Unit 13: Fundamentals of Thermodynamics and Heat Engines

Unit code D/615/1487

Unit level 4
Credit value 15

Learning Outcome 3
Tutorial No. 1 – Conduction

Examine the principles of heat transfer to industrial applications

Principles of heat transfer:

 Modes of heat transmission, including conduction, convection & radiation

 Heat transfer through composite walls and use of U and k values
 Application of formulae to different types of heat exchangers, including
recuperator and evaporative
 Regenerators
 Heat losses in thick and thin walled pipes, optimum lagging thickness

You should judge your progress by completing the self assessment exercises. On completion of this
tutorial the student should be able to do the following.

 Explain steady and non-steady heat transfer.

 Explain Fourier’s equation for conduction.

 Explain the analogy with electrical resistance.

 Calculate the thermal resistance for flat, cylindrical and spherical layers.

 Calculate the thermal resistance for compound layers.

 Solve heat transfer problems for the above.

CONTENTS

1. Conduction Theory

2. Fourier’s Conduction Law

3. Electrical Analogy And Sign Convention

4. Calculus Form

5. Conduction through a Tube

6. Conduction through a Hollow Sphere

7. Compound Layers

8. Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

©D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk 1 1
1. CONDUCTION THEORY

Heat transfer occurs from one body to another by three methods, conduction, convection and
radiation. Most heat exchangers will use elements of all three. A net amount of heat is always
transferred from the hotter body to the colder body.

This tutorial covers conduction, the process by which heat is passed on through solids, liquids and
gasses from one molecule to another.

Heat or more correctly, internal energy is basically

the kinetic energy of the molecules vibrating or
moving around in the material. The kinetic activity
increases as the temperature is raised. If the material
is all at one uniform temperature, the kinetic motion
is uniform. When a hot material comes into contact
with a colder material, the kinetic activity is passed
on through contact and the transfer of momentum
between the faster moving molecules and the slower
moving molecules so the colder material becomes
hotter. This is the basis of conduction.

2. FOURIER’S CONDUCTION LAW

Consider a flat solid material of thickness t and surface area A.

The surface temperature on the hot side is θ h on the cold side θc.
Heat will flow from one side to the other at a rate of Φ Watts.

The heat transfer is directly proportional to the temperature

difference Δθ and the area A. It is inversely proportional to the
thickness t since the thicker it is, the less the heat transfer. It also
depends on the material. Clearly copper conducts heat much better
than concrete so we need a property called the Thermal
Conductivity and this is usually given the symbol k.

k A Δθ k A θ c  θ h  k A θ h  θ c 
It follows that Φ    
t t t
The units of k are Watts/m K

Here are some typical values of k for common material at ambient conditions.

Material Aluminium Copper Steel Concrete Glass Wood Water Air

k W/m K 201 385 63 0.1 1.0 0.15 0.59 0.024

©D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk 2
 WORKED EXAMPLE No. 1

Calculate the heat transfer through a flat copper plate 200 mm tall by 300 mm wide and 25 mm
thick when the surface temperatures are 150oC and 55oC.

SOLUTION

k A θ h  θ c  385 x 0.2 x 0.3150  55

Φ   87 780 W
t 0.025

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3. ELECTRICAL ANALOGY AND SIGN CONVENTION

If we make the analogy that Φ is equivalent to electric current I and Δθ is equivalent to voltage ΔV,
we may make an analogy with Ohm’s law
ΔV Δθ t
Electrical Resistance R  Thermal Resistance R  
I Φ kA
We should note that Δθ and ΔV are both strictly negative quantities because Δ means the last figure
minus the first figure so Δθ = (θc – θh). If we stick to this, we must put a minus sign in front of the
previous equations. If we simply let Δθ represent the temperature difference Δθ = (θh – θc) and
remember that heat flows from hot to cold, we will have no difficulty solving basic problems.

