Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. OVERVIEW OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER

Course Objectives
Be acquainted with the thermodynamics, heat
transfer and their current engineering applications.
Be comfortable with the metric SI commonly used in
engineering.
Develop an intuitive systematic problem-solving
technique.
Understand the basic concepts of mass transfer

OVERVIEW OF THERMAL-FLUID SCIENCES

Thermal-fluid sciences:
The physical sciences
that deal with energy and
the transfer, transport,
and conversion of energy.
Thermal-fluid sciences
are studied under the
subcategories of
thermodynamics
fluid mechanics
heat transfer

The design of many engineering

systems, such as this solar hot
water system, involves thermal-fluid
sciences.

Application Areas of Thermal-Fluid Sciences

Application Areas of Thermal-Fluid Sciences

THERMODYNAMICS

Thermodynamics: The science of

energy.

Energy: The ability to cause changes.

The name thermodynamics stems from

the Greek words therme (heat) and
dynamis (power).

Conservation of energy principle:

During an interaction, energy can change
from one form to another but the total
amount of energy remains constant.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

The first law of thermodynamics: An

expression of the conservation of energy
principle.

The first law asserts that energy is a

thermodynamic property.

Energy cannot be created

or destroyed; it can only
change forms (the first law).

The second law of thermodynamics:

It asserts that energy has quality as
well as quantity, and actual processes
occur in the direction of decreasing
quality of energy.

Classical thermodynamics: A
macroscopic approach to the study of
thermodynamics that does not require
a knowledge of the behavior of
individual particles.

Conservation of energy
principle for the human body.

It provides a direct and easy way to the

solution of engineering problems.

Statistical thermodynamics: A
microscopic approach, based on the
average behavior of large groups of
individual particles.
Heat flows in the direction of
decreasing temperature.

FLUID MECHANICS
Fluid mechanics: The science
that deals with the behavior of
fluids at rest (fluid statics) or in
motion (fluid dynamics), and the
interaction of fluids with solids or
other fluids at the boundaries.
Fluid: A substance in the liquid
or gas phase.
A solid can resist an applied
shear stress by deforming,
whereas a fluid deforms
continuously under the influence
of shear stress, no matter how
small.
Fluid mechanics deals with liquids
and gases in motion or at rest.

The normal stress and shear stress at

the surface of a fluid element. For fluids
at rest, the shear stress is zero and
pressure is the only normal stress.

Deformation of a rubber block placed

between two parallel plates under the
influence of a shear force. The shear
stress shown is that on the rubberan
equal but opposite shear stress acts on
the upper plate.
Unlike a liquid, a gas does not form a free surface,
and it expands to fill the entire available space.

HEAT TRANSFER

Heat: The form of energy that can be

transferred from one system to
another as a result of temperature
difference.

Heat Transfer: The science that

deals with the determination of the
rates of such energy transfers and
variation of temperature.

Thermodynamics is concerned with

the amount of heat transfer as a
system undergoes a process from
one equilibrium state to another, and
it gives no indication about how long
the process will take. But in
engineering, we are often interested
in the rate of heat transfer, which is
the topic of the science of heat
transfer.

We are normally interested in how

long it takes for the hot coffee in a
thermos to cool to a certain
temperature, which cannot be
determined from a thermodynamic
analysis alone.

Example: Thermos

Example: PC computer memories

Example: PCBs

Example: Heat sinks

Example: Heat exchanger

Introduction to mass transfer

Mass transfer refers to the movement of a chemical species from a high

concentration region toward a lower concentration region and requires the
presence of two regions at different chemical compositions.

The primary driving force is the pressure difference for fluid flow and the
temperature difference for heat transfer, whereas it is the concentration
difference for mass transfer. Therefore, we do not speak of mass transfer in
a homogeneous medium.

Physical Origins
Both conduction and mass diffusion are transport processes that originate
from molecular activity.

