a closed container filled with a hot fluid in a

room whose air and walls are at a fixed lower
temperature. To analyse the heat transfer rate all the
important heat transfer processes must be identified.
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The energy transfers from the hot liquid to the room air and
walls are as follows:

q1 natural convection from the hot liquid to the flask

q2 conduction through the flask wall
q3 natural convection from the flask wall to the air space
q4 natural convection from the air space to the cover
q5 radiation between the outer surface of the flask and
the inner surface of the cover
q6 conduction through the cover
q7 natural convection from the cover to room air
q8 radiation between the outer surface of the cover and
the room walls
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• Question: How to reduce heat losses from the hot

liquid?

• Answer:
 Reduce radiation by using materials for the flask and
cover which have a low emissivity (give out little thermal
radiation even at high temperature)

 Evacuate the air space or use a filler material with a low

thermal conductivity (allows little conduction even for
large temperature gradients).
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Course Aims

• To provide a basic understanding and some simple

analytical tools for the three modes of heat transfer

• To present some simple heat exchanger design methods