CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
&
MECHANISM OF HEAT TRANSFER

OUTLINE

Introduction
Heat Conduction
Forced Convection
Natural Convection
Application of Conduction &
Convection
Thermal Radiation
Application of Radiation

INTRODUCTION
Heat transfer is the science that deals with
the study of rates of exchange of heat
between hot and cold bodies.
The hot and cold bodies are called source
and receiver respectively.
In all such cases temperature difference
between a source and the receiver is the
driving force for heat transfer.

HEAT TRANSFER Vs THERMODYNAMICS

Example:

Cooling of hot steel bar placed in a pail

water
THERMODYNAMIC predict

the final equilibrium

temperature of the steel bar-water
combination

HEAT TRANSFER

predict the temperature of both the

bar and the water as a function of

time also the temperature of the bar will
be after a certain length of time

WHAT IS HEAT TRANSFER?

Heat transfer is thermal energy transfer
that is induced by a temperature difference
(or gradient)

Mechanism of heat transfer

i. Conduction
ii. Convection
iii. Radiation

- Surface to surface
- Surface to air
- Direct exchange across
space

Conduction

Occurs when a temperature gradient exists through a solid or

a stationary fluid (liquid or gas). (Surface to surface)

Transfer of energy from the more energetic to less energetic

particles of a substance by collisions between atoms and/or
molecules.

Conduction in:

Solid
Conduction occur at molecular scale, the hotter the molecules with
greater energy imparting to the adjacent molecules at low energy level.
Thermal energy conducted in solid by 2 modes:

i.

lattice vibration

ii.

Motion of free electrons (Metallic solid)

Stationary Fluid (Liquid or Gas)

Freedom of movement (at macroscopic level they are stationary but
moving at microscopic level) transfer of energy occur due to collision of
molecules

Convection

The transfer of energy from one region to another due to the

macroscopic motion in a fluid, added on to the energy
transfer by conduction is called heat transfer by convection.

Convection is restricted to the flow of heat in fluids. If the

fluid motion is caused by differences in the density resulting
from temperature difference in a fluid, the heat transfer is
said to be free or natural convection.

If the fluid motion is artificially created by means of an

external agency like pump, blower or agitator, the heat
transfer is termed as forced convection

Convection

The transfer of energy from one region to another due to the

macroscopic motion in a fluid, added on to the energy transfer by
conduction is called heat transfer by convection.

Convection is restricted to the flow of heat in fluids. If the fluid

motion is caused by differences in the density resulting from
temperature difference in a fluid, the heat transfer is said to be
free or natural convection.

If the fluid motion is artificially created by means of an external

agency like pump, blower or agitator, the heat transfer is termed
as forced convection

Application(Conduction & Convection)

Simple Refrigeration Unit

Application:
1. Refrigerator & Freezer
2. Air Conditioner

Ultra Low Temperature Freezer

Application(Conduction & Convection)

P-H diagram of simple refrigeration unit

Application(Conduction & Convection)

Fouriers Law of Heat Conduction

qx
dT
k
A
dx
Heat Convection
Refrigeration evaporators

q hATw T f

Application(Conduction & Convection)

LNG Liquefaction
Liquefied natural gas takes up about 1/600th
the volume of natural gas in the gaseous
state

The natural gas is then condensed into a

liquid at close to atmospheric pressure
(maximum transport pressure set at around
25 kPa/3.6 psi) by cooling it to
approximately 162 C (260 F)..

LNG LIQUEFACTION
Benefits
Compactness,
saving
installation
space
and
investment costs
Many process streams can
be handled in a single unit,
thus avoiding expensive
interconnecting piping of
different units
Low equipment weight
The
vacuum
brazed
aluminium plate-fin heat
exchangers are preferred in
small LNG plants
Higher Transfer Area : 10 x
(m2/m3) compared CWHE

Plate Fin Heat Exchanger

LNG LIQUEFACTION
Benefits
Providing
a
large heating
surface
per
shell
Tolerant
against thermal
shocks due to
its
robust
(kokoh) design
Applicable in
wide range of
cold and warm

Coil-Wound Heat Exchanger

Radiation

All physical matter emits thermal radiation in the form

of electromagnetic waves because of vibrational and
rotational movements of the molecules and atoms
which makes up the matter

Ex:- Transfer heat from the sun to the earth

Characteristics of Radiation
1. Rate of emission increases with temperature

level.
2. No material medium required for the energy transfer to
occur

Solar Cell
In many of the applications of heat transfer in
chemical engineering, heat will be transferred
by the combination of two or three of the
basic mechanism/modes of heat transfer.
Ex:- solar energy panels

Blue flame Vs Red flame

Which one gives the highest radiation rates? And
why? what fuel that will yield combustion with
blue flame and red flame? Make a comparison on
their application..

The Laws of Heat Transfer

The foundation of HT based on number of
Fundamental laws
Subsidiary laws.

A fundamental law is the one which rest on the fact that it

has not been proved to be wrong or false in the bound area
of application of the subject under consideration. Therefore
these laws must be satisfied in solving any problem.

Subsidiary laws may be empirical in nature i.e. a statement

based upon the experimental evidences and intuition

Fundamental Laws used in HT are :

1. Law of conservation of mass
2. Newtons laws of motion
3. Laws of thermodynamics
Subsidiary laws generally are:
1. Fouriers law of heat conduction
2. Newtons law of cooling
3. Laws of thermal radiation
4. Equation of state (for describing as gas)

Closed System
1. Fixed amount of matter
2. No mass flows
3. Energy flows may occur
4. Boundaries may change
Generally problem on solids
Control volume/open system
1. Volume of a fixed size containing mater
2. Mass flows across boundaries
3. Energy flow across the boundaries
Generally problems on liquid and gases

Thank you