Thermal Conductivity and the

Mechanisms of Energy
Transport
CHENG 511
Advanced Transport Phenomena
Prof. Nader Al-Bastaki

Program Name: MSc in Chemical Engineering

Semester I 2016-17

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 Heat conduction in fluids can be thought of as molecular energy
transport.
Energy can also be transported by the bulk motion of a fluid, and
this is referred to as convective energy transport; this form of
transport depends on the density p of the fluid.
Another mechanism is that of diffusive energy transport, which
occurs in mixtures that are interdiffusing.
In addition, energy can be transmitted by means of radiative
energy transport, which is quite distinct in that this form of
transport does not require a material medium as do conduction
and convection.

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FOURIER'S LAW OF HEAT CONDUCTION (MOLECULAR
ENERGY TRANSPORT)
Consider a slab of solid material of area A located between two large parallel plates a distance Y apart. We
imagine that initially (for time t < 0) the solid material is at a temperature T0 throughout.
At t = 0 the lower plate is suddenly brought to a slightly higher temperature T1 and maintained at that
temperature.
As time proceeds, the temperature profile in the slab changes, and ultimately a linear steady-state
temperature distribution is attained (as shown in Fig. 9.1-1).

When this steady-state condition has been reached, a constant rate

of heat flow Q through the slab is required to maintain the
temperature difference DT = 1 T0.
It is found then that for sufficiently small values of AT the following
relation holds:

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Taking the limit as Dy hoes to zero, gives Fouriers law of heat
conduction

Where is the heat flux in the positive y direction and k is the

thermal conductivity

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Anisotropic Solids

In addition to the thermal conductivity k, defined by Eq. 9.1-2, a quantity

known as the thermal diffusivity a is widely used. It is defined as

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 The thermal diffusivity has the same dimensions as the kinematic
viscosity namely, (length)2/time.
When the assumption of constant physical properties is made, the
quantities and occur in similar ways in the equations of change for
momentum and energy transport.
Their ratio indicates the relative ease of momentum and energy
transport in flow systems. This dimensionless ratio

is called the Prandtl number

Another dimensionless group that we will encounter in subsequent
chapters is the Peclet number

Thermal conductivity can vary all the way from about 0.01 W/m.K for gases to about
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1000 W/m.K for pure metals
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TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

When thermal conductivity data for a particular compound cannot

be found, one can make an estimate by using the corresponding-
states chart in Fig. 9.2-1, which is based on thermal conductivity data
for several monatomic substances.
This chart, which is similar to that for viscosity shown in Fig. 1.3-1, is
a plot of the reduced thermal conductivity kr = k/kc which is the
thermal conductivity at pressure p and temperature T divided by the
thermal conductivity at the critical point.
This quantity is plotted as a function of the reduced temperature Tr =
T/Tc and the reduced pressure pr = p/pc.
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CONVECTIVE TRANSPORT OF ENERGY
Fourier's law of heat conduction, accounts for the energy transported
through a medium by virtue of the molecular motions.
Energy may also be transported by the bulk motion of the fluid.
In Fig. 9.7-1 we show three mutually perpendicular elements of area
dS at the point P, where the fluid velocity is v.
The volume rate of flow across the surface element dS perpendicular
to the x-axis is vx dS.
The rate at which energy is being swept across the same surface
element is then

in which
is the kinetic energy per unit volume,
and
is the internal energy per unit volume. 15
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 We can also write similar expressions for the rate at which energy is
being swept through the surface elements perpendicular to the y- and
z-axes.
If we now multiply each of the three expressions by the corresponding
unit vector and add, we then get, after division by dS,

and this quantity is called the convective energy flux vector.

To get the convective energy flux across a unit surface whose

normal unit vector is n, we form the dot product
It is understood that this is the flux from the negative side of the
surface to the positive side.
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WORK ASSOCIATED WITH MOLECULAR MOTIONS

When a force F acts on a body and causes it to move through a distance

dr, the work done is dW = (F . dr). Then the rate of doing work is

= . = .

that is, the dot product of the force times the velocity.
We now apply this formula to the three perpendicular planes at a point
P in space shown in Fig. 9.8-1.
First we consider the surface element perpendicular to the x-axis. The
fluid on the minus side of the surface exerts a force on the fluid
that is on the plus side (see Table 1.2-1).