Applications

Evaporation of water into air in a cooling tower

Drying of wood, paper, and textiles
Leakage of helium from the laser of a copying machine
Catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide and unburnt
hydrocarbons in an automobile catalytic converter
Measurement of humidity using wet and dry thermocouples
Aeration of sewage for biological treatment
Evaporation and condensation in gas-controlled heat pipes
Pollutant transport in air/water
Combustion of pulverized coal in a power plant furnace

Tutorial questions
C1-1. Why is heat transfer a nonequilibrium phenomenon?
Ans. Heat transfer is a non-equilibrium phenomena since in a system that is in
equilibrium there can be no temperature differences and thus no heat flow.
C1-2. Can there be any heat transfer between two bodies that are at the same
temperature but at different pressures?
Ans. There cannot be any heat transfer between two bodies that are at the same
temperature (regardless of pressure) since the driving force for heat transfer
is temperature difference
C1-3. What is mass transfer ?
Ans. Mass transfer refers to the movement of a chemical species from a high
concentration region toward a lower concentration region

10

Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION
1.2. MECHANISMS OF HEAT TRANSFER

Objectives
Understand the basic mechanisms of heat
transfer, which are conduction, convection, and
radiation, and Fourier's law of heat conduction,
Newton's law of cooling, and the Stefan
Boltzmann law of radiation
Identify the mechanisms of heat transfer that
occur simultaneously in practice
Develop an awareness of the cost associated
with heat losses
Solve various heat transfer problems
encountered in practice
2

INTRODUCTION
Heat: The form of energy that can be transferred from one
system to another as a result of temperature difference.
Thermodynamics concerned with the amount of heat
transfer as a system undergoes a process from one
equilibrium state to another.
Heat Transfer deals with the determination of the rates of
such energy transfers as well as variation of temperature.
The transfer of energy as heat is always from the highertemperature medium to the lower-temperature one.
Heat transfer stops when the two mediums reach the same
temperature.
Heat can be transferred in three different modes:
conduction, convection, radiation
3

CONDUCTION
Conduction: The transfer of energy from the more
energetic particles of a substance to the adjacent less
energetic ones as a result of interactions between the
particles.
In gases and liquids, conduction is due to the
collisions and diffusion of the molecules during their
random motion.
In solids, it is due to the combination of vibrations of
the molecules in a lattice and the energy transport by
free electrons.
The rate of heat conduction through a plane layer is
proportional to the temperature difference across the
layer and the heat transfer area, but is inversely
proportional to the thickness of the layer.

Heat conduction
through a large plane
wall of thickness x
and area A.
4

When x 0

Fouriers law of
heat conduction

Thermal conductivity, k: A measure of the ability of

a material to conduct heat.
Temperature gradient dT/dx: The slope of the
temperature curve on a T-x diagram.
Heat is conducted in the direction of decreasing
temperature, and the temperature gradient becomes
negative when temperature decreases with
increasing x. The negative sign in the equation
ensures that heat transfer in the positive x direction
is a positive quantity.

In heat conduction
analysis, A represents
the area normal to the
direction of heat
transfer.

The rate of heat conduction

through a solid is directly
proportional to its thermal
5
conductivity.

Thermal
Conductivity
Thermal conductivity:
The rate of heat transfer
through a unit thickness
of the material per unit
area per unit
temperature difference.
The thermal conductivity
of a material is a
measure of the ability of
the material to conduct
heat.
A high value for thermal
conductivity indicates
A simple experimental setup
that the material is a
to determine the thermal
good heat conductor,
and a low value indicates conductivity of a material.
that the material is a
poor heat conductor or
insulator.

The range of
thermal
conductivity of
various
materials at
room
temperature.

The thermal conductivities of gases such

as air vary by a factor of 104 from those
of pure metals such as copper.
Pure crystals and metals have the
highest thermal conductivities, and gases
and insulating materials the lowest.

The mechanisms of heat

conduction in different
phases of a substance.

