Basic Heat Transfer Principles
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Heat Transfer
• The basic requirement for heat transfer is the presence
of a temperature difference.
• The second law requires that heat
will be transferred in the direction
of decreasing temperature.
• The temperature difference is the driving force for heat
transfer.
• The rate of heat transfer in a certain direction depends
on the magnitude of the temperature gradient in that
direction.
• The larger the temperature gradient, the higher the rate
of heat transfer.
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Application Areas of Heat Transfer
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Heat Transfer Mechanisms
• Heat can be transferred in three basic modes:
– conduction,
– convection,
– radiation.
• All modes of heat
transfer require the
existence of a temperature difference.
• All modes are from the high-temperature
medium to a lower-temperature one.
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Conduction
• Conduction is 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.
• Conduction can take place in solids,
liquids, or gases
– In gases and liquids conduction is due to
the collisions and diffusion of the
molecules during their random motion.
– In solids conduction is due to the
combination of vibrations of the
molecules in a lattice and the energy
transport by free electrons. 5
Conduction
Rate of heat conduction ∝
( Area )( Temperature difference )
Thickness
T1 − T2 ∆T
Qcond = kA = −kA (W)
∆x ∆x
where the constant of proportionality k is the
thermal conductivity of the material.
In differential form
dT
Q cond = −kA (W)
dx
which is called Fourier’s law of heat conduction.
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Thermal Conductivity
• The thermal conductivity of a material is a
measure of the ability of the material to conduct
heat.
• High value for thermal conductivity
good heat conductor
• Low value
poor heat conductor or insulator.
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Thermal diffusivity
Heat conducted k
α = ( m2 s ) (1-23)
Heat stored ρcp
• The thermal diffusivity represents how fast heat
diffuses through a material.
• Appears in the transient heat conduction analysis.
• A material that has a high thermal conductivity or a
low heat capacity will have a large thermal diffusivity.
• The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster the
propagation of heat into the medium.
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Convection
Convection = Conduction + Advection
(fluid motion)
• Convection is the mode of energy transfer between a
solid surface and the adjacent liquid or gas that is in
motion.
• Convection is commonly classified into three sub-
modes:
– Forced convection,
– Natural (or free) convection,
– Change of phase (liquid/vapor,
solid/liquid, etc.)
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Convection
• The rate of convection heat transfer is expressed by
Newton’s law of cooling as
Q conv hAs (Ts − T∞ )
= (W)
• h is the convection heat transfer coefficient in W/m2°C.
• h depends on variables such as
– the surface geometry,
– the nature of fluid motion,
– the properties of the fluid, and
– the bulk fluid velocity.
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Radiation
• Radiation is 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.
• Heat transfer by radiation does not require the presence of
an intervening medium.
• In heat transfer studies we are interested in thermal
radiation (radiation emitted by bodies because of their
temperature).
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Radiation - Emission
• The maximum rate of radiation that can be emitted from a
surface at a thermodynamic temperature Ts (in K or R) is given
by the Stefan–Boltzmann law as
Q emit ,max = σ AsTs4 (W)
• σ =5.670X108 W/m2·K4 is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant.
• The idealized surface that emits radiation at this maximum rate
is called a blackbody.
• The radiation emitted by all real surfaces is less than the
radiation emitted by a blackbody at the same temperature, and
is expressed as
Q emit ,max = εσ AsTs4 (W)
0 ≤ ε ≤1
• ε is the emissivity of the surface.
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Radiation - Absorption
• The fraction of the
radiation energy incident
on a surface that is
absorbed by the surface is
termed the absorptivity α.
0 ≤α ≤1
• Both ε and α of a surface depend on the temperature
and the wavelength of the radiation.
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