Heat transfer modes
• Application examples of the heat transfer laws related to conduction, convection
and radiation processes.
9.1. The bottom face of a glass ceramic plate (see figure) is heated by a natural gas burner
placed underneath. The plate thickness is ep=10 mm, its upper face surface area is 0.2 m2,
the thermal conductivity of the material 1.8 W/mK and the emissivity of the surface 0.7.
The outer air temperature in contact with the upper face of the plate is Tair =29 ºC, with a
convection heat transfer coefficient of 110 W/m2K. Consider an effective emission
temperature of the surroundings towards the plate of 18 ºC.
a. Determine the heat flux q’’ and the heat rate q supplied by the burner to the
plate in steady-state conditions, given that the upper face of the plate is at T0=280
ºC.
b. Obtain the plate’s bottom face temperature, Ti
Tsur=18 ºC
Air
Tair = 29 ºC
T0
ep glass ceramic
q Ti
burner
Sol: q’’=31 kW/m2, q=6,21 kW, Ti=452 ºC
9.2. A square silicon chip (k=150 W/mK) has sides of 5 mm width and of 1 mm thickness.
The chip is mounted in a plastic substrate such that its side and back surfaces are insulated,
while the front surface is exposed to air flowing at 5 m/s and 15 ºC. The heat transfer
convection coefficient between the chip and the air is 100 W/m2K. The heat generated by
the chip is supposed to occur in the back surface.
a. What is the temperature difference between the back and front surfaces if the chip
dissipates 4 W?
b. What is the maximum power that the chip could dissipate if the maximum operating
temperature is 90 ºC? (To be solved in WEEK 10).
Sol: 1.067 K, 0.1874 W
9.3. The wall of a building is exposed, during the night to a wind at 5 ºC and 2 m/s. In
these conditions, the convection heat transfer coefficient is 20 W/m2K. The total
emissivity of the surface (gray surface) is 0.8 and the effective temperature of the sky (the
one to be considered for the thermal radiation) is 285 K. If the outer surface temperature
is 20 ºC, determine:
a. The convection heat flux per square meter of wall
b. The radiation heat flux per square meter of wall
c. Compare both results.
Sol: 300 W/m2, 35 W/m2
1
Heat transfer modes
• Application examples of the heat transfer laws related to conduction, convection
and radiation processes.
9.4. Determine the heat flux across a composite wall of two different materials, with the
following characteristics:
Layer Thickness (m) k (W/mK)
Inside (brick) 0.25 3.8
Outside (wood) 0.2 0.19
The inside air temperature is 30 ºC and the inside convection coefficient is 2 W/m2 K.
The outside air temperature is 10 ºC and the outside convection coefficient is 20 W/m2
K. Determine the temperatures of the brick-wood surface, the internal surface and the
external surface. Sol: 12 W/m2 , 23.2 ºC, 24 ºC, 10.6 ºC
9.5. An insulating panel is a compound of three materials. The temperature of the inner
surface of the panel is 30 ºC and the temperature of the outer surface is 10 ºC, being
cooled by a fluid at 3 ºC. Thicknesses of the different layers are: 0.3 m, 0.1 m and 0.3
m. The thicker layers are of known conductivity k=20 W/mK and the outside
convection coefficient is 25 W/m2 K. What is the value of the unknown thermal
conductivity? Sol: 1.19 W/m·K
9.6. The total surface of the façade of a house is 2.7 m x 5 m, with a window (1 m x 1.5
m x 5 mm) and a door (1 m x 2.2 m x 60 mm). The wall is a composite wall consisting
on: 1 cm of concrete; 15 cm of brick and 1 cm of concrete. The inside and outside
convection coefficients are 5 W/m2 K and 40 W/m2 K respectively. The temperature of
the inside air is 20 ºC and the outside air is at 5 ºC. The thermal conductivities of the
glass window, the wood door, the brick and the concrete are 1.4 W/mK, 0.1 W/mK,
0.72 W/mK and 0.58 W/mK respectively. Determine the total heat rate loss through the
façade.
