CONDUCTION

CONVECTION
RADIATION
SUPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
HEAT TRANSFER
MECHANISMS
Heat is the form of energy that can be transferred
from one system to another as a result of
temperature difference.
A thermodynamic analysis is concerned with the
amount of heat transfer as a system undergoes a
process from one equilibrium state to another.
The science that deals with the determination of the
rates of such energy transfers is the heat transfer.
The transfer of energy as heat is always from the
higher-temperature medium to the lower-
temperature one, and heat transfer stops when the
two mediums reach the same temperature.
Heat can be transferred in three basic modes:
◦ conduction
◦ convection
◦ radiation
All modes of heat transfer require the existence of a
temperature difference.
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 CONDUCTION
Conduction: The transfer of energy from the more
energetic particles of a substance to the adjacent
less energetic ones as a result of interactions
between the particles.
In gases and liquids, conduction is due to the
collisions and diffusion of the molecules during their
random motion.
In solids, it is due to the combination of vibrations of
the molecules in a lattice and the energy transport
by free electrons.
The rate of heat conduction through a plane layer is
proportional to the temperature difference across
the layer and the heat transfer area, but is inversely
proportional to the thickness of the layer.
Heat conduction
through a large plane
wall of thickness x
and area A.

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When x → 0 Fourier’s law of
heat conduction
Thermal conductivity, k: A measure of the ability
of a material to conduct heat.
Temperature gradient dT/dx: The slope of the
temperature curve on a T-x diagram.
Heat is conducted in the direction of decreasing
temperature, and the temperature gradient
becomes negative when temperature decreases
with increasing x. The negative sign in the equation
ensures that heat transfer in the positive x direction
is a positive quantity.

In heat conduction
analysis, A represents
the area normal to the
direction of heat The rate of heat conduction
transfer. through a solid is directly
proportional to its thermal
conductivity.
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 Thermal Conductivity
Thermal conductivity:
The rate of heat transfer
through a unit thickness
of the material per unit
area per unit
temperature difference.
The thermal conductivity
of a material is a
measure of the ability of
the material to conduct
heat.
A high value for thermal
conductivity indicates
that the material is a
good heat conductor,
and a low value indicates
that the material is a
poor heat conductor or A simple experimental setup
insulator. to determine the thermal
conductivity of a material.
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The range of
thermal
conductivity of
various
materials at
room
temperature.

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 The thermal conductivities of gases
such as air vary by a factor of 104 from
those of pure metals such as copper.
Pure crystals and metals have the
highest thermal conductivities, and
gases and insulating materials the
lowest.

The mechanisms of heat conduction

in different phases of a substance.

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The variation of
the thermal
conductivity of
various solids,
liquids, and gases
with temperature.

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 Thermal Diffusivity
cp Specific heat, J/kg·°C: Heat capacity per
unit mass
cp Heat capacity, J/m3·°C: Heat capacity
per unit volume
 Thermal diffusivity, m2/s: Represents
how fast heat diffuses through a material

A material that has a high thermal

conductivity or a low heat capacity will
obviously have a large thermal diffusivity.
The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster
the propagation of heat into the medium.
A small value of thermal diffusivity means
that heat is mostly absorbed by the
material and a small amount of heat is
conducted further.
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 CONVECTION
Convection: The mode of
energy transfer between a
solid surface and the
adjacent liquid or gas that is
in motion, and it involves
the combined effects of
conduction and fluid motion.
The faster the fluid motion,
the greater the convection
heat transfer.
In the absence of any bulk
fluid motion, heat transfer
between a solid surface and
the adjacent fluid is by pure Heat transfer from a hot surface to air
conduction. by convection.

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Forced convection: If
the fluid is forced to flow
over the surface by
external means such as
a fan, pump, or the wind.
Natural (or free)
convection: If the fluid
motion is caused by
buoyancy forces that are
induced by density
differences due to the
variation of temperature The cooling of a boiled egg by
in the fluid. forced and natural convection.

