Module2:STEADYSTATECONDUCTION

Lecture6:THECRITICALRADIUSOFINSULATION

Weknowthatbyaddingmoreinsulationtoawallalwaysdecreasesheattransfer.Thethickertheinsulation,the
lower the heat transfer rate. This is expected, since the heat transfer area Ais constant, and adding insulation
alwaysincreasesthethermalresistanceofthewallwithoutaffectingtheconvectionresistance.

Addinginsulationtoacylindricalpieceorasphericalshell,however,isadifferentmatter.Theadditionalinsulation
increasestheconductionresistanceoftheinsulationlayerbutdecreasestheconvectionresistanceofthesurface
becauseoftheincreaseintheoutersurfaceareaforconvection.Theheattransferfromthepipemayincreaseor
decrease,dependingonwhicheffectdominates.

Consideracylindricalpipeofouterradiusr1 whoseoutersurfacetemperatureT1 ismaintainedconstant(Figure.

2.15).Thepipeisnowinsulatedwithamaterialwhosethermalconductivityiskandouterradiusisr2 .Heatislost

fromthepipetothesurroundingmediumattemperature ,withaconvectionheattransfercoefficienth.Therate

ofheattransferfromtheinsulatedpipetothesurroundingaircanbeexpressedas(Figure.2.16)



(2.56)

Figure2.15InsulatedCylindricalPipe

Thevariationofheattransferratewiththeouterradiusofinsulationr2 isplottedinFigure2.16.Thevalueofr2 at

whichheattransferratereachesmaximumisdeterminedfromtherequirementthat (zeroslope).Performing
thedifferentiationandsolvingforr2 yieldsthecriticalradiusofinsulationforacylindricalbodytobe

(2.57)

Notethatthecriticalradiusofinsulationdependsonthethermalconductivityoftheinsulationkandtheexternal
convectionheattransfercoefficienth. The rate of heat transfer from the cylinder increases with the addition of
insulationforr2 <rcr,reachesamaximumwhenr2 =rcr,andstartstodecreaseforr2 >rcr.Thus,insulatingthepipe
mayactuallyincreasetherateofheattransferfromthepipeinsteadofdecreasingitwhenr2 <rcr.
 Figure2.16VariationOfHeatTransferRateWithRadius

Theimportantquestiontoansweratthispointistowhetherweneedtobeconcernedaboutthecriticalradiusof
insulationwheninsulatinghotwaterpipesorevenhotwatertanks.Shouldwealwayscheckandmakesurethat
the outer radius of insulation exceeds the critical radius before we install any insulation? Probably not, as
explainedbelow.

Thevalueofthecriticalradiusrcrwillbethelargestwhenkislargeandhissmall.Notingthatthelowestvalueofh
encountered in practice is about 5 W/m2 K for the case of natural convection of gases, and that the thermal
conductivityofcommoninsulatingmaterialsis0.05W/m2 K,thelargestvalueofthecriticalradiuswearelikelyto
encounteris

Thisvaluewouldbeevensmallerwhentheradiationeffectsareconsidered.Thecriticalradiuswouldbemuch
less in forced convection, often less than 1 mm, because of much larger h values associated with forced
convection.Therefore,wecaninsulatehotwaterorsteampipesfreelywithoutworryingaboutthepossibilityof
increasingtheheattransferbyinsulatingthepipes.

Theradiusofelectricwiresmaybesmallerthanthecriticalradius.Therefore,theplasticelectricalinsulationmay
actuallyenhancetheheattransferfromelectricwiresandthuskeeptheirsteadyoperatingtemperaturesatlower
andthussaferlevels.

Thediscussionsabovecanberepeatedforasphere,anditcanbeshowninasimilarmannerthatthecritical
radiusofinsulationforasphericalshellis

(2.58)

wherekisthethermalconductivityoftheinsulationandhistheconvectionheattransfercoefficientontheouter
surface.

1 2 3 4 5 6