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 Since the fluid is moving with a velocity v, the rate at which work is
done by the minus fluid on the plus fluid is . .
Similar expressions may be written for the work done across the other
two surface elements. When written out in component form, these rate
of work expressions, per unit area, become

When these scalar components are multiplied by the unit vectors and
added, we get the "rate of doing work vector per unit area/' and we can
call this, for short, the work flux:
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 Furthermore, the rate of doing work across a unit area of surface with
orientation given by the unit vector n is .
These equations are easily written for cylindrical coordinates by replacing
x, y, z by r, , z and, for spherical coordinates by replacing x, y, z by , , .
We now define, for later use, the combined energy flux vector e as
follows

The e vector is the sum of (a) the convective energy flux, (b) the rate of
doing work (per unit area) by molecular mechanisms, and (c) the rate
of transporting heat (per unit area) by molecular mechanisms.
All the terms in this equation have the same sign convention, so that
ex is the energy transport in the positive x direction per unit area per
unit time. 20
The total molecular stress tensor p can now be split into two parts:
= +
so that . = + . .
The term can then be combined with the internal energy term
to give an enthalpy term

so that

For a surface element dS of orientation n, the quantity (n . e) gives the

convective energy flux, the heat flux, and the work flux across the surface
element dS from the negative side to the positive side of dS. 21
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 To evaluate the enthalpy in the above equation, we make use of the
standard equilibrium thermodynamics formula

When this is integrated from some reference state p, T to the state

p, T, we then get

in which is the enthalpy per unit mass at the reference state.

The integral over p is zero for an ideal gas and for fluids of constant
density.
The integral over T becomes (T T) if the heat capacity can be regarded as
constant over the relevant temperature range.
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Fouriers Law of Heat Conduction

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The Equation of Change for Non-Isothermal Systems
The equation of change for energy is obtained by applying the law of
conservation of energy to a small element of volume Dx Dy Dz (see Fig. 3.1-
1) and then allowing the dimensions of the volume element to become
vanishingly small.
The law of conservation of energy is an extension of the first law of
classical thermodynamics, which concerns the difference in internal
energies of two equilibrium states of a closed system because of the heat
added to the system and the work done on the system (that is, the familiar
DU= (Q + W).

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 Here we are interested in a stationary volume element, fixed in space,
through which a fluid is flowing.
Both kinetic energy and internal energy may be entering and leaving
the system by convective transport.
Heat may enter and leave the system by heat conduction as well. As
we saw in Chapter 9, heat conduction is fundamentally a molecular
process. Work may be done on the moving fluid by the stresses, and
this, too, is a molecular process. This term includes the work done by
pressure forces and by viscous forces. In addition, work may be done
on the system by virtue of the external forces, such as gravity.

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We can summarize the preceding paragraph by writing the
conservation energy in words as follows:

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When this result is inserted in equation 11.1-7 we get:

Sometimes it is convenient to have the energy equation in this form. 31

Equation of Change for temperature

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Example 11.4-1 Steady-State Forced- Convection Heat
Transfer in Laminar Flow in a Circular Tube
In this section we consider forced convection in a circular tube, a
limiting case of which is simple enough to be solved analytically. A
viscous fluid with physical properties ( m , k , r , Cp ) assumed constant
is in laminar flow in a circular tube of radius R.
For z < 0 the fluid temperature is uniform at the inlet temperature 1.
For z > 0 there is a constant radial heat flux qr = -q0 at the wall. Such a
situation exists, for example, when a pipe is wrapped uniformly with an
electrical heating coil, in which case q0 is positive. If the pipe is being
chilled, then q0 has to be taken as negative.

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 Example 11.4-1 Steady-State Forced- Convection Heat
Transfer in Laminar Flow in a Circular Tube
Show how to set up the equations for the problem considered in 10.8
namely, that of finding the fluid temperature profiles for the fully
developed laminar flow in a tube.

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 The first step in solving a forced convection heat transfer problem is
the calculation of the velocity profiles in the system.
We know from the previous examples on momentum transport that
the velocity distribution so obtained is

This parabolic distribution is valid sufficiently far downstream from

the inlet that the entrance length has been exceeded.
In this problem, heat is being transported in both the r and the z
directions. Therefore, if a shell balance is performed to solve the
problem then for the energy balance we use a "washer-shaped"
system, which is formed by the intersection of an annular region of
thickness Dr with a slab of thickness Dz.
Here we will not use the shell balance method but the equations of
changed which were reduced to the equations shown earlier. 42
 Next, we make two assumptions:
(i) in the z direction, heat conduction is much smaller than heat
convection, so that the term can be neglected, and
(ii) The flow is not sufficiently fast that viscous heating is significant, and
hence the term can be omitted. When these assumptions are
made, Eq. 11.4-3 becomes the same as Eq. 10.8-12.
From that point on, the asymptotic solution, valid for large z only,
proceeds.

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 The choice of dimentionless radius, (xi) = r/R is a natural one,
because of the appearance of r/R in the differential equation.
The choice for the dimensionless temperature, (theta), is suggested
by the second and third boundary conditions.
Having specified these two dimensionless variables, the choice of
dimensionless axial coordinate, (zeta) , follows naturally.