Heat transfer processes that involve change of phase of a fluid are

also considered to be convection because of the fluid motion
induced during the process, such as the rise of the vapor bubbles
during boiling or the fall of the liquid droplets during condensation.

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 Newton’s law of cooling

h convection heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 · °C

As the surface area through which convection heat transfer takes place
Ts the surface temperature
T the temperature of the fluid sufficiently far from the surface

The convection heat transfer

coefficient h is not a
property of the fluid.
It is an experimentally
determined parameter
whose value depends on all
the variables influencing
convection such as
- the surface geometry
- the nature of fluid motion
- the properties of the fluid
- the bulk fluid velocity

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 RADIATION
• Radiation: The energy emitted by matter in the form of electromagnetic
waves (or photons) as a result of the changes in the electronic
configurations of the atoms or molecules.
• Unlike conduction and convection, the transfer of heat by radiation does
not require the presence of an intervening medium.
• In fact, heat transfer by radiation is fastest (at the speed of light) and it
suffers no attenuation in a vacuum. This is how the energy of the sun
reaches the earth.
• In heat transfer studies we are interested in thermal radiation, which is the
form of radiation emitted by bodies because of their temperature.
• All bodies at a temperature above absolute zero emit thermal radiation.
• Radiation is a volumetric phenomenon, and all solids, liquids, and gases
emit, absorb, or transmit radiation to varying degrees.
• However, radiation is usually considered to be a surface phenomenon for
solids.

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 Stefan–Boltzmann law
 = 5.670  108 W/m2 · K4 Stefan–Boltzmann constant
Blackbody: The idealized surface that emits radiation at the maximum rate.

Radiation emitted
by real surfaces
Emissivity  : A measure of how closely
a surface approximates a blackbody for
which  = 1 of the surface. 0   1.

Blackbody radiation represents the maximum

amount of radiation that can be emitted from a
surface at a specified temperature.
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Absorptivity : The fraction of the radiation energy incident on a
surface that is absorbed by the surface. 0   1
A blackbody absorbs the entire radiation incident on it ( = 1).
Kirchhoff’s law: The emissivity and the absorptivity of a surface at
a given temperature and wavelength are equal.

The absorption of radiation incident on

an opaque surface of absorptivity .
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Net radiation heat transfer: When a surface is completely enclosed by a
The difference between the much larger (or black) surface at temperature
rates of radiation emitted by Tsurr separated by a gas (such as air) that
the surface and the radiation does not intervene with radiation, the net rate
absorbed. of radiation heat transfer between these
two surfaces is given by
The determination of the net
rate of heat transfer by
radiation between two
surfaces is a complicated
matter since it depends on
• the properties of the surfaces
• their orientation relative to
each other
• the interaction of the medium
between the surfaces with
radiation

Radiation is usually
significant relative to
conduction or natural
convection, but negligible Radiation heat transfer between a surface
relative to forced convection. and the surfaces surrounding it. 16
 When radiation and convection occur
simultaneously between a surface and a gas:

Combined heat transfer coefficient hcombined

includes the effects of both convection and
radiation.

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SIMULTANEOUS HEAT
TRANSFER MECHANISMS
Heat transfer is only by conduction in opaque solids,
but by conduction and radiation in semitransparent
solids.
A solid may involve conduction and radiation but not
convection. A solid may involve convection and/or
radiation on its surfaces exposed to a fluid or other
surfaces.
Heat transfer is by conduction and possibly by
radiation in a still fluid (no bulk fluid motion) and by
convection and radiation in a flowing fluid.
In the absence of radiation, heat transfer through a
fluid is either by conduction or convection,
depending on the presence of any bulk fluid motion.
Convection = Conduction + Fluid motion
Heat transfer through a vacuum is by radiation.
Most gases between two solid surfaces
do not interfere with radiation.
Although there are three mechanisms of
Liquids are usually strong absorbers of heat transfer, a medium may involve
radiation. only two of them simultaneously.
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