The variation of
the thermal
conductivity of
various solids,
liquids, and gases
with temperature.
9

Thermal Diffusivity
cp Specific heat, J/kg C: Heat capacity
per unit mass
cp Heat capacity, J/m3 C: Heat capacity
per unit volume
Thermal diffusivity, m2/s: Represents
how fast heat diffuses through a material

A material that has a high thermal

conductivity or a low heat capacity will
obviously have a large thermal diffusivity.
The larger the thermal diffusivity, the faster
the propagation of heat into the medium.
A small value of thermal diffusivity means
that heat is mostly absorbed by the
material and a small amount of heat is
conducted further.

10

CONVECTION
Convection: The mode of
energy transfer between a
solid surface and the
adjacent liquid or gas that is
in motion, and it involves
the combined effects of
conduction and fluid motion.
The faster the fluid motion,
the greater the convection
heat transfer.
In the absence of any bulk
fluid motion, heat transfer
between a solid surface and
the adjacent fluid is by pure
conduction.

Heat transfer from a hot surface to air

by convection.
11

Forced convection: If
the fluid is forced to flow
over the surface by
external means such as
a fan, pump, or the wind.
Natural (or free)
convection: If the fluid
motion is caused by
buoyancy forces that are
induced by density
differences due to the
variation of temperature
in the fluid.

The cooling of a boiled egg by forced and

natural convection.

Heat transfer processes that involve change of phase of a fluid are also
considered to be convection because of the fluid motion induced during
the process, such as the rise of the vapor bubbles during boiling or the
fall of the liquid droplets during condensation.
12

Newtons law of cooling

h
As
Ts
T

convection heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 C

the surface area through which convection heat transfer takes place
the surface temperature
the temperature of the fluid sufficiently far from the surface.

The convection heat transfer

coefficient h is not a property
of the fluid.
It is an experimentally
determined parameter
whose value depends on all
the variables influencing
convection such as
- the surface geometry
- the nature of fluid motion
- the properties of the fluid
- the bulk fluid velocity
13

RADIATION

Radiation: The energy emitted by matter in the form of electromagnetic

waves (or photons) as a result of the changes in the electronic
configurations of the atoms or molecules.

Unlike conduction and convection, the transfer of heat by radiation does

not require the presence of an intervening medium.

In fact, heat transfer by radiation is fastest (at the speed of light) and it
suffers no attenuation in a vacuum. This is how the energy of the sun
reaches the earth.

In heat transfer studies we are interested in thermal radiation, which is

the form of radiation emitted by bodies because of their temperature.

All bodies at a temperature above absolute zero emit thermal radiation.

Radiation is a volumetric phenomenon, and all solids, liquids, and

gases emit, absorb, or transmit radiation to varying degrees.

However, radiation is usually considered to be a surface phenomenon

for solids.
14

StefanBoltzmann law
= 5.670 108 W/m2 K4 StefanBoltzmann constant
Blackbody: The idealized surface that emits radiation at the maximum rate.
Radiation emitted
by real surfaces
Emissivity : A measure of how closely
a surface approximates a blackbody for
which = 1 of the surface. 0
1.

Blackbody radiation represents the maximum

amount of radiation that can be emitted from
a surface at a specified temperature.

15

Absorptivity : The fraction of the radiation energy incident on a

surface that is absorbed by the surface. 0
1
A blackbody absorbs the entire radiation incident on it ( = 1).
Kirchhoffs law: The emissivity and the absorptivity of a surface at
a given temperature and wavelength are equal, i.e., = .

The absorption of radiation incident on an opaque surface of

absorptivity .
16

Radiation heat transfer between

Net radiation heat transfer:
a surface and the surfaces
The difference between the
rates of radiation emitted by the surrounding it.
surface and the radiation
absorbed.
The determination of the net
rate of heat transfer by radiation
between two surfaces is a
complicated matter since it
depends on
the properties of the surfaces
their orientation relative to
each other
the interaction of the medium
between the surfaces with
radiation
When radiation and convection occur
simultaneously between a surface and a gas
Radiation is usually
significant relative to
conduction or natural
convection, but
Combined heat transfer coefficient hcombined
negligible relative to
Includes the effects of both convection and radiation
17
forced convection.

