1.

Introduction
What is heat transfer?
Heat transfer is thermal energy in transit due to a spatial temperature difference.Whenever a
temperature difference exists in a medium or between media, heat transfer must occur. There
are different types of heat transfer modes.When a temperature gradient exists in a stationary
medium, which may be a solid or a fluid, we use the term conduction to refer to the heat transfer
that will occur across the medium. In contrast, the term convection refers to heat transfer that
will occur between a surface and a moving fluid when they are at different temperatures.The
third mode of heat transfer istermed thermal radiation.All surfaces of finite temperature emit
energy in the form ofelectromagnetic waves. Hence, in the absence of an intervening medium,
there is net heattransfer by radiation between two surfaces at different temperatures.

Physical Origins and Rate Equations

As engineers, it is important to understand the physical mechanisms which underlie the heat
transfer modes and to be able to use the rate equations that quantify the amount of energy
being transferred per unit time.

Conduction
Conduction may be viewed as the transfer of energy from the more energetic to the
lessenergetic particles of a substance due to interactions between the particles.The physical
mechanism of conduction is most easily explained by considering a gas andusing ideas familiar
from your thermodynamics background.Consider a gas in which a temperaturegradient exists,
and assume that there is nobulk,or macroscopic, motion. The gasmay occupy the space
between two surfaces that are maintained at different temperatures, as shown in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1: Association of conduction heat transfer with diffusion of energy due to molecular activity

The temperature at any point is associated with the energy of gas molecules in proximity to the
point.This energy is related to the random translational motion, as well as to the internal
rotational and vibrational motions, of the molecules.Higher temperatures are associated with
higher molecular energies. When neighboringmolecules collide, as they are constantly doing, a
transfer of energy from the more energeticto the less energetic molecules must occur. In the
presence of a temperature gradient, energytransfer by conduction must then occur in the
direction of decreasing temperature.The hypothetical planeatxo is constantly being crossed by
molecules from above and below due to their randommotion. However, molecules from above
are associated with a higher temperature than those from below, in which case there must be a
nettransfer of energy in the positive x-direction.Collisions between molecules enhance this
energy transfer. The net transferof energy by random molecular motion may be referred to as a
diffusionof energy.

There are many examples of conduction heat transfer. The exposed end of a metal
spoonsuddenly immersed in a cup of hot coffee is eventually warmed due to the conduction
ofenergy through the spoon. On a winter day, there is significant energy loss from a heatedroom
to the outside air. This loss is principally due to conduction heat transfer through thewall that
separates the room air from the outside air.

Heat transfer processes can be quantified in terms of appropriate rate

equations.Theseequations may be used to compute the amount of energy being transferred per
unit time.For heat conduction, the rate equation is known as Fourier’s law. Considering of the
one-dimensionalplane wall as shown in Figure 2, having a temperature distribution T(x),

FIGURE 2: One-dimensional heat transfer by conduction (diffusion of energy)

the rate equation isexpressed asfollows:-

The heatflux (W/m2) is the heat transfer rate in the x-direction perunit area perpendicularto
the direction of transfer, and it is proportional to the temperature gradient, dT/dx,in this
.
direction.The parameter kis a transportproperty known as the thermal conductivity (W/m K) and
is a characteristic of the wall material.The minus sign is a consequenceof the fact that heat is
transferred in the direction of decreasing temperature.Under thesteady-state conditionsshown in
Figure 2, where the temperature distribution is linear,the temperature gradient may be
expressed as

and the heat flux is then

or
Note that this equation provides a heat flux , that is, the rate of heat transfer per unit area.The
heat rateby conduction, qx(W), through a plane wall of area Ais then the product of the flux and
the area,

EXAMPLE1.1
The wall of an industrial furnace is constructed from 0.15 m thick fireclay brick having athermal
.
conductivity of 1.7 W/m K. Measurements made during steady-state operationreveal
temperatures of 1400 and 1150 K at the inner and outer surfaces, respectively. Whatis the rate
of heat loss through a wall that is 0.5 m x 1.2 m on a side?(1700 W)

Convection
The convection heat transfer modeis comprised of two mechanisms. In addition to
energytransfer due to random molecular motion(diffusion), energy is also transferred by the
bulk, ormacroscopic, motionof the fluid. This fluid motion is associated with the fact that, at
anyinstant, large numbers of molecules are moving collectively or as aggregates. Such motion,
inthe presence of a temperature gradient, contributes to heat transfer. Because the molecules in
the aggregate retain their random motion, the total heat transfer is then due to a superposition
of energy transport by the random motion of the molecules and by the bulk motion ofthe fluid.
The term convectionis customarily used when referring to this cumulative transportand the term
advectionrefers to transport due to bulk fluid motion.
Our interest is in convection heat transfer, which occurs between a fluidin motion and a
bounding surface when the two are at different temperatures.Considerfluid flow over the heated
surface of Figure 3

FIGURE 3: Boundary layer development in convection heat transfer

A consequence of the fluid–surface interaction is the development of a region in the fluid
through which the velocity varies from zeroat the surface to a finite value u∞associated with the
flow. This region of the fluid is knownas the hydrodynamic, or velocity, boundary
layer.Moreover, if the surface and flow temperatures differ, there will be a region of the fluid
through which the temperature variesfrom Ts at y=0 to T∞ in the outer flow.This region, called
the thermal boundary layer,may be smaller, larger, or the same size as that through which the
velocity varies.In anycase, ifTs>T∞ convection heat transfer will occur from the surface to the
outer flow.
The convection heat transfer mode is sustained both by random molecular motion andby the
bulk motion of the fluid within the boundary layer.The contribution due to randommolecular
motion (diffusion) dominates near the surface where the fluid velocity is low. Infact, at the
interface between the surface and the fluid (y=0) the fluid velocity is zero, andheat is transferred
by this mechanism only.The contribution due to bulk fluid motion originates from the fact that the
boundary layer growsas the flow progresses in the x-direction.In effect, the heat that is
conducted into this layer is swept downstream and is eventuallytransferred to the fluid outside
the boundary layer. Appreciation of boundary layer phenomena is essential to understanding
convection heat transfer.
Convection heat transfer may be classified according to the nature of the flow. There is forced
convectionwhen the flow is caused by external means, such as by a fan, a pump, oratmospheric
winds. Example is the use of a fan to provide forced convectionair cooling of hot electrical
components on a stack of printed circuit boards (fig 4a). Incontrast, for free (or natural)
convection, the flow is induced by buoyancy forces, which aredue to density differences caused
by temperature variations in the fluid. An example is thefree convection heat transfer that occurs
from hot components on a vertical array of circuitboards in air (fig 4b)

FIGURE 4: Convection heat transfer processes. (a) Forced convection. (b) Natural convection. (c) Boiling.
(d) Condensation
The convection heat transfer mode as energy transfer occurringwithin a fluid due to the
combined effects of conduction and bulk fluid motion has so far been described. Typically,the
energy that is being transferred is the sensible or internal thermal, energy of the fluid.However,
for some convection processes, there is, in addition, latent heat exchange. Thislatent heat
exchange is generally associated with a phase change between the liquid andvapor states of
the fluid.Two special cases of interest are boilingand condensation.For example, convection
heat transfer results from fluid motion induced by vapor bubbles generated at the bottom of a
pan of boiling water (Figure 4c) or by the condensationof water vapor on the outer surface of a
cold water pipe (Figure 4d).
Regardless of the nature of the convection heat transfer process, the appropriate rateequation
is of the form

This expression is known as Newton’s law of coolingwhere,the convective heat fluxq''(W/m2)is

proportional to the difference between the surface and fluid temperatures, Tsand T∞,
respectively. The parameter h(W/m2.K) is termed the convection heat transfer coefficient.This
coefficient depends on conditions in the boundary layer, which are influenced bysurface
geometry, the nature of the fluid motion, and an assortment of fluid thermodynamicand transport
properties.

Radiation
Thermal radiation is energy emitted by matter that is at a nonzero temperature. Althoughwe will
focus on radiation from solid surfaces, emission may also occur from liquids andgases.
Regardless of the form of matter, the emission may be attributed to changes in theelectron
configurations of the constituent atoms or molecules. The energy of the radiationfield is
transported by electromagnetic waves (or alternatively, photons). While the transferof energy by
conduction or convection requires the presence of a material medium, radiationdoes not. In fact,
radiation transfer occurs most efficiently in a vacuum.

FIGURE 5: Surface of emissivity , absorptivity α , andtemperatureTs.

Consider radiation transfer processes for the surface of Figure 5. Radiation that isemitted by the
surface originates from the thermal energy of matter bounded by the surface,and the rate at
which energy is released per unit area (W/m2) is termed the surface emissivepower, E. There is
an upper limit to the emissive power, which is prescribed by theStefan ̶ Boltzmann law

whereTsis the absolute temperature (K) of the surface andσis the Stefan–Boltzmann
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constant(σ=5.67x10 W/m2. K4). Such a surface is called an ideal radiatoror blackbody.
The heat flux emitted by a real surface is less than that of a blackbody at the same temperature
and is given by

whereis a radiative property of the surface termed the emissivity. With values in
therange0≤≤1,this property provides a measure of how efficiently a surface emits energy
relative to a blackbody. It depends strongly on the surface material and finish.
Radiation may also be incident on a surface from its surroundings.The radiation mayoriginate
from a special source, such as the sun, or from other surfaces to which the surfaceof interest is
exposed.Irrespective of the source(s), we designate the rate at which all suchradiation is
incident on a unit area of the surface as the irradiation G (Figure 5). A portion, or all, of the
irradiation may be absorbed by the surface, thereby increasingthe thermal energy of the
material. The rate at which radiant energy is absorbed per unitsurface area may be evaluated
from knowledge of a surface radiative property termed theabsorptivity α. That is,

where0≤α≤1. If α ˂ 1and the surface isopaque, portions of the irradiation arereflected. If the
surface is semitransparent, portions of the irradiation may also be transmitted.However,
whereas absorbed and emitted radiation increase and reduce, respectively, thethermal energy
of matter, reflected and transmitted radiation have no effect on this energy.Note that the value
ofαdepends on the nature of the irradiation, as well as on the surfaceitself.
If the surface is assumed to be one for whichα=(a gray surface), the net rate of radiation heat
transfer from the surface, expressed per unit area of the surface, is

This expression provides the difference between thermal energy that is released due to
radiation emission and that gained due to radiation absorption.
The surfaces of Figure 5 may also simultaneously transfer heat by convection toan adjoining
gas.For this conditions the total rate of heat transfer from thesurface is then

EXAMPLE 1.2
An uninsulated steam pipe passes through a room in which the air and walls are at 25oC.The
outside diameter of the pipe is 70 mm, and its surface temperature and emissivity are200 oC and
0.8, respectively. What are the surface emissive power and irradiation? If thecoefficient
associated with free convection heat transfer from the surface to the air is15 W/m2.K, what is the
rate of heat loss from the surface per unit length of pipe? (q'= 998 W/m)