Sol: 455.16 W (70% through the wall, 21% through the window and 9% through the door)
9.7. The attic of a house receives a heat flux of 150 W/m2. Most of this heat is dissipated
by radiation and convection to the outside, but 1% of it enters the room. What is the
temperature gradient inside the room which is 3 m high considering that the floor is kept
at 20 ºC and that there is no forced convection? Evaluate the air temperature at a distance
of 1 m from the floor. kair=26 mW/mK.
Result: 77.69 ºC
2
Heat transfer modes
• Application examples of the heat transfer laws related to conduction, convection
and radiation processes.
EXERCISES FROM PREVIOUS EXAMS
December 2015
Consider a copper pipe (kc = 400 W/(mK)) with re= 4cm external radius, e = 1.5 mm
thick and L = 0.1 m long. The fluid that is circulating inside the pipe is condensing at Tf
= 50 ºC. The heat rate transferred to the ambient air during the process is q1 = 10 W. The
convection heat transfer coefficient of the air outside the pipe is he = 20 W/(m2K) and its
temperature is Te = 30 ºC. Calculate:
a. The convective heat transfer coefficient of the fluid inside the pipe, hi. (3971
W/m2K).
June 2015
A new material for volumetric solar receivers is going to be tested. The test consists on
subjecting the material to different cycles of solar radiation for a certain number of hours.
Solar radiation is characterized by a heat flux of 100 kW/m2. Neglect convection heat
losses at the side of the incident radiation. To monitor the temperature of the material, a
copper piece is placed on the opposite side of the incident radiation which is exposed to
a water stream at a temperature of 20ºC. The copper piece has the same section than the
testing piece and it is placed covering the entire surface of the testing piece. Assume one-
dimension steady state conduction in the direction of the thickness of the piece during the
whole exercise.
1) Obtain the maximum temperature in the testing material (483.59 ºC).
2) Obtain the effective temperature of radiation in the surroundings assuming the
testing material as a grey surface (945.97 ºC).
Data of the problem Stefan-Boltzman constant, σ = 5.67·10-8 W/m2K 4 Emissivity of
the testing material, ε = 0.938 Dimensions of the testing material (Side (W) x Side (W) x
Thickness (L1)), 100 cm x 100 cm x 20 cm Thermal conductivity of the testing material,
k1 = 60 W/mK Dimensions of the copper piece (Side (W) x Side (W) x Thickness (L2)),
100 cm x 100 cm x 40 cm Thermal conductivity of the copper piece, k2 = 380 W/mK
Convection coefficient of the water stream, hwater = 4000 W/m2K
3
Heat transfer modes
• Application examples of the heat transfer laws related to conduction, convection
and radiation processes.
June 2016
A solid cylinder of uranium with an external radius r1 = 1.3 cm and 1 m of length is
enclosed by another concentric cylinder made of palladium with internal radius r2= 1.5
cm, external radius r3 = 2 cm and same length. The ensemble is closed by its top and
bottom surfaces. Between both cylinders there is helium in gaseous state, it is confined
and motionless (see figure). The top and bottom covers behave as a thermal insulation in
the axial direction and then the heat transfer only exists through the lateral surfaces
(radial direction). On the external surface of the palladium’s cylinder there is air in
movement with temperature (T∞ = 25 ºC) and a convective coefficient of 90 W/(m2·K). It
can be assumed steady state and 1-D heat transfer conditions.
Data:
Thermal conductivity of
27.6 W/(m·K)
uranium
Thermal conductivity of
170·10-3 W/(m·K)
helium
Thermal conductivity of
72 W/(m·K)
palladium
Case 1. On the external lateral surface of the cylinder made of palladium 150 W of
heat transfer by radiation is received.
1. Determine the temperature in the external lateral surface of the solid cylinder of
uranium (r = r1), when there is not heat generation inside it. (311.263 K)