SIMULTANEOUS HEAT
TRANSFER MECHANISMS
Heat transfer is only by conduction in opaque solids,
but by conduction and radiation in semitransparent
solids, but not convection. A solid may involve
convection and/or radiation on its surfaces exposed
to a fluid or other surfaces.
Heat transfer is by conduction and possibly by
radiation in a still fluid (no bulk fluid motion) and by
convection and radiation in a flowing fluid.
Convection = Conduction + Fluid motion
Heat transfer through a vacuum is by radiation.
Most gases between two solid surfaces
do not interfere with radiation.
Liquids are usually strong absorbers of
radiation.

Although there are three mechanisms of

heat transfer, a medium may involve
18
only two of them simultaneously.

Summary
Conduction
Fouriers law of heat conduction
Thermal Conductivity
Thermal Diffusivity

Convection
Newtons law of cooling

Radiation
StefanBoltzmann law

Simultaneous Heat Transfer Mechanisms

19

Explanatory slides for Ch1.2

What are single- and poly- crystals?

1nm=10-3 m

20

10

Explanatory slides for Ch1.2

Explanatory slides for Ch1.2

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)
MEMS are a set of manufacturing tools based on batch thin and thick
film fabrication techniques commonly used in the integrated circuit
industry or IC industry. This involved originally mainly Si based
mechanical devices.

11

Chapter 2
HEAT CONDUCTION

2.1 Steady state heat conduction

Objectives

Understand the concept of thermal resistance and its

limitations, and develop thermal resistance networks for
practical heat conduction problems

Develop an intuitive understanding of thermal contact

resistance, and circumstances under which it may be
significant

Analyze finned surfaces, and assess how efficiently and

effectively fins enhance heat transfer
2

STEADY HEAT CONDUCTION IN PLANE WALLS

Heat transfer through the wall of a house can be
modeled as steady and one-dimensional.
The temperature of the wall in this case depends
on one direction only (say the x-direction) and
can be expressed as T(x).

for steady operation

In steady operation, the rate of heat transfer
through the wall is constant.
Heat transfer through a wall
is one-dimensional when
the temperature of the wall
varies in one direction only.

Fouriers law of
heat conduction
3

The rate of heat conduction through

a plane wall is proportional to the
average thermal conductivity, the
wall area, and the temperature
difference, but is inversely
proportional to the wall thickness.

Under steady conditions, the

temperature distribution in a plane
wall is a straight line: dT/dx = const.

Once the rate of heat conduction is

available, the temperature T(x) at
any location x can be determined by
replacing T2 by T, and L by x.
4

Thermal Resistance Concept

Conduction resistance of the

wall: Thermal resistance of the
wall against heat conduction.
Thermal resistance of a medium
depends on the geometry and the
thermal properties of the medium.

Electrical resistance

Analogy between thermal and electrical

resistance concepts.
rate of heat transfer
electric current
thermal resistance
electrical resistance
temperature difference
voltage difference
5

Newtons law of cooling

Convection resistance of the

surface: Thermal resistance of the
surface against heat convection.

Schematic for convection resistance at a surface.

When the convection heat transfer coefficient is very large (h
),
the convection resistance becomes zero and Ts T.
That is, the surface offers no resistance to convection, and thus it
does not slow down the heat transfer process.
This situation is approached in practice at surfaces where boiling
and condensation occur.

Radiation resistance of the

surface: Thermal resistance of the
surface against radiation.

Radiation heat transfer coefficient

Combined heat transfer

coefficient

Schematic for
convection and radiation
resistances at a surface.

Thermal Resistance Network

The thermal resistance network for heat transfer through a plane wall subjected to
convection on both sides, and the electrical analogy.

Temperature drop

U overall heat
transfer coefficient
Once Q is evaluated, the
surface temperature T1 can
be determined from

The temperature drop across a layer is

proportional to its thermal resistance.
9

Multilayer
Plane
Walls
The thermal resistance
network for heat transfer
through a two-layer plane
wall subjected to
convection on both sides.

10

11

THERMAL CONTACT RESISTANCE

Temperature distribution and heat flow lines along two solid plates
pressed against each other for the case of perfect and imperfect contact.