4. CALCULUS FORM

In reality, the temperature drops in the direction of heat flow so if we measure the distance from the
hot side as x, the heat flow through a very thin layer thickness dx will be:-
dθ
Φ  k A
dx
This is important when analysing non-steady flow conduction and in the following work.

5. CONDUCTION THROUGH A TUBE

Consider heat flowing from the inside of a tube to the outside

at a steady Φ. This is the same at all radii.
The heat flowing through an elementary layer of radius r and
k A dθ k 2 π L r dθ
length L is Φ   
dx dr
dr 2 π kL dθ
Rearrange to get 
r Φ
Now integrate between limits.
Ro θo


dr

2π kL
 dθ Ln r RR
o

2π kL
 io
Ri
r Φ θi
i
Φ
R 
Ln o   
2π kL
θ o  θ i  Φ   2 π k L θ o  θ i  Φ
2πkL
θ i  θ o 
 Ri  Φ R   Ro 
Ln o  Ln 
 Ri   Ri 

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 2

Calculate the heat transfer through a copper tube 5 m long with inner diameter 80 mm and outer
diameter 100 mm. The inside temperature is 200 oC and the outside temperature is 70oC.

SOLUTION

2πkL
Φ θ i  θ o   2 π x 385 x 5 200  70  7 046 438 W
R   50 
Ln o  Ln 
 Ri   40 

©D.J.Dunn www.freestudy.co.uk 4
6. CONDUCTION THROUGH A HOLLOW SPHERE

The derivation is similar to that for a tube. The surface area of a sphere is 4πr 2
k A dθ 4 π r 2 k dθ
Φ 
dx dr
dr 4 π k dθ
Rearrange to get 2  
r Φ
Now integrate between limits.
θo
 r 
Ro
4 k 4πk

dr
   dθ
1 R o
Ri  θθθio
Ri r2 Φ θi
Φ

 
 R -o1  R i-1  
4πk
Φ
θ o  θ i  Φ

4πk

R i-1  R -o1
θ i  θ o 

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 3

A spherical steel reaction vessel has an outer radius of 1.5 m and is covered in lagging 200 mm
thick. The thermal conductivity of the lagging is 0.1 W/m K. The temperature at the surface of
the steel is 340oC and the surface temperature of the lagging is 45 oC. Calculate the heat loss.

SOLUTION

4 π x 0 .1
Φ 340  45  4.7 kW

1.51  1.7 1 

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No. 1

1. Calculate the heat loss through flat sheet of glass 2 m x 1 m and 5 mm thick when the surface
temperatures are 20oC and 5 oC.
(Answer 6 kW)

2. A steam pipe has an external diameter of 75 mm and it is covered with lagging 25 mm thick
with a thermal conductivity of 0.09 W/m K. The surface temperature of the lagging is 300 oC on
the inside and 80oC on the outside. Calculate the heat loss per metre length.
(Answer 243.5 W/m)

3. A steel pipe has an inner diameter of 50 mm and outer diameter of 100 mm. The outside
temperature is 400 oC and the inside temperature is 120 oC. The thermal conductivity 60 W/m K.
Calculate the heat flow from the outside to the inside for 1 m length.
(Answer 152.3 kW/m)

4. A spherical vessel 2 m diameter is lagged to a depth of 300 mm. The thermal conductivity of the
lagging is 0.1 W/m K. The temperature of the inside and outside of the lagging is 180 oC and
40oC respectively. Calculate the heat loss.
(Answer 762.4 W)

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7. COMPOUND LAYERS

If heat is conducted through a compound layer, the problem is analogous to

electricity flowing through a series of resistors. Consider a flat wall made up
of three layers of different materials A, B and C as shown. The heat transfer
rate is the same through each layer. Using the thermal resistance we have:
RA  a
t
θ h  θ 2   ΦRA θ 2  θ h  Φ RA
ka A

