Department of Metallurgical Engineering

Heat Transfer Phenomena

Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

Heat transfer
1. Introduction
Heat transfer which is defined as the transmission of energy
from one region to another as a result of temperature gradient
takes place by the following three modes:
1.Conduction.
2.Convection.
3.Radiation.

1-1 CONDUCTION HEAT TRANSFER:-

When a temperature gradient exists in a body, experience has
shown that there is anenergy transfer from the high-temperature
region to the low-temperature region. We say that the energy is
transferred by conduction and that the heat-transfer rate per unit
area is proportional to the normal temperature gradient:
q T
～ When the proportionality constant is inserted,
A x
qx T
 kA this equation is called Fourier’s law of heat
A x
conduction
Where (qx) is the heat-transfer rate(W) Sketch showingdirection of heat flow

[∂T/∂x]is the temperature gradient in the direction of the heat

flow.(oC/m)
The positive constant [ k] is called the thermal conductivity of
the material(W/m.oC)
The minus sign is inserted so that the second principle of
thermodynamics will be satisfied
qx T
 k since all properties are constant ,then the equation can
A x
qx dT
be written as;  k the integration equation for x from x1 to
A dx
x2 T2
x2 and T from T1 to T2 qx  dx   kAdT
x1 T1

T
q x   KA [W]
x

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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

1-2 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY:-

From Fourier’s law ,we have

q dx
k .
A dT
dT
1
The value of k = 1 when q = 1, A = 1 and dx

q dx 1 m
k . k : W   W / mK .
Now I dT (unit of m 2 k (or C) or W / mC )
Thus, the thermal conductivity of a material is defined as
follows :
"The amount of energy conducted though a body of unit
area, and unit thickness in unit time when the difference in
temperature between the faces causing heat flow is unit
temperature difference ".
It follows from equation that materials with high thermal
conductivities are good conductors of heat, where as materials
with low thermal conductive are good thermal insulator.
Conduction of heat occurs most readily in pure metals, less so in
alloys, and much less readily in non-metals. The very low
thermal conductivities of certain thermal insulators e.g., cork is
due to their porosity, the air trapped within the material acting as
an insulator.
Thermal conductivity (a property of material) depends
essentially upon the following factors:
(i) Material structure.
(ii) Moisture content.
(iii) Density of the material.
(iv) Pressure and temperature (operating conditions).
(Table1.1gives the thermal conductivities of various
materials at 0ºC.)

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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

Table 1.1 Thermal conductivity of various materials at 0°C

Thermal Thermal
Material Conductivity Material Conductivity
(W/m K) (W/m K)
Gass Solids : Metals
Hydrogen 0.175 Silver , pure 410
Helium 0.141 Copper, pure 385
Air 0.024 Aluminum, pure 202
Water vapour (saturated) 0.0206 Nickel, pure 93
Carbon dioxide 0.0146 Iron, pure 73
(Thermal conductivity of Carbon steel, 1%C 43
helium and hydrogen are Lead pure 35
much higher than other Chrome-nickel-steel 16.3
gases, because their (18%Cr, 8% Ni)
molecules have small
mass and higher mean
travel velocity)
Non-metals
Liquids Quartz, parallel to axis 41.6
Mercury 8.21 magnesite 4.15
Water* 0.556 marble 2.08 to 2.94
Ammonia 0.54 sandstone 1.83
Lubricating oil Glass, window 0.78
SAE 40 0.147 Maple or Oak 0.17
Freon 12 0.073 Saw dust 0.059
Glass wool 0.038
Note:- water has its maximum thermal conductivity (k= 0.68 W/m K) at about 150ºC.

Example 1 CONDUCTION THROUGH COPPER PLATE.

One face of a copper plate 3 cm thick is maintained at 400℃,
and the other face is maintained at 100℃. How much hear is
transferred through the plate?
Solution. From Appendix A the thermal conductivity for copper
is 370 W/M·℃ at 250℃. From Fourier’s law
q dT
 k
A dx
Integration gives
= -k T =  (370)(100 -2 400) = 3.7 MW/m2
q
[1.173  106
A x 3  10
10
2
Btu/h·ft ]

Example 2 The following data relate to an oven.