12

When two such surfaces are

pressed against each other, the
peaks form good material
contact but the valleys form
voids filled with air.

These numerous air gaps of

varying sizes act as insulation
because of the low thermal
conductivity of air.

Thus, an interface offers some

resistance to heat transfer, and
this resistance per unit interface
area is called the thermal
contact resistance, Rc,, e.g,
contact resistance of transistors
13

Rate of heat transfer across the interface:

hc thermal contact conductance

The value of thermal contact resistance Rc depends on:

surface roughness,
Ranging between
material properties,
5*10-6 and 5*10-4 (m2
temperature and pressure at the interface
C/W).
type of fluid trapped at the interface.

14

The thermal contact resistance can be

minimized by applying
a thermal grease such as silicon oil
a better conducting gas such as
helium or hydrogen
a soft metallic foil such as tin, silver,
copper, nickel, or aluminum

Effect of metallic coatings on

thermal contact conductance

15

--The thermal contact conductance is highest (and thus the contact

resistance is lowest) for soft metals with smooth surfaces at high pressure.
--Thermal contact resistance is significant and can even dominate the heat transfer
16
for good heat conductors such as metals, but can be disregarded for poor heat
conductors such as insulations.

HEAT TRANSFER FROM FINNED SURFACES

Newtons law of cooling: The rate of heat transfer from
a surface to the surrounding medium

When Ts and T are fixed, two ways to increase the rate of heat transfer are
To increase the convection heat transfer coefficient h. This may require the
installation of a pump or fan, or replacing the existing one with a larger one, but
this approach may or may not be practical. Besides, it may not be adequate.
To increase the surface area As by attaching to the surface extended surfaces
called fins made of highly conductive materials such as aluminum.
Some innovative fin designs.

The thin plate fins of a car radiator greatly

increase the rate of heat transfer to the air.

17

Fin Equation

Let

Differential
equation
where
Volume element of a fin at location x
having a length of x, cross-sectional
area of Ac, and perimeter of p.

is temperature excess
18

Under steady conditions, heat transfer from the exposed surfaces of

the fin is equal to heat conduction to the fin at the base.

19

The general solution of the differential equation

where

Boundary conditions at the fin base and the fin tip, i.e., the relation
between T(x) and Q (x ) at the fin base (x=0) and the fin tip (x=L).
(i) Boundary condition at fin base

(ii) Boundary condition at fin tip

(a)(d)
20

1. Infinitely Long Fin (Tfin tip = T )

Boundary condition at fin base

Boundary conditions at the fin tip.

C1 = 0, C2 = Tb - T

in

The variation of temperature along the fin

The steady rate of heat transfer from the entire fin

21

A long circular fin of uniform cross section and the variation of temperature along it.

22

2 Negligible Heat Loss from the Fin Tip

(Adiabatic fin tip, Q fin tip = 0)
Fins are not likely to be so long that their temperature approaches the
surrounding temperature at the tip. A more realistic assumption is for
heat transfer from the fin tip to be negligible since the surface area of
the fin tip is usually a negligible fraction of the total fin area.
Boundary condition at fin base
Boundary condition at fin tip

The variation of temperature along the fin

Heat transfer from the entire fin

1 z
(e e z )
2
ez e z
tanh z
e z e z 23

cosh z

Fin Efficiency

Fins enhance heat

transfer from
a surface by
enhancing surface
area.
Ideal and actual
temperature
distribution
along a fin.

24

Zero thermal resistance or infinite

thermal conductivity (Tfin = Tb)
Fin efficiency is

Case (i): long fins

Case (ii): fins with insulated tips

25

Proper Length of a Fin

Because of the gradual temperature drop

along the fin, the region near the fin tip makes
little or no contribution to heat transfer.

mL = 5
an infinitely long fin
mL = 1 offer a good compromise
between heat transfer
performance and the fin size. 26

Heat sinks: Specially

designed finned surfaces
which are commonly used in
the cooling of electronic
equipment, and involve oneof-a-kind complex
geometries.

The heat transfer

performance of heat sinks is
usually expressed in terms of
their thermal resistances R.