RB  b
t
θ 2  θ 3   ΦRB θ 3  θ 2  Φ RB  θ h  Φ R A  Φ RB
kb A

RC  c
t
θ 3  θ c   ΦR A
kc A
θ c  θ 3  ΦRC  θ h  ΦR A  ΦRB  ΦRC θ c  θ h  ΦR A  RB  RC 
θh  θc θ  θc
Φ  h
RA  RB  RC  R
All we need to do is calculate the resistance of each part and add them up.
R 
Ln o 
Cylindrical layers R 
Δθ
  i  Spherical layers R 
R 
Δθ R i-1  R -1
 o 
Φ 2πk L Φ 4 πk

8. OVERALL HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT

When we have compound layers (this may also include convection), it is convenient to use the
equation Φ = - U A Δθ where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient and Δθ is the temperature
change across the entire layer. This will be covered and used in the following tutorials.

WORKED EXAMPLE No. 4

A wall with an area of 25 m2 is made up of four layers. On the inside is plaster 15 mm thick,
then there is brick 100 mm thick, then insulation 60 mm thick and finally brick 100 mm thick.
The thermal conductivity of plaster is 0.1 W/m K.
The thermal conductivity brick is 0.6 W/m K
The thermal conductivity the insulation is is 0.08 W/m K
The inner surface temperature of the wall is 18oC and the outer is -2oC.
Calculate the heat loss and the temperature at the interface between the plaster and the brick.
SOLUTION
t 0.015
Plaster R1  R4  1   6 x 10 3 K/W
k1 A 0.1 x 25
t 0.1
Brick R2  2   6.67 x 10 3 K/W
k 2 A 0.6 x 25
t 0.06
Insulation R3  3   30 x 10 3 K/W
k 3 A 0.08 x 25
Total Resistance R = R1 + R2 + R3 + R4 = 49 x 10-3 K/W
θ  θ c 18 - (-2) 20
Φ h  -3
  405 W (Answer calculated with all memory retained)
R 49 x 10 49 x 10-3
Temperature drop over plaster = ΦR1 = 405 x 6 x 10-3 = 2.43 K Hence the temperature at the
interface is 18 – 2.43 = 15.57 oC

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 WORKED EXAMPLE No. 5

A steel pipe 120 mm inside diameter has a wall 10 mm thick. It is covered with insulation 20
mm thick. The thermal conductivity of steel is 60 W/m K and for the insulation is 0.09 W/m K.

The pipe carries steam at 150oC and the outer surface temperature of the insulation is 0oC.
Calculate the heat loss per metre length. Calculate the temperature at the pipe’s outer surface.

SOLUTION
R   70 
Ln o  Ln 
R  i   60   4.089 x 10 4 K/W
R
Pipe
2πkL 2 π x 60 x 1
R   90 
Ln o  Ln 
Insulation R   i    70   0.444 K/W
R
2πkL 2 π x 0.09 x 1
Total resistance =0.445 K/W Φ = Δθ/R = (150 – 0)/0.445 = 337.2 W

Temperature drop over pipe wall = ΦR = 4.089 x 10-4 x 337.2 = 0.138 K

The surface temperature of the pipe is 149.86oC
This illustrates that a well insulated pipe warms up to the same temperature as the fluid inside
and it is quite normal to neglect the temperature drop through the metal wall.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE No. 2

1. The inside dimensions of a refrigerated box is 2m x 1 m x 1.2 m. It is covered with insulation 50

mm thick and then a liner 5 mm thick. It is required to extract 150 W from the box. Simplifying
the problem to a plain flat surface calculate the inside temperature when the outer surface is
maintained at 20oC. The thermal conductivity of the insulation is 0.043 W/m K and 0.2 W/m K
for the liner. (Answer 4.09oC)

2. A nylon pipe has a bore of 50 mm and a wall thickness of 5 mm. It is covered with insulation 10
mm thick. The thermal conductivity of the nylon is 0.25 W/m K and for the insulation it is
0.1 W/m K. The inside of the pipe carries hot water at 50 oC and the outer surface of the pipe is
at 10oC. Calculate the heat loss per metre length and the temperature between the two materials.
(Answer 70 W and 41.9oC)

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