SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Heat Transfer

Lecture 2
Outcomes
By the end of today you should:
understand the concept of conduction
know and be able to apply Fourier's law
to calculate rates of heat transfer for 1-D
conduction through simple geometries
be able to calculate rates of heat transfer
for 1-D conduction through multiple layers
in series and parallel
understand concept of boundary layers.
Conduction
mode of heat transfer that occurs
as a result of motion of molecules,
electrons and vibrations in the
atomic lattice.

Also occurs in liquids (liquid metals)

and in gases but to a much lesser
extent.
Derivation of the
General Conduction
Equation
= heat transfer

dQ x = heat flow in
the x direction etc.

d Qg (qg xyz )

q = heat flux.
 Applying conservation of energy
principle:

The
d Qrate
d of
Q internal
d Q energy
d Q dchange
Q d=Q d Q z z
x y z g x x y y

Rate of energy change in terms of T, V, constant Cp and

E density
the T . T
VC p (xyz ) C p
t t t
 Applying Taylor series expansion to the
heat flows x + x, y + y and z + z
then:

d Q xx d Q x (d Q x )x
x


d Q y y d Q y (d Q y )y
y

d Q z z d Q z (d Q z )z
z

Since the heat flowd Qx crosses the
plane a x, with area yz, then:

T
d Q x d Qxx (Q x )x k xyz
x x x

Expand and substitute the other y and z

terms into eqn 5
T T T qg T
k k k C p
x x y y z z k t
 T T T qg T
k k k C
x x y y z z
p
k t

At steady state RHS = 0, i.e. heat flux is

constant

There are number of variants postulated

by Laplace, Fourier and Poisson.

Do NOT be too concerned with the

derivation of the above.

Remember that heat transfer depends

on geometry
 Fouriers Law (1-D)

Consider an
infinitely long 1-D
slab.... y T +dT
Heat flows in x T
direction only x x +dx
Flow proportional x
to driving force
and surface area
 Fouriers Law (1-D)
T (T dT )
Temp gradient
( x dx) x
dT

dx y T +dT
dT T
Q x x +dx
dx
x
Q A
 Fouriers Law (1-D)

dT
Q kA
dx

k is the thermal conductivity of the

material
Units: W m-1 K-1
Typical Thermal
Conductivities (W m K )
-1 -1
 Conduction thru a slab
with constant A and k
dT
Q kA
dx
T1
x T2
T2 Q dx kA dT
0 T1

T1 T2
Q kA
x x
 Example
Imagine a slab 2m high, 3m wide and 0.5m
thick. The temperature on one side of the slab
(at the surface) is 20oC. The other side is
heated to 80oC.
A) If the slab is made of steel, what is the rate
of heat transfer?
B) What would the rate of heat transfer be if the
slab was made of copper?
C) What would the temperature on the other
side of the copper slab be if this heating rate
was kept constant but the slab thickness was
halved?
 T1 T2
Q kA
Example x
ANSWER
kC = 381 W m-1 K-1
kS = 45 W m-1 K-1,
80oC

a) Q = 45. (2 x 3) x
20oC (80-20) / 0.5
= 32 400 W = 32.4 kW

b) Q = 32.4*381/45
= 274.32 kW
0.5 m
 Example

c) T1 - T2 = Q.x /(kA)
80oC
=274.32*1000*0.25/
(381*6) = 30oC
20oC
Hence T2 = 80 -30 = 50oC

0.5 m
 Conduction through
materials in series
x1 x2 x3 (T2 T1 )
Q k1 A
T1
x1
y T2
T3 (T3 T2 )
Q k2 A
x T4 x2
(T4 T3 )
Q k3 A
k1 k2 k3 x3
Resistance Concept

temperature difference
Q
thermal resis tan ce

T T
Q
x RT

kA
 Using this concept:
(T2 T1 ) T1 T2 T3
Q k1 A Q
x1 RT 1 RT 2 RT 3
(T3 T2 )
Q k2 A
x2
(T4 T3 ) T2 T1 QRT 1
Q k3 A
x3 T3 T2 QRT 2
T4 T3 QRT 3
 Using the concept:
T1 T4 T1 T4 T
Q
RT 1 RT 2 RT 3 x1

x2

x3 RTi
k1 A k 2 A k3 A

Thus by knowing the boundary

temperatures T1 and T4 and the
thickness and conductivity of the
component slabs we can calculate the
rate of heat flow through the composite
 Example

3 slabs of thermal conductivities, 10, 26,

and 46 W/mK and thicknesses of 0.13, 0.2
and 0.3 m respectively are attached
together. What is the rate of heat transfer,
per unit surface area, if the outer surface
of the first slab is at 150 oC and the outer
surface of the third is at 45oC?
 Answer
0.13 0.2 0.3
X (m) Q T

150oC
A RTi
150 45

0.13 0.2 0.3
45oC

10 26 46
2
Q / A 3858 Wm
k (Wm-1K-1) 10 26 46
Conduction in Series:
Sum Resistances