A small value of thermal

resistance indicates a small
temperature drop across the
heat sink, and thus a high fin
efficiency.

27

Summary

Steady Heat Conduction in Plane Walls

Thermal Resistance Concept
Thermal Resistance Network

Thermal Contact Resistance

Application:
Generalized Thermal Resistance Networks
Application:
Heat Transfer from Finned Surfaces
Fin Equation
Fin Efficiency
Proper Length of a Fin

28

Tutorial questions
C2-1. In the steady heat
conduction of a brick wall
with a thickness of L, area A
and heat conductivity k,
determine the temperature
difference of two sides of the
wall. Assume the rate of
heat conduction is a
constant q= Qcond.

29

C2-2. The windows are 0.8 m high and 1.5 m wide. Compare
the rates of heat transfer through (i) a single- pane and (ii) a
double-pane windows. Calculate the temperature of the surface
of the inner glass of each window.
(i)

(ii)

30

 C2-3 Six identical power transistors with aluminum casting are attached on one
side of a 1.2-cm-thick and 20-cm*30-cm-area copper plate (k = 386 W/m C ) by
screws that exert an average pressure of 10 MPa. The contact area between the case
and the plate is given to be 9 cm2, and the plate area for each transistor is 100 cm2.
The interface roughness is about 1.4 m. All transistors are covered by a thick
Plexigals layer, which is a poor conductor of heat
and heat must be dissipated to the ambient at 23
C through the back surface of the copper plate.
The combined convection/radiation heat transfer
coefficient at the back surface is h=30 W/m2 C.
For a maximum case temperature of 75 C,
determined the maximum power dissipation and
the temperature jump at the interface. (Assume
the contact conductance at the interface of
copper-aluminum plates for the case of 1.17-1.4
m roughness and 10 MPa pressure is hc =
49,000)
31

C2-4. Answer the following questions

(1)What is the reason for widespread use of fins on
surfaces?
(2)What is fin efficiency? Does the efficiency of a fin
increase or decrease as the fin length is increased?
(3)What is the boundary conditions in the heat conduction
of fins? List two cases of the boundary conditions of
the fin tips.

32

 C2-5. A 40-W power transistor

is to be cooled by attaching it to
one of the commercially
available heat sink. Select a
heat sink that will allow the
case temperature of the
transistor no to exceed 90 C in
an environment temperature at
20 C.

33

Chapter 2
HEAT CONDUCTION

2.2 TRANSIENT HEAT CONDUCTION

We will consider the variation of temperature
with time and position in one-dimensional
problems such as those associated with a large
plane wall, a long cylinder, and a sphere.

Transient temperature profiles in a

plane wall exposed to convection
from its surfaces for Ti >T.
Schematic of the
simple geometries in
which heat transfer is
one-dimensional.

Governing equation
A large plane wall:
A

Q& x

, cp

t (Q& x + x Q& x ) = E = mc p T = xAc p T

Q& x + x

Ac p T
Q& x + x Q& x
=
x
t
As x 0, t 0. Then

x
x, t

x + x, t + t

A thin element of
thickness x in the large
Plane wall

Q& x
T
= Ac p
x
t

(kAT / x)
T
= Ac p
x
t

2T
1 T 1 T
=
=
x 2 k / c p t t

Nondimensionalized One-Dimensional Transient

Conduction Problem

t
L2

Nondimensionalization reduces the

number of independent variables in onedimensional transient conduction
problems from 8 to 3, offering great
convenience in the presentation of results.

Exact Solution of One-Dimensional

Transient Conduction Problem

Example: Plane wall

The analytical solutions of

transient conduction problems
typically involve infinite series,
and thus the evaluation of an
infinite number of terms to
determine the temperature at a
specified location and time.

Approximate Analytical and Graphical Solutions

The terms in the series solutions converge rapidly with increasing time,
and for > 0.2, keeping the first term and neglecting all the remaining
terms in the series results in an error under 2 percent.

Solution with one-term approximation

(a) Midplane temperature

Transient temperature and heat transfer charts

(Heisler and Grober charts) for a plane wall of thickness
2L initially at a uniform temperature Ti subjected to
convection from both sides to an environment at
temperature T with a convection coefficient of h.

10

(b) Temperature distribution

11

(c) Heat transfer

12

The fraction of total heat transfer

Q/Qmax up to a specified time t is
determined using the Grber charts.

13

The physical significance of the Fourier number

The Fourier number is a

measure of heat
conducted through a body
relative to heat stored.

A large value of the

Fourier number indicates
faster propagation of heat
through a body.
Fourier number at time t
can be viewed as the
ratio of the rate of heat
conducted to the rate of
heat stored at that time.

14

Chapter 3
HEAT CONVECTION

3.1 FORCE CONVECTION

Objectives

Gain a working knowledge of the dimensionless Prandtl

and Nusselt numbers

Develop an understanding of the mechanism of heat

transfer in turbulent flow

Evaluate the heat transfer associated with flow over a flat

plate for both laminar and turbulent flow, and flow over
cylinders and spheres

PHYSICAL MECHANISM OF CONVECTION

Conduction and convection both
require the presence of a material
medium but convection requires fluid
motion.
Convection involves fluid motion as
well as heat conduction.
Heat transfer through a solid is always
by conduction.
Heat transfer through a fluid is by
convection in the presence of bulk fluid
motion and by conduction in the
absence of it.
Therefore, conduction in a fluid can be
viewed as the limiting case of
convection, corresponding to the case
of quiescent fluid.
Heat transfer from a hot surface to
the surrounding fluid by convection
and conduction.

The fluid motion enhances heat transfer, since it brings warmer and
cooler chunks of fluid into contact, initiating higher rates of conduction
at a greater number of sites in a fluid.
The rate of heat transfer through a fluid is much higher by convection
than it is by conduction.
In fact, the higher the fluid velocity, the higher the rate of heat transfer.

Heat transfer through a

fluid sandwiched between
two parallel plates.

Convection heat transfer strongly depends on the fluid properties

dynamic viscosity, thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat, as
well as the fluid velocity. It also depends on the geometry and the
roughness of the solid surface, in addition to the type of fluid flow (such
as being streamlined or turbulent).
Newtons
law of
cooling

Convection heat transfer coefficient, h: The rate of

heat transfer between a solid surface and a fluid per
unit surface area per unit temperature difference.
5

No-slip condition: A fluid in direct contact with a solid sticks to the surface
due to viscous effects, and there is no slip.
Boundary layer: The flow region adjacent to the wall in which the viscous
effects (and thus the velocity gradients) are significant.
The fluid property responsible for the no-slip condition and the development
of the boundary layer is viscosity.

The development of a velocity

profile due to the no-slip condition
as a fluid flows over a blunt nose.

A fluid flowing over a stationary surface

comes to a complete stop at the surface
because of the no-slip condition.
6

An implication of the no-slip condition is that heat transfer from the solid
surface to the fluid layer adjacent to the surface is by pure conduction,
since the fluid layer is motionless, and can be expressed as

The determination of the convection heat transfer coefficient

when the temperature distribution within the fluid is known

The convection heat transfer coefficient, in general, varies along the flow
(or x-) direction. The average or mean convection heat transfer coefficient
for a surface in such cases is determined by properly averaging the local
convection heat transfer coefficients over the entire surface area As or
length L as

Nusselt Number
In convection studies, it is common practice to nondimensionalize the governing
equations and combine the variables, which group together into dimensionless
numbers in order to reduce the number of total variables.
Nusselt number: Dimensionless convection heat transfer coefficient

Nu

hL
k

Heat transfer through a fluid layer

of thickness L and temperature
difference T.

The Nusselt number represents the

enhancement of heat transfer through
a fluid layer as a result of convection
relative to conduction across the same
fluid layer.
The larger the Nusselt number, the
more effective the convection.
A Nusselt number of Nu = 1 for a fluid
layer represents heat transfer across
the layer by pure conduction.
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Convection in daily life

We resort to forced convection

whenever we need to increase
the rate of heat transfer.

We turn on the fan on hot

summer days to help our
body cool more effectively.
The higher the fan speed,
the better we feel.

We stir our soup and blow

on a hot slice of pizza to
make them cool faster.

The air on windy winter

days feels much colder
than it actually is.

The simplest solution to

heating problems in
electronics packaging is to
use a large enough fan.
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THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

A thermal boundary layer develops when a fluid at a specified temperature
flows over a surface that is at a different temperature.
Thermal boundary layer: The flow region over the surface in which the
temperature variation in the direction normal to the surface is significant.
The thickness of the thermal boundary layer t at any location along the
surface is defined as the distance from the surface at which the temperature
difference T Ts equals 0.99(T Ts).
The thickness of the thermal
boundary layer increases in the
flow direction, since the effects
of heat transfer are felt at
greater distances from the
surface further down stream.

Thermal boundary layer on a flat plate (the

fluid is hotter than the plate surface).

The shape of the temperature

profile in the thermal boundary
layer dictates the convection
heat transfer between a solid
surface and the fluid flowing
over it.
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Prandtl Number
The relative thickness of the velocity and the thermal boundary layers
is best described by the dimensionless parameter Prandtl number

The Prandtl numbers of gases

are about 1, which indicates
that both momentum and heat
dissipate through the fluid at
about the same rate.
Heat diffuses very quickly in
liquid metals (Pr << 1) and
very slowly in oils (Pr >> 1)
relative to momentum.
Consequently the thermal
boundary layer is much thicker
for liquid metals and much
thinner for oils relative to the
velocity boundary layer.

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Reynolds Number
The flow regime depends mainly on the ratio of inertia forces to viscous
forces in a fluid, which is given by the Reynolds number:

Re

V 2 L2
( V / L) L2

VL

Dynamic pressure area

viscous force

Grashof number
This is the ratio of buoyancy to viscous forces, which is significant in free
convection.

Gr

L3

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PARALLEL FLOW OVER FLAT PLATES

The transition from laminar to turbulent flow depends on the surface geometry,
surface roughness, upstream velocity, surface temperature, and the type of fluid,
among other things, and is best characterized by the Reynolds number. The
Reynolds number at a distance x from the leading edge of a flat plate is
expressed as
A generally accepted value for
the Critical Reynold number

The actual value of the engineering

critical Reynolds number for a flat
plate may vary somewhat from 105
to 3 106, depending on the
surface roughness, the turbulence
level, and the variation of pressure
along the surface.
Laminar and turbulent regions of the
boundary layer during flow over a flat plate.

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The local Nusselt number at a location x for laminar flow over a flat
plate may be obtained by solving the differential energy equation to be

These relations are for

isothermal and smooth surfaces

The local friction and heat transfer

coefficients are higher in turbulent
flow than they are in laminar flow.
Also, hx reaches its highest values
when the flow becomes fully
turbulent, and then decreases by a
factor of x 0.2 in the flow direction.
The variation of the local
friction and heat transfer
coefficients for flow over
a flat plate.

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Nusselt numbers for average heat transfer coefficients

Laminar +
turbulent

For liquid metals

For all liquids, all Prandtl numbers

Graphical representation of the average

heat transfer coefficient for a flat plate with
combined laminar and turbulent flow.

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FLOW ACROSS
CYLINDERS AND
SPHERES

Flows across cylinders and spheres,

in general, involve flow separation,
which is difficult to handle
analytically.

Flow across cylinders and spheres

has been studied experimentally by
numerous investigators, and
several empirical correlations have
been developed for the heat
transfer coefficient.
Variation of the local
heat transfer
coefficient along the
circumference of a
circular cylinder in
cross flow of air

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For flow over a cylinder

The fluid properties are evaluated at the film temperature

For flow over a sphere

The fluid properties are evaluated at the free-stream temperature T ,

except for s, which is evaluated at the surface temperature Ts.
Constants C and m are
given in the table.
The relations for cylinders above are for single cylinders or
cylinders oriented such that the flow over them is not affected by
the presence of others. They are applicable to smooth surfaces.

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