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 It is, however, instructive to obtain the asymptotic solution to Eq.
10.8-19 for large .
After the fluid is sufficiently far downstream from the beginning
of the heated section, one expects that the constant heat flux
through the wall will result in a rise of the fluid temperature that
is linear in .
One further expects that the shape of the temperature profiles
as a function of will ultimately not undergo further change
with increasing (see Fig. 10.8-3).
Hence a solution of the following form seems reasonable for
large :

in which C0 is a constant to be determined presently. 47

 The function in Eq. 10.8-23 is clearly not the complete solution to the
problem; it does allow the partial differential equation and boundary
conditions 1 and 2 to be satisfied, but clearly does not satisfy boundary
condition 3.
Hence we replace the latter by an integral condition (see Fig. 10.8-4),

10.8-25

10.8-26

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 This condition states that the energy entering through the walls
over a distance is the same as the difference between the
energy leaving through the cross section at and that entering at
= 0.
Substitution of the postulated function of Eq. 10.8-23 into Eq.
10.8-19 leads to the following ordinary differential equation for
(see Eq. C.1-11):

1
= 0 1 2 + 1 ln + 2

0 0

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1
= 0 1 2 + 1 ln + 2

0 0

1
1
1 2 4
0 1 2 = 0
3 = 0

0 0 0 0

0 2 4

3 2 4
= 0 = 0
0 2 4 4 16

2 4
= 0 + 1 ln + 2
4 12

Now substitute this in equation 10.8-23

10.8-23

, = + + +

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 B.C. 4

, = + + +

= + + + so C1 must be 0 since ln 0= is finite

= + = = =

1 1
2 2
3 5 5 7
= + + 1 = 4 1 + + 2 3 =
0 0 1 4 1 4
3 4 6 6 8
2 4
4 4 + + + 2 2 = 4 + + + =
3 4 24 6 32 2 4
=
7 5 4 3
3 2
4 + 2 + 4 + 2 =
8 3 5 4 4 3 2

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EXAMPLE 11.4-2 Tangential Flow in an Annulus with
Viscous Heat Generation

Determine the temperature distribution in an incompressible liquid

confined between two coaxial cylinders, the outer one of which is
rotating at a steady angular velocity 0 (see 10.4 and Example 3.6-3).
Use the nomenclature of Example 3.6-3, and consider the radius ratio
to be fairly small so that the curvature of the fluid streamlines must be
taken into account.
The temperatures of the inner and outer surfaces of the annular region
are maintained at TK and T1 respectively, with 1 .
Assume steady laminar flow, and neglect the temperature dependence
of the physical properties.

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 This is an example of a forced convection problem: The equations
of continuity and motion are solved to get the velocity
distribution, and then the energy equation is solved to get the
temperature distribution.
This problem is of interest in connection with heat effects in
coaxial cylinder viscometers and in lubrication systems.
The surfaces of the inner and outer cylinders are maintained at T
= Tk and T = T1 , respectively. We can expect that T will be a
function of r alone.
If the slit width b is small with respect to the radius R of the outer
cylinder, then the problem can be solved approximately by using
the somewhat simplified system depicted in Fig. 10.4-2.
That is, we ignore curvature effects and solve the problem in
Cartesian coordinates. The velocity distribution is then vz =
vb(x/b) , where vb = R. 55
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 As the outer cylinder rotates, each cylindrical shell of fluid "rubs"
against an adjacent shell of fluid.
This friction between adjacent layers of the fluid produces heat;
that is, the mechanical energy is degraded into thermal energy.
The volume heat source resulting from this "viscous dissipation,"
which can be designated by , appears automatically in the shell
balance when we use the combined energy flux vector e defined
at the end of Chapter 9, as we shall see presently.

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Equation 11.4-5 now becomes:

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When N = 0, we obtain the temperature distribution for a motionless
cylindrical shell of thickness R(l - ) with inner and outer temperatures TK
and 7V If N is large enough, there will be a maximum in the temperature
distribution, located at

with the temperature at this point greater than either Tk or T1

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 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS OF THE EQUATIONS OF CHANGE FOR
NONISOTHERMAL SYSTEMS

We can write the equations of change and boundary conditions in

dimensionless form. In this way we find some dimensionless
parameters that can be used to characterize nonisothermal flow
systems.

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The dimensionless groups appearing in Eqs. 11.5-8 and 9, along with
some combinations of these groups, are summarized in Table 11.5-2.
Further dimensionless groups may arise in the boundary conditions or in
the equation of state. The Froude and Weber numbers have already been
introduced in 3.7, and the Mach number in Ex. 11.4-7. 63
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Temperature Distributions with More Than One Independent
Variable
1. UNSTEADY HEAT CONDUCTION IN SOLIDS

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EXAMPLE 12.1-1 Heating a Semi-Infinite Slab

A solid material occupying the space from = 0 to = is initially at

temperature T0 . At time t = 0, the surface at = 0 is suddenly raised to
temperature T1 and maintained at that temperature for t > 0. Find the
time-dependent temperature profiles T(y, t).

