Prepared by: EFREN A.

DELA CRUZ
E-mail Address: [email protected]

Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz 3120
Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Instructional Module for the Course

(MENGR 3100 – Basic Mechanical Engineering)

Module 4
Heat Transfer

I. Objectives
Upon successful completion of the module, students are expected to:
 MENGR 2320 (Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer)

a. Explain the basic terminologies of heat transfer

b. Analyze different heat transfer modes
c. Solve situational problems of heat transfer modes and combined heat transfer.

II. Learning Activities

Fundamentals and Terms

Temperature is a measure of the amount of energy possessed by the molecules of a
substance.It is a relative measure of how hot or cold a substance is and can be used to
predict the direction of heat transfer.
Heat is energy in transit, the transfer of energy as heat occurs at the molecular level as a
result of a temperature difference. Heat is capable of being transmitted through solids and
fluids by conduction, through fluids by convection, and through empty space by
radiation.
Work is the transfer of energy resulting from a force acting through a distance.

Modes of Heat Transfer

Conduction involves the transfer of heat by the interactions of atoms or molecules of a
material through which the heat is being transferred.
Convection involves the transfer of heat by the mixing and motion of macroscopic
portions of a fluid.
Radiation, or radiant heat transfer, involves the transfer of heat by electromagnetic
radiation that arises due to the temperature of a body.

Heat Transfer Rate and Heat Flux

Heat Transfer Rate is the rate at which heat is transferred represented by the symbol Q
or q or qx. Common units for heat transfer rate is Btu/hr (W or kW).

heat flux is the heat transfer rate per unit area, which has the symbol of Q” or q” or q”x.

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Units for heat flux are Btu/hr-ft2 (W/m2 or kW/m2 ).

The heat flux can be determined by dividing the heat transfer rate by the area
through which the heat is being transferred.

Thermal Conductivity
The heat transfer characteristics of a solid material are measured by a property
called the thermal conductivity (k) measured in Btu/hr-ft-oF. It is a measure of a
substance’s ability to transfer heat through a solid by conduction.
The thermal conductivity of most liquids and solids varies with temperature. For
vapors, it depends upon pressure.

Log Mean Temperature Difference

In heat exchanger applications, the inlet and outlet temperatures are commonly
specified based on the fluid in the tubes. The temperature change that takes place across
the heat exchanger from the entrance to the exit is not linear. A precise temperature
change between two fluids across the heat exchanger is best represented by the log mean

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temperature difference (LMTD or ΔTlm)

Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient

The convective heat transfer coefficient (h), defines, in part, the heat transfer due
to convection. It is sometimes referred to as a film coefficient and represents the thermal
resistance of a relatively stagnant layer of fluid between a heat transfer surface and the
fluid medium. Common units used to measure the convective heat transfer coefficient
are Btu/hr ft2 oF.

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

In the case of combined heat transfer, it is common practice to relate the total rate
of heat transfer (Q ), the overall cross-sectional area for heat transfer (Ao), and the overall
temperature difference (ΔTo) using the overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo).
The overall heat transfer coefficient combines the heat transfer coefficient of the
two heat exchanger fluids and the thermal conductivity of the heat exchanger tubes. Uo is
specific to the heat exchanger and the fluids that are used in the heat exchanger.

Bulk Temperature
The fluid temperature (Tb), referred to as the bulk temperature, varies according to

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the details of the situation. For flow adjacent to a hot or cold surface, Tb is the
temperature of the fluid that is "far" from the surface, for instance, the center of the flow
channel. For boiling or condensation, Tb is equal to the saturation temperature.
CONDUCTION
Conduction is the transfer of heat from molecule to molecule within a substance.

If you put one end of a metal rod over a fire, that end will absorb the energy from
the flame. Molecules at this end of the road will gain energy and begin to vibrate faster as
they do, their temperature increases and they begin to bump into the molecules next to
them, the heat is being transferred from the warmer end to the colder end, and will
eventually be felt by the hand.