Thickness of side wall of the oven = 82.5 mm
Thermal conductivity of wall insulation = 0.044 W/m°C
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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

Temperature on inside of the wall = 17 5° C

Energy dissipated by the electrical coil within the oven = 40.5
W
Determine the area of wall surface, perpendicular to heat flow,
so that temperature on the other side of the wall does not exceed
75°C.
Solution. x = 82.5 mm = 0.0825 m; k = 0.044 W/m°C; T1 =
175°C; T2 = 75°C; q = 40.5W
Area of the wall surface, A Assuming one- dimensional steady
state heat conduction,
Rate of electrical energy dissipation in the oven.
= rate of heat transfer (conduction) across the wall
dT (T T ) kA(T1  T2 )
i.e. q  kA  kA 2 1 
dx x x

0.044 A (175  75)

or 40.5 
0.0825
40.5  0.0825
or A  0.759
0.044 (175  75)
Example3A plane wall has thickness L and its two surfaces are
maintained at temperatures T1, and T2. If the thermal
conductivity of the material varies with the temperature and is
given by k  k 0 (1   T) , derive an expression for steady state heat
transfer rate.
Solution :-
 dT dT q 
 q / A   k dx   k 0(1   T ) dx A
dx   ko( dT   TdT ) 
 
 T 2
 
 x2 T2 T2 [T   ]T2
T1 [T 2  T 1]  [T 2
2  T 2
1] 
    
     2   2 
q dx koA ( dT TdT ) koA
x
koA[
x
] 
  x1 T1 T1 
  koA  
 q  [[T 2  T 1]  [T 2 2  T 2 1]] 
 x 2 
 

1-3 CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER

It is well known that a hot plate of metal will cool faster when
placed in front of a fan than when exposed to still air. We say
that the heat is convected away, and we call the process

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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

convection heat transfer. Consider the heated plate shown in

Figure. The temperature of the plate isTw, and the temperature
of the fluid is T∞. The velocity of the flow will appear as
shown, being reduced to zero at the plate as a result of viscous
action. Since the velocity of the fluid layer at the wall will be
zero .The temperature gradient is dependent on the rate at which
the fluid carries the heat away; a high velocity produces a large
temperature gradient, and so on. Newton’s law of cooling:
q = hA(Tw - T∞)

Here the heat-transfer rate is related to the overall temperature

difference between the wall and fluid and the surface area A.
The quantity h[W/m2.0C] is called the convection heat-transfer
coefficient.
Example 3 CONVECTION CALCULATION. Air at 20℃
blows over a hot plate 50 by 75 cm maintained at 250℃. The
convection heat-transfer coefficient is 25 W/m2·℃. Calculate
the heat transfer.
Solution. From Newton’s law of cooling
q = hA(Tw-T∞)= (25)(0.50)(0.75)(250-20)
= 2.156 kW [7356 Btu/h]

Example 4 A wire 1.5 mm in diameter and 150 mm long is

submerged in water at atmospheric pressure. An electric current
is passed through the wire and is increased until the water boils
at 100°C. Under the condition if convective heat transfer
coefficient is 4500 W/m2°C find how much electric power must
be supplied to the wire to maintain the wire surface at 120°C?
Solution:-Diameter of the wire,d = 1.5 mm = 0.0015 m
Length of the wire, L = 150 mm = 0.15 m .
 Surface area of the wire (exposed to heat transfer)
A   d L    0.0015  0.15  7.068  10 4 m 2

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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