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EXAMPLE 12.1-2 Heating a finite slab
A solid slab occupying the space between = b and = +b is initially at
temperature T0 . At time t = 0 the surfaces at = are suddenly raised to
T1 and maintained there. Find T(y , t).

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We can solve this problem by the method of separation of
variables. We start by postulating that a solution of the following
product form can be obtained:

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EXAMPLE 12.2-1 Laminar Tube Flow with
Constant Heat Flux at the Wall

Solve Eq. 10.8-19 with the boundary

conditions given in Eqs. 10.8-20,21, and 22. Solution for asymptotic part
(large distance or ):

1
1 2 =

1 1 1
=
1 2
=-c2 77
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(See example 4.1-2 for eigenvalues and eigenfunctions))
BOUNDARY LAYER THEORY FOR NONISOTHERMAL FLOW

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 Equation 12.4-1 is the same as Eq. 4.4-1. Equation 12.4-2 differs from Eq. 4.4-2
because of the inclusion of the buoyant force term (see 11.3), which can be
significant even when fractional changes in density are small. Equation 12.4-3 is
obtained from Eq. 11.2-9 by neglecting the heat conduction in the x direction. More
complete forms of the boundary layer equations may be found elsewhere.
The usual boundary conditions for Eqs. 12.4-1 and 2 are that vx = vy = 0 at the solid
surface, and that the velocity merges into the potential flow at the outer edge of the
velocity boundary layer, so that vx ve(x). For Eq. 12.4-3 the temperature T is
specified to be T0 at the solid surface and at the outer edge of the thermal
boundary layer. That is, the velocity and temperature are different from ve{x) and
only in thin layers near the solid surface.
However, the velocity and temperature boundary layers will be of different thicknesses
corresponding to the relative ease of the diffusion of momentum and heat.
Since Pr = v/a, for Pr > 1 the temperature boundary layer usually lies inside the
velocity boundary layer, whereas for Pr < 1 the relative thicknesses are just reversed
(keep in mind that for gases Pr is about f, whereas for ordinary liquids Pr > 1 and for
liquid metals Pr < < 1). 80
In 4.4 we showed that the boundary layer equation of motion could be integrated
formally from = 0 to = , if use is made of the equation of continuity. In a similar
fashion the integration of Eqs. 12.4-1 to 3 can be performed to give

Equations 12.4-4 and 5 are the von Karman momentum and energy balances, valid for
forced-convection and free-convection systems. The no-slip condition vy = 0 at = 0 has
been used here, as in Eq. 4.4-4; nonzero velocities at = 0 occur in mass transfer
systems and will be considered in Chapter 20.
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 As mentioned in 4.4, there are two approaches for solving boundary
layer problems: analytical or numerical solutions of Equations 12.4-1 to 3
are called "exact boundary layer solutions," whereas solutions obtained
from Eqs. 12.4-4 and 5, with reasonable guesses for the velocity and
temperature profiles, are called "approximate boundary layer solutions."
Often considerable physical insight can be obtained by the second
method, and with relatively little effort. Example 12.4-1 illustrates this
method.
Extensive use has been made of the boundary layer equations to establish
correlations of momentum- and heat-transfer rates, as we shall see in
Chapter 14. Although in this section we do not treat free convection, in
Chapter 14 many useful results are given along with the appropriate
literature citations.
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EXAMPLE 12.4-1 Heat Transfer in Laminar Forced Convection along a Heated Flat Plate (von Karman Integral Method)

Obtain the temperature profiles near a flat plate, along which a Newtonian fluid is flowing, as shown in Fig. 12.4-1. The
wetted surface of the plate is maintained at temperature To and the temperature of the approaching fluid is T .

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EMPIRICAL EXPRESSIONS FOR THE TURBULENT HEAT FLUX
Eddy Thermal Conductivity

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Reynolds Analogy for turbulent flow (t)

()
() = 1 = ()


=


=

In other words Reynolds Analogy assumes that:

() = ()

Experimental values of () vary from 0.5 to 1 90

The Mixing-Length Expression of Prandtl and Taylor

91
DEFINITIONS OF HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENTS

It is customary to define a proportionality factor h (the heat transfer coefficient) by

in which Q is the heat flow into the fluid (J/hr or Btu/hr), is a characteristic area, and AT is a
characteristic temperature difference.
As an example of flow in conduits, we consider a fluid flowing through a circular tube of diameter D
(see Fig. 14.1-1), in which there is a heated wall section of length L and varying inside surface
temperature T0{z), going from T01 to T02. Suppose that the bulk temperature Tb of the fluid (for fluids
with constant r and Cp) increases from TM to Tb2 in the heated section. Then there are three
conventional definitions of heat transfer coefficients for the fluid in the heