Thermal energy generation

ME302 - Heat Transfer

Dr. N. Gnanasekaran
Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal
[email protected]

August 23, 2020

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 Thermal energy generation

Energy generation in a plane wall

Consider the conversion of electrical to thermal energy in a

current-carrying medium (Ohmic, or resistance, or Joule heat-
ing). The rate at which energy is generated by passing a current
I through a medium of electrical resistance Re is

Ėg = I 2 Re (1)

If this power generation (W) occurs uniformly throughout the

medium of volume V, the volumetric generation rate (W/m3 )
is then
Ėg I 2 Re
q̇ = = (2)
V V

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 Thermal energy generation

Thermal energy generation in a plane wall contd...

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 Thermal energy generation

Thermal energy generation in a plane wall contd...

Consider a plan wall with internal heat generation, the govern-
ing equation is
d 2T q̇
2
+ =0 (3)
dx k
The general solution is
q̇ 2
T =− x + C1 x + C2 (4)
2k
The boundary conditions are
T (−L) = Ts,1 , T (L) = Ts,2 (5)
The constants are
Ts,2 − Ts,1
C1 = (6)
2L
q̇ 2 Ts,1 + Ts,2
C2 = − L + (7)
2k 2
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 Thermal energy generation

Thermal energy generation in a plane wall contd...

The temperature distribution becomes

q̇L2 x2 Ts,2 − Ts,1 x Ts,1 + Ts,2

T (x) = (1 − 2 ) + + (8)
2k L 2 L 2
With heat generation, the heat flux is no longer independent of
x.
If Ts,1 = Ts,2 = Ts

q̇L2 x2
T (x) = (1 − 2 ) + Ts (9)
2k L
The maximum temperature exists at the mid plane

q̇L2
T (0) = T0 = + Ts (10)
2k

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Thermal energy generation in a plane wall contd...

To use Eq. 10, we need to know Ts

Refer, the figure, at x=L, we can apply boundary condition of
third kind
dT
−k |x=L = h(Ts − T∞ ) (11)
dx
q̇L
Ts = T∞ + (12)
h
We can also use

E˙g ˙
= Eout (13)
q̇L = h(Ts − T∞ ) (14)

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 Thermal energy generation

Problem on thermal energy generation in a plane wall

Problem
A plane wall is a composite of two materials, A and B. The wall of
material A has uniform heat generation 1.5 × 106 W/m3 , kA = 75
W/m K, and thickness LA = 50 mm. The wall material B has no
generation with kB = 150 W/m K and thickness LB = 20 mm. The
inner surface of material A is well insulated, while the outer surface
of material B is cooled by a water stream with T∞ = 30C and h =
1000 W/m2 K.
1 Sketch the temperature distribution that exists in the composite
under steady state conditions.
2 Determine the temperature T0 of the insulated surface and the
temperature T2 of the cooled surface

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 Thermal energy generation

Problem contd...

Figure: Thermal generation in a wall

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 Thermal energy generation

Problem contd..
Solution

q̇LA = q” (15)
q” = h(T2 − T∞ ) (16)
Combining the above equations
q̇LA
T2 = T∞ + (17)
h
1.5 × 106 × 0.05
T2 = 30 + = 105◦ C (18)
1000
The temperature at the insulated surface is
q̇L2A
T0 = + T1 (19)
2kA
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Problem contd..

To find out T1 , we use resistance concept

(T1 − T∞ )
q” = (20)
R”cond,B + R”conv

T1 = T∞ + (R”cond,B + R”conv )q” (21)

The resistances are
LB 1
R”cond,B = , R”conv = (22)
kB h

T1 = 115◦ C , T0 = 140◦ C (23)

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 Thermal energy generation

Thermal energy generation in a cylinder

Consider a solid cylinder with internal heat generation and steady
state conditions.

Figure: Internal heat generation in a cylinder

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 Thermal energy generation

Thermal energy generation in a cylinder

The governing differential equation becomes

1 d dT q̇
(r )+ =0 (24)
r dr dr k

dT q̇r 2
r = − + C1 (25)
dr 2k
q̇r 2
T (r ) = − + C1 ln(r ) + C2 (26)
4k
The boundary conditions
dT
|r =0 = 0, T (r0 ) = Ts (27)
dr

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Thermal energy generation in a cylinder contd..

The temperature distribution becomes

q̇r02 r2
T (r ) = (1 − 2 ) + Ts (28)
4k r0

temperature distribution in a non-dimensional form becomes

T (r ) − Ts r
= 1 − ( )2 (29)
T0 − Ts r0

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References

Incropera, FP and DeWitt, DP

Fundamentals of Heat Transfer Wiley
Wiley Vol.(19852), 1990.

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The End

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