T1 R1 R2 T2

T T
Q
RTi RT 1 RT 2
R Ti RT 1 RT 2
 Conduction in Parallel:
Sum of 1/Resistances

R1 T T T
T1 T2 Q
R2
RT R1 R2

1
1 1
RTi R R
T1 T2
Example

R1
T1 R3 T2
R2
 Split up into parts
SERIES PARALLEL

R1
T1 R3 T2
R2

1
RESISTANC R3 1 1

E
RT 1 RT 2
Answer

1
R Ti
1 1
R3

R1 R2
 Thick walled cylinder
Length = L
r + dr, T

dT
Q kA
r1, T1 dr
r, T + dt

r2, T2 A varies with r !

A 2rL
Integrate..........
dT
Q k 2rL
dr
T2
r2 dr
Q k 2L dT
r1 r T1

T1 T2
Q k 2 L
r2
ln
r1
 Cylinders in series
r T
1 1

r 2 T2

a
r 3 T3
b
2 layers
2L(T1 T3 )
Q
Single layer r r
ln( 2 ) / k a ln( 3 ) / kb
r1 r2
k 2LT
Q
ln(r2 / r1 ) ln
rn 1
1 rn
Re sis tan ce for a general layer
2L kn
Example
Answer
Spheres
dT
Q kA
dr dr
A 4 r 2

4 k T1 T2
Q
1 1

r1 r2
Spheres in Series

4 T
Q
1 1 1
k r r
i i i 1
 Insulating Buildings:
Example

The large window in front of my house is 4m2. I am thinking of

installing double glazing. Can we use the conduction in series
approach to determine the energy saving?

Double glazing is simply two layers of glass with air in between. k

for glass is 1.05 W/mK; for air it is 0.023 W/mK. Assume it is a
cold day, 0oC outside and 20oC inside. Glass is 4 mm thick and the
air gap is 12mm
 Single Glazing

20oC
0oC

T1 T2 1.05(4) 20 0
Q kA Q 21,000 W
x 0.004
 Double Glazing
0.004 m 0.004 m

A T
20oC Q
x1 x2 x3

k1 k 2 k3
0oC

0.012 m
(4). 20 0
Q 151 W
kglass = 1.05 Wm-1K-1 0.004 0.012 0.004

kair = 0.023 Wm-1K-1 1.05 0.023 1.05
 Where it all falls down....
Ideality Reality

Tinside Tinside
Tglass
outside
Tglass inside
Toutside Toutside
 Estimating influence of
Boundary Layers

If we could estimate the thicknesses of these layers

then we could, assuming the boundary layer is
stagnant, add them on as resistances

Lets say that the boundary layer on the outside is

1.5 mm thick, and on the inside it is 2 mm thick
 Conduction plus Boundary
Layers = Single Glazing
A T
Q
x1 x2 x3

k1 k 2 k3
1.5 mm
2 mm

Q
20 0.4 513 W
0.0015 0.004 0.002

0.023 1.05 0.023
4 mm
 Double Glazing Case
Allowing for Boundary layers

Q
20 0.4 117 .4 W
0.002 0.004 0.012 0.004 0.0015

0.023 1.05 0.023 1.05 0.023

Inside Outside Outside boundary

Inside boundary
glass Air gap glass layer
layer
Introduction to Overall
Heat Transfer Co-efficient
(U-value)
Often we dont know how thick the
boundary layer is so we define a
Heat Transfer Coefficient, h (W
m-2 K-1) which has units of k/x.

k k
h
x

= thickness of boundary layer

 Heat Transfer Coefficients
A T
Q
x1 x2 x3

k1 k 2 k3

1.5 mm
2 mm

Inside boundary
layer
Glass

4 mm Outside boundary
layer
 Heat Transfer Coefficients
A T
Q
1 x2 1

ho k 2 hi

1.5 mm
2 mm

Outside boundary
layer
Glass

4 mm Inside boundary
layer
Example: Double Glazing
What would the inner and outer
average heat transfer coefficients
have been?
 Conduction plus Boundary
Layers
kair = 0.023 W m-1K
1.5 mm
2 mm k
h
x
0.023 2 1
hi 11.5 Wm K
0.002
4 mm
0.023 2 1
ho 15.3 Wm K
Outside, o Inside, i 0.0015
Double Glazing
Hence for the double glazing case:
Q T

A 1 x1 x 2 x3 1

ho k1 k 2 k 3 hi
 Overall Heat Transfer
Coefficient (U Value)
Can write as:
Q
UT
A
For the double glazing case:

1 1 x1 x 2 x3 1

U ho k1 k 2 k 3 hi
 Summary
Derived Fouriers Law
Thermal Resistances
Conduction through walls,
cylinders and spheres
Conduction in Series/Parallel
Concept of boundary layers
Overall htc