Conduction involves the transfer of heat by the interaction between adjacent

molecules of a material. Heat transfer by conduction is dependent upon the driving
"force" of temperature difference and the resistance to heat transfer. The resistance to
heat transfer is dependent upon the nature and dimensions of the heat transfer medium,
all heat transfer problems involve the temperature difference, the geometry, and the
physical properties of the object being studied.

In conduction heat transfer problems, the object being studied is usually a solid.
There are several ways to correlate the geometry, physical properties, and temperature
difference of an object with the rate of heat transfer through the object.
In conduction heat transfer, the most common means of correlation is through
Fourier’s Law of Conduction. The law, in its equation form, is used most often in its
rectangular (walls) or cylindrical form (pipes and cylinders).

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Sample Problems

1000 Btu/hr is conducted through a section of insulating material as shown in the

figure, that measures 1 ft2 in cross-sectional area. The thickness is 1 in. and the thermal
conductivity is 0.12 Btu/hr-ft-°F. Compute the temperature difference across the material.

Solution:

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A concrete floor with a conductivity of 0.8 Btu/hr-ft-°F measures 30 ft by 40 ft with a

thickness of 4 inches. The floor has a surface temperature of 70°F and the temperature
beneath it is 60°F. What is the heat flux and the heat transfer rate through the floor?

Solution:

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Equivalent Resistance Method

It is possible to compare heat transfer to current flow in electrical circuits. The
heat transfer rate may be considered as a current flow and the combination of thermal
conductivity, thickness of material, and area as a resistance to this flow. The temperature
difference is the potential or driving function for the heat flow, resulting in the Fourier
equation being written in a form similar to Ohm’s Law of Electrical Circuit Theory.

If the thermal resistance term Δx/k is written as a resistance term where the
resistance is the reciprocal of the thermal conductivity divided by the thickness of the
material, the result is the conduction equation being analogous to electrical systems or
networks. The electrical analogy may be used to solve complex problems involving both
series and parallel thermal resistances. A typical conduction problem in its analogous
electrical form is given in the following example.
Where the "electrical" Fourier equation may be written as follows.

A composite protective wall is formed of a 1 in. copper plate, a 1/8 in. layer of asbestos,
and a 2 in. layer of fiberglass. The thermal conductivities of the materials in units of

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Btu/hr-ft-oF are as follows: kCu = 240, kasb = 0.048, and kfib = 0.022. The overall
temperature difference across the wall is 500°F. Calculate the thermal resistance of each
layer of the wall and the heat transfer rate per unit area (heat flux) through the composite
structure.

Solution:

Cylindrical Coordinates

Heat transfer across a rectangular solid is the most direct application of Fourier’s
law, heat transfer across a pipe or heat exchanger tube wall is more complicated to
evaluate since, across a cylindrical wall, the heat transfer surface area is continually
increasing or decreasing. Figure below shows the cross-sectional view of a pipe
constructed with homogeneous material.

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The surface area (A) for transferring heat through the pipe (neglecting the pipe
ends) is directly proportional to the radius (r) of the pipe and the length (L) of the pipe.
A = 2πrL
As the radius increases from the inner wall to the outer wall, the heat transfer area
also increases. The development of an equation evaluating heat transfer through an object
with cylindrical geometry begins with Fourier’s law that;

From the discussion, it is seen that no simple expression for the area is accurate,
neither the area of the inner surface nor the area of the outer surface alone can be used in
the equation.
For a problem involving cylindrical geometry, it is necessary to define a log mean
cross-sectional area (Alm).

Substituting the expression A = 2πrL for area in the equation allows the log mean area to
be calculated from the inner and outer radius without first calculating the inner and outer
area.

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This expression for the log mean area can be inserted into Fourier’s equation,
allowing us to calculate the heat transfer rate for cylindrical geometries.

