• DECEMBER 2019

Modes of Heat Transfer

Intro to Heat Transfer in Fluids – Lesson 3

Basic Modes of Heat Transfer

• In this lesson, we will introduce different modes of heat Stainless Steel Rod

transfer.
Conduction Heat Transfer

• The three main modes of heat transfer:

‐ Conduction is heat transfer that occurs when a temperature difference
exists across a stationary medium. Convection Heat Transfer

‐ Convection is the heat transfer between a surface and a moving fluid Hot transistor surface
when there is a temperature difference between the two.

‐ Radiation (thermal radiation) is the emission of energy in the form of

electromagnetic waves. In the absence of an intervening medium, there is
net heat transfer by radiation between two surfaces at different
Radiation Heat Transfer
temperatures.

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Conduction
• Conduction is thermal energy transmission through solid or fluid by the action of translational,
rotational and vibrational motion of atoms and molecules.
• Molecular collisions transfer energy from more energetic molecules to less energetic ones.
▪ Higher temperature = Increased atomic/molecular motion

• Conduction occurs in all fluid and solid media.

• Due to the Second Law of thermodynamics, heat must always be conducted from higher to lower
temperatures.
• Conduction problems often involve fluid flows at the boundaries of the solid, which serve as a
mechanism for heating or cooling the solid.

Heat Conduction in this direction

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Physics of Heat Conduction
• Conduction is the transfer of energy from more energetic to the less energetic particles of a substance via
interactions between the particles at molecular levels due to a temperature difference.

• The physical mechanism of conduction can be illustrated by an example of a quiescent gas (no macroscopic
motion) between two parallel plates maintained at different temperatures which results in a temperature
gradient across the gas.

• Temperature at any point can be associated with the energy of random translational, internal rotational and
vibrational motions of gas molecules

𝑇𝐵

Heat Transfer

𝑇𝐴 > 𝑇𝐵

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Physics of Heat Conduction
• Molecular collisions transfer energy from more energetic molecules to less energetic ones.

• Higher molecular energies are associated with higher temperatures, and the energy transfer always occurs in
the direction of decreasing temperature in the presence of a temperature gradient.

• The mechanism of conduction is the same for liquids as the molecules are closely spaced and the molecular
interactions are stronger and more frequent than gases.

• In the case of solids, conduction is associated with atomic activity in the form of lattice vibrations. In the case
of an electrical conductor, the translational motion of free electrons also contributes to energy transfer.

Heating of the fire iron Hot steel bloom Hot electric stove

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Physics of Heat Conduction (cont.)
• The heat transfer process can be quantified in terms of appropriate rate equations which are used to
compute the amount of energy being transferred per unit time.
• In the case of heat conduction, the rate equation is Fourier’s law. For a one-dimensional plane wall
this is expressed as
𝑑𝑇
𝑞𝑥′′ = −𝑘
𝑑𝑥 𝑇
Here,
‐ 𝑞_𝑥^′′(𝑊/𝑚^2) is the heat transfer rate per unit area in the x-direction.
‐ 𝑘 is the thermal conductivity (𝑊/𝑚𝐾) and is a characteristic of the wall material.
‐ The negative sign signifies the fact that the heat transfer is in the opposite direction of the 𝑇1
temperature gradient 𝑇(𝑥)
• For steady-state conditions, when the temperature gradient is linear, the
heat flux is given by: 𝑇2 𝑞𝑥′′
𝑇2 − 𝑇1 𝑇1 − 𝑇2 Δ𝑇 𝑥
𝑞𝑥′′ = −𝑘 =𝑘 =𝑘
𝐿 𝐿 𝐿 𝐿

Note that this expression provides the heat flux and the heat transfer rate can be computed by multiplying this by the area, 𝐴, of
the surface.

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 Thermal Conductivity
• Fourier’s law introduces a key heat transfer material property: thermal conductivity, 𝑘.

