Principles of Heat Transfer, 7th Edition

Chapter 1:
Concept Review Solutions

1.1 Briefly respond to the following to review the primary concepts learned in this
chapter:
(a) Explain how heat transfer by conduction is different from that by radiation.
Conduction is a diffusion process and requires a medium (matter which could be
solid, liquid, or gas) for the transport of thermal energy or heat from a high
temperature region to that at a lower temperature. Radiation, on the other hand, is an
electromagnetic wave transmission process and hence, does not require an
intervening material medium (between the high and low temperature regions) for the
transport of heat.

(b) State Fourier’s law of conduction for a one-dimensional system in words and write
its heat transfer rate equation.
Fourier’s law of conduction states that the heat flux q′k′ , or the transfer rate per unit
surface area (qk A) through which heat is transferred by conduction, is proportional
to the temperature gradient normal (or perpendicular) to the surface. Mathematically,
this can be expressed as
dT dT
qk′′∞ or qk ∞A
dn dn
where (dT dn) is the temperature gradient in a one dimensional system, and A is the
surface area. Note that in a two- or three-dimensional system, the gradient would be
expressed by a partial differential, or as (∂T ∂n) . The proportionality constant gives
the definition of the thermal conductivity k of a homogeneous medium and
dT
qk = − kA
dn
which is the general form of Eq. (1.1).

(c) How is the convective heat transfer coefficient defined?

The convective heat transfer coefficient is defined as the ratio heat flux q′k′ (or the
transfer rate per unit area (qk A) of the surface with which a fluid (gas or liquid)
exchanges heat) and the temperature difference between the surface and some
reference location in the fluid. The average convection heat transfer coefficient can be
calculated from Eq. (1.10) as

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 Principles of Heat Transfer, 7th Edition

q′′ q
hc = =
∆T A∆T

(d) Write the equation for heat loss from a spherical satellite in space when the
satellite surface has an emissivity of 50%.
The spherical satellite can be modeled as a gray body of diameter ds, which has a
surface temperature Ts and an emissivity ε, and the outer space (or surrounding) as a
black enclosure at a temperature of T∞. Thus, the radiation heat loss can be calculated
from Eq. (1.17) as
qr = As εσ(Ts4 − T∞4 ) = (π d s2 )(0.5)(Ts4 − T∞4 )
where σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant.

(e) Identify the thermo-physical property that characterizes a metal and a thermal
insulating material, and comment upon the magnitude of the two.
The thermal conductivity k is the thermo-physical property that characterizes the
difference between a metal (a good conductor of heat) and an insulating material (a
poor conductor of heat). The relative magnitude or value of their respective thermal
conductivity is such that
kmetal >> kinsulation
Often for an insulating material, because of its make up (packed fibers, cellular
foams, etc. which may have entrapped gas), an effective thermal conductivity of
insulation keff is specified which encapsulates a combination of heat flow mechanisms
through the material.

1.2 In both thermodynamics and heat transfer, energy conservation with transfer of heat
is considered.
(a) Explain the differences in modeling heat transfer in the two cases.
The thermodynamic model looks at a device as an open (or closed) system (or
control volume) and simply considers the overall energy balance; how or by what
mechanism the energy or heat is transferred is not modeled. The heat transfer model,
on the other hand, considers the mechanism(s) or mode(s) of heat transfer in the
energy balance and the relative contribution of heat transfer by conduction,
convection, and radiation is calculated.

(b) Pick a simple engineering system or device of your choice and describe both the
thermodynamics and heat transfer models for the transfer of heat and energy
conservation in this system/device.
As an example, consider a closed feedwater heater, which is typically a shell-and-
tube heat exchanger in a steam power plant wherein steam extracted from a turbine

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 Principles of Heat Transfer, 7th Edition

flows on the shell-side of the exchanger and boiler feedwater flows inside the tubes.
As the steam, which is at a higher temperature than that of the feedwater, condenses
on the outside of the tubes it heats up the feedwater.
In the Thermodynamic model, all we can calculate is the rate heat transfer from
the condensing steam received by the boiler feedwater. This can be expressed by
applying energy conservation (First Law of Thermodynamics) to the control volume
of the heat exchanger (an open system) for steady-state conditions. Assuming no heat
loss to the surroundings, the following is then obtained:
qsteam = q feedwater

or
( mh fg ) steam = [m( hout − hin )] feedwater = [ mc p (Tout − Tin )] feedwater

In the heat transfer model, we can calculate how or by what mechanism heat is
transferred from the condensing steam to the feedwater. Energy conservation in this
case tells us that heat transfer rate by convection due to steam condensation on the
outside of the tubes in the heat exchanger is equal to the heat transfer rate by
conduction through the material of the tubes. This in turn is equal to the heat transfer
rate by convection from the tube wall to the flowing feedwater, or
q = qc ,steam = qk ,tubewall = qc , feedwater

where
qc ,steam = hc ,s Ao (Ts − Tw,o ) convection from steam to outer surface of tubes,
ro
dT 2π k w L
qk ,tubewall = − k w ∫ dA = (T − T ) conduction through tube walls, and
ri dr ln(ro ri ) w,o w,i

qc , feed water = hc , fw Ai (Tw,i − T fw ) convection from inner tube surface to feedwater.

Ts is the average steam temperature, Ao is the outside surface area of the tubes, Tw,o is
the outside surface temperature of the tube walls, Tw,i is the inner surface temperature
of the tube walls, ri and ro are the inner and outer radii of the tubes, Ai is the inside
surface area of the tubes, and Tfw is the average bulk temperature of feedwater. Note
that the term after the second equality sign in the conduction equation will be derived
in Chapter 2 and the student need not be concerned with it at this stage.
Based on this example, students should identify a few other heat exchangers in
different applications and develop both the thermodynamic and heat transfer models
for each.

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