Sample Problem
A stainless steel pipe with a length of 35 ft has an inner diameter of 0.92 ft and an
outer diameter of 1.08 ft. The temperature of the inner surface of the pipe is 122oF and
the temperature of the outer surface is 118oF. The thermal conductivity of the stainless
steel is 108 Btu/hr-ft-oF.
Calculate the heat transfer rate through the pipe.
Calculate the heat flux at the outer surface of the pipe.
Sol’n

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A 10 ft length of pipe with an inner radius of 1 in and an outer radius of 1.25 in

has an outer surface temperature of 250°F. The heat transfer rate is 30,000 Btu/hr. Find
the interior surface temperature. Assume k = 25 Btu/hr-ft-°F.
Solution:

The evaluation of heat transfer through a cylindrical wall can be extended to

include a composite body composed of several concentric, cylindrical layers, as shown in
the figure.

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Sample Problem
A thick-walled nuclear coolant pipe (ks = 12.5 Btu/hr-ft-°F) with 10 in. inside
diameter (ID) and 12 in. outside diameter (OD) is covered with a 3 in. layer of asbestos
insulation (ka = 0.14 Btu/hr-ft-oF) as shown in the figure below. If the inside wall
temperature of the pipe is maintained at 550°F, calculate the heat loss per foot of length if
the outside temperature of the insulator is 100°F.

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Solution:

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Convection
Involves the transfer of heat by the motion and mixing of "macroscopic" portions
of a fluid (that is, the flow of a fluid passing a solid boundary).

The term natural convection is used if this motion and mixing is caused by density
variations resulting from temperature differences within the fluid, the transfer of heat
from a hot water radiator to a room is an example of heat transfer by natural convection.
The term forced convection is used if this motion and mixing is caused by an
outside force, such as a pump and blower, the transfer of heat from the surface of a heat
exchanger to the bulk of a fluid being pumped through the heat exchanger is an example
of forced convection.

Heat transfer by convection is more difficult to analyze than heat transfer by

conduction because no single property of the heat transfer medium, such as thermal
conductivity, can be defined to describe the mechanism. Heat transfer by convection
varies from situation to situation (upon the fluid flow conditions), and it is frequently
coupled with the mode of fluid flow.
In practice, analysis of heat transfer by convection is treated empirically (by direct
observation) because of the factors that affect the stagnant film thickness:
Fluid velocity
Fluid viscosity
Heat flux
Surface roughness
Type of flow (single-phase/two-phase)

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Convection involves the transfer of heat between a surface at a given temperature

(Ts) and fluid at a bulk temperature (Tb). The exact definition of the bulk temperature (Tb)
varies depending on the details of the situation, for flow adjacent to a hot or cold surface,
Tb is the temperature of the fluid "far" from the surface. For boiling or condensation, Tb is
the saturation temperature of the fluid and for flow in a pipe, Tb is the average
temperature measured at a particular cross-section of the pipe.
The basic relationship for heat transfer by convection has almost the same as that
for heat transfer by conduction: Newton’s law of cooling

The convective heat transfer coefficient (h) is dependent upon the physical
properties of the fluid and the physical situation. Typically, the convective heat transfer
coefficient for laminar flow is relatively low compared to the convective heat transfer
coefficient for turbulent flow, this is due to turbulent flow having a thinner stagnant fluid
film layer on the heat transfer surface.
Values of h have been measured and tabulated for the commonly encountered
fluids and flow situations occurring during heat transfer by convection.

Sample Problems

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Solution

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Many applications involving convective heat transfer take place within pipes,
tubes, or some similar cylindrical device. In such circumstances, the surface area of heat
transfer normally given in the convection equation varies as heat passes through the
cylinder. In addition, the temperature difference existing between the inside and the
outside of the pipe, as well as the temperature differences along the pipe, necessitates the
use of some average temperature value in order to analyze the problem.
This average temperature difference is called the log mean temperature difference
(LMTD), described earlier.

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

Many of the heat transfer processes encountered in engineering facilities involve a
combination of both conduction and convection. For example, heat transfer in a steam
generator involves convection from the bulk of the reactor coolant to the steam generator
inner tube surface, conduction through the tube wall, and convection from the outer tube
surface to the secondary side fluid.
In cases of combined heat transfer for a heat exchanger, there are two values for h.
There is the convective heat transfer coefficient (h) for the fluid film inside the tubes and
a convective heat transfer coefficient for the fluid film outside the tubes. The thermal
conductivity (k) and thickness (Δx) of the tube wall must also be accounted for.
An additional term (Uo), called the overall heat transfer coefficient, must be used
instead. It is common practice to relate the total rate of heat transfer (Q) to the
cross-sectional area for heat transfer (Ao) and the overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo).
The relationship of the overall heat transfer coefficient to the individual conduction and
convection terms is shown in the figure below.

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An example of this concept applied to cylindrical geometry is illustrated by the

figure below, which shows a typical combined heat transfer situation.

Referring from the figure representing flow in a pipe, heat transfer by convection
occurs between temperatures T1 and T2; heat transfer by conduction occurs between
temperatures T2 and T3; and heat transfer occurs by convection between temperatures T3
and T4.
Thus, there are three processes involved.

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Each has an associated heat transfer coefficient, cross-sectional area for heat
transfer, and temperature difference.

ΔTo can be expressed as the sum of the ΔT of the three individual processes.

If the basic relationship for each process is solved for its associated temperature
difference and substituted into the expression for ΔTo above, the following relationship
results.

This relationship can be modified by selecting a reference cross-sectional area A o.

Substituting the resulting equation in the form .

˙Q = Uo Ao ΔT

Where,

Equation for the overall heat transfer coefficient in cylindrical geometry is

relatively difficult to work with. The equation can be simplified without losing much
accuracy if the tube that is being analyzed is considered as thin-walled, that is the tube
wall thickness is small compared to the tube diameter. For a thin-walled tube, the inner
surface area (A1), outer surface area (A2), and log mean surface area (A1m), are all very
close to being equal. Assuming that A1, A2, and A1m are equal to each other and also
equal to A o allows us to cancel out all the area terms in the denominator of the equation.

This results in a much simpler expression heat exchanger .

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The convection heat transfer process is strongly dependent upon the properties of
the fluid being considered. Correspondingly, the convective heat transfer coefficient (h),
the overall coefficient (Uo), and the other fluid properties may vary substantially for the
fluid if it experiences a large temperature change during its path through the convective
heat transfer device. This is especially true if the fluid’s properties are strongly
temperature dependent.
Under such circumstances, the temperature at which the properties are
"looked-up" must be some type of average value, rather than using either the inlet or
outlet temperature value. For internal flow, the bulk or average value of temperature is
obtained analytically through the use of conservation of energy.
For external flow, an average film temperature is normally calculated, which is an
average of the free stream temperature and the solid surface temperature. In any case, an
average value of temperature is used to obtain the fluid properties to be used in the heat
transfer problem.

Sample Problem

Water flows through a cast steel pipe (k= 50 W/m K) with an outer diameter of 104 mm
and 2 mm wall thickness.
a) Calculate the heat loss by convection and conduction per meter length of
uninsulated pipe when the water temperature is 15oC, the outside air temperature
is -10oC, waterside heat transfer convective coefficient is 30 kW/m2K and outside
heat transfer convective coefficient is 20 W/m2K.
b) Calculate the corresponding heat loss per meter of pipe when it is lagged with
insulation having an outer diameter of 300 mm and thermal conductivity of k =
0.05 w/mK.
c) How much can be saved for insulating 100 m of pipe in one month's continuous
operation, assuming that energy costs Php 10.85 per kWh?