• Thermal conductivity can be measured in a laboratory and varies greatly based on the physical structure of the
material. Thermal conductivity of materials varies with temperature, and for solids there is no a uniform trend.
Even metals have vastly different conductivity-temperature curves.
Silver
Material 𝒌, 𝑊/(𝑚 ∙ 𝐾) Material 𝒌, 𝑊/(𝑚 ∙ 𝐾) 400
Copper

Thermal Conductivity, 𝜆, (𝑊𝑚−1 𝐾 −1 )

Silver 418 Mercury 8.21
Copper 387 Water (liquid) 0.552

liquids
300
metals

Aluminum 112.7 Sulfur Dioxide 0.211

Zinc 73 Methyl Chloride 0.178 Aluminum
Iron 66 Carbon Dioxide 0.105
200
Lead 34.7 Freon 0.073
Brass
non-metal solids

Quartz 19.1 Hydrogen 0.175

Corundum 10.4 Helium 0.141
gases

Marble 2.78 Air 0.0243 100 Platinum

Ice (H2O) 2.22 Pentane 0.0128

Iron
Type 304 stainless steel
Pyrex Glass 1.05 Chloroform 0.0066
0
𝑘 evaluated @ 273K (Source: Eckert, E. R. G. and R. M. Drake, Analysis of Heat and Mass Transfer, McGraw-Hill, 1972) -200 0 200 400 600 800 1000 T(deg 𝐶 )

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Convection
• Convection is transfer of heat by the combination of the bulk
motion of a fluid and random molecular motion (diffusion).

• Heat is transferred to/from the fluid via conduction at walls.

• Fluid carries thermal energy to other parts of the system.

• Heat transfer only due to the bulk motion of the fluid (no
diffusion) is referred to as advection. Free convection currents set up in a room
warmed by a radiator
• Convection heat transfer can be classified into:
• Forced convection: Flow is caused by external means, such as by a fan, a pump or atmospheric
winds.
• Free (or natural) convection: Flow is induced by buoyancy forces, caused by density differences
due to the temperature variations in the fluid.
• Mixed (combined) connection: Forced and natural convection can also exist if both external
driving forces and buoyancy forces exist.

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Convection (cont.)
• Heat transfer by convection is rooted in the idea that the heat
transfer rate is proportional to the temperature difference
between a fluid and a heated/cooled body.
• This idea is called Newton’s Law of Cooling. The parameter
governing the rate of heat transfer is the heat transfer
coefficient, usually denoted ℎ. Electronics cooling via forced convection

• One of the central problems in convection is determining the

heat transfer coefficient for a given flow field. 𝑞′′
Hot transistor surface
• The heat transfer coefficient depends on the conditions in the 𝑇𝑠
boundary layer, and it is affected by the surface geometry, the
nature of the fluid flow and various fluid thermodynamic and
transport properties. 𝑞 ′′ = ℎ(𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇∞ )
ℎ = heat transfer coefficient
𝑞′′ = Convective heat flux
𝑇𝑠 = Temperature of the solid surface
𝑇∞ = Temperature of the fluid

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Radiation Heat Transfer
• Thermal radiation heat transfer is the emission of
energy via electromagnetic waves.

• All matter at a nonzero temperature emits

thermal radiation.

• This emission is due to changes in the electron

configurations of the atoms or molecules, and the
energy is transported via electromagnetic waves (or
photons).

• Radiation intensity depends on body

Body temperature check at an airport using infrared
temperature and surface characteristics. radiation scanners

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Radiation Heat Transfer (cont.)
• Unlike conduction or convection, radiation does not require the presence of a material medium
and can occur in a vacuum.
• Radiation is an important mode of heat transfer at high temperatures.
• It is also the only mode of heat transfer in outer space, and this is how the solar energy reaches
Earth.

Hot operational household oven Heat from campfire (or fireplace) Solar radiation incident on Earth

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Summary
• In this lesson we introduced the modes of heat transfer:
‐ Conduction
‐ Convection
‐ Radiation

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