Wire surface temperature, Ts = 120°C Water temperature, Tf

= 100°C
Convective heat transfer coefficient, h = 4500 W/m2 °C
Electric power to be supplied:
Electric power which must be supplied = total convection loss
(q):
 q  hA (Ts  Tf )  4500  7.068  104 (120  100)  63.6 W
1-4 RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER
In contrast to the mechanisms of conduction and convection,
where energy transfer through a material medium is involved,
heat may also be transferred through regions where a perfect
vacuum exists. The mechanism in this case is electromagnetic
radiation. We shall limit our discussion to electromagnetic
radiation which is propagated as a result of a temperature
difference; this is called thermal radiation. Thermodynamic
considerations show that an ideal thermal radiator, or blackbody,
will emit energy at a rate proportional to the fourth power of the
absolute temperature of the body and directly proportional to its
surface area. Thus
[qemitted = σ A T4]
(σ) Stefan-Boltzmann constant with the value of [5.669*10-
8
W/m2·K4].
qnetexchange
 σ（T14 – T24） , q = FεFGσA（T14 – T24）
A
where Fε is the emissivity function and FG is the geometric
“view factor” function.

Example 5 RADIATION HEAT TRANSFER. Two infinite

black plates at 800 and 300℃ exchange heat by radiation.
Calculate the heat transfer per unit area.

Solution. q/A = σ(T14 – T24) = (5.669  10-8)(10734-5734)

= 69.03 kW/m3
[21,884 Btu/h·ft2]
Example 5 MULTIMODE HEAT TRANSFER. Assuming
that the plate in Ex. 3 is made of carbon steel (1%) 2 cm thick

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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

and that 300 W is lost from the plate surface by radiation,

calculate the inside plate temperature.

Solution. The heat conducted through the plate must be equal to

the sum of convection and radiation heat losses:
qcond = qconv + qrad
-kA T = 2.156 + 0.3 = 2.456 kW
x
(2456)(0.02)
T = (0.5)(0.75)( 43) = -3.05℃ [-5.49℉]

where the value of k is taken from Table 1-1. The inside plate
temperature is therefore
Ti = 250 + 3.05 = 253.05 ℃
Example 7 A carbon steel plate (thermal conductivity = 45
W/m°C) 600mm  900mm  25 mm is maintained at 310°C. Air
at 15°C blows over the hot plate. If convection heat transfer
coefficient is 22W/m2°C and 250 W is lost from the plate
surface by radiation, calculate .the inside plate temperature.
Solution. Area of the plate exposed to heat transfer,
A = 600 mm  900 mm = 0.6  0.9 = 0.54 m2
Thickness of the plate, L = 25 mm = 0.025 m
Surface temperature of the plate Ts = 310°C
Temperature of air (fluid), Tf = 15°C
Convective heat transfer coefficient, h = 22 W/m2°C
Heat lost from the plate surface by radiation,
qrad = 250W
Thermal conductivity, k = 45 W/m °C
Inside plate temperature, Ti .
In this case the heat conducted through the plate is removed
from the plate surface by a combination of convection and
radiation.
Heat conducted through the plate = convection heat losses +
radiation heat losses.
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Department of Metallurgical Engineering
Heat Transfer Phenomena
Prof. Dr.: Kadhim F. Alsultani

or qcond.  qconv.  q rad.

dT
 kA  hA (Ts  Tf )  F  A (Ts 4  Tf 4 )
dx
(T  Ti )
or  45  054  s  22  0.54 (310  15)  250 (given )
L
(310  Ti )
or  45  0.54   22  0.54  295  250
0.025
3754.6
or Ti   310  313.86C
972
qrad
Tf
=15°C

qconv.=hA(Ts -Tf)

PROBLEMS

1-A glass panel (k = 0.78 W/mK) 1.5 m  2.5 m is 16 mm thick. If its inside and
outside surface temperatures are 30°C and 5°C respectively, calculate the heat loss by
conduction through the panel.

2-A truncated cone 25 cm high is made of aluminum (k = 204 W/mK). The cross-
sectional area at the top and bottom are 50 cm2 and 200 cm2 respectively. The lower
surface is maintained at 500°C and the upper surface is at 95°C. The lateral surface is
insulated. Assuming one-dimensional flow of heat, calculate the rate of heat transfer.

3-A conical section has its circular cross-section with diameter D = 0.25x. The small
end is at x = 50 mm and the large end is at x = 250 mm. The end temperatures are
respectively 400K and 600K. The lateral surface is well insulated. Derive an
expression for the temperature distribution assuming one-dimensional conditions and
calculate the rate of heat flow through the cone.