Solution:

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Radiation

Radiant heat transfer is thermal energy transferred by means of electromagnetic

waves. All things with a temperature above absolute zero emit radiation and allows heat
to be transferred through wave energy. The wavelengths of radiation emitted by an object
depends on the temperature of that object (i.e., the sun mainly emits radiant energy in the
visible spectrum, and the earth emits radiant energy in the infrared spectrum). Shorter
wavelengths carry more energy than longer wavelengths.
Radiant heat transfer does not need a medium, such as air or metal, to take place.
Any material that has a temperature above absolute zero gives off some radiant energy.
When a cloud covers the sun, both its heat and light diminish. This is one of the most
familiar examples of heat transfer by thermal radiation.

EMITTED RADIATION CAN BE:

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Absorbed, increasing the internal energy of the object's molecules.

Reflected, not absorbed or emitted by the object but it reaches the object and is reflected
back. The Albedo represents the reflectivity of an object and describes the percentage of
light that is sent back.
Scattered, Scattered light is deflected in all directions, forward, backward, sideways. It is
also called diffused light.
Transmitted, radiation not absorbed, reflected, or scattered by an object. The radiation
passes through the substance unchanged.

Solar Radiation and Earth’s Albedo

Black Body Radiation (Stefan-Boltzmann Law)

The total radiant heat emitted from a surface is proportional to the fourth power of
its absolute temperature.
A body that emits the maximum amount of heat for its absolute temperature is
called a black body. Radiant heat transfer rate from a black body to its surroundings can
be expressed by the following equation.

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Two black bodies that radiate toward each other have a net heat flux between
them. The net flow rate of heat between them is given by an adaptation of Equation.

Emissivity
Real objects do not radiate as much heat as a perfect black body. They radiate less
heat than a black body and are called gray bodies. To take into account the fact that real
objects are gray bodies, Equation is modified to be of the following form.

Emissivity is simply a factor by which we multiply the black body heat transfer to
take into account that the black body is the ideal case. Emissivity is a dimensionless
number and has a maximum value of 1.0.

Radiation Configuration Factor

Radiative heat transfer rate between two gray bodies can be calculated by the
equation stated below.

The two separate terms fa and fe can be combined and given the symbol f. The
heat flow between two gray bodies can now be determined by the following equation:

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The symbol (f) is a dimensionless factor sometimes called the radiation configuration
factor, which takes into account the emissivity of both bodies and their relative geometry.
The radiation configuration factor is usually found in a text book for the given situation.
Once the configuration factor is obtained, the overall net heat flux can be determined.

Sample Problems
Calculate the radiant heat between the floor (15 ft x 15 ft) of a furnace and the roof, if the
two are located 10 ft apart. The floor and roof temperatures are 2000°F and 600°F,
respectively. Assume that the floor and the roof have black surfaces.
Solution:

Combined Heat Transfer Sample Problems:

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Solution:

III.  Assessment
 

An overhead 25 m-long, uninsulated industrial steam pipe of 100 mm diameter is routed

to a building whose walls and air are at 25°C. Pressurized steam maintains a pipe surface
temperature of 150°C, the coefficient associated with natural convection h= 10 W/m2K
and the surface emissivity ℇ = 0.8
a. What is the rate of heat loss from the steam line?
b. If the steam is generated in a gas-fired boiler operating at an efficiency of 85%
and natural gas fuel is priced at Php 7. 50 per MJ, what is the annual cost of heat
loss from the steam line?

III. References

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Moran, M. J. and Shapiro, H. N. 2006. Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics

5th edition. SI version. John Willey & Sons. England.

Cengel, Yunus A. 2008. Introduction to Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer.

McGraw-Hill Inc. New York.

Moran et al. 2003. Introduction to Thermal Systems Engineering: Thermodynamics,

Fluid Mechanics, and Heat Transfer. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York

Burghardt, M. D. and Harvbach, J. A. 1993. Engineering Thermodynamics 4rth edition.

Harper Collins. New York.

Thermodynamics Online references and lectures (Yale Open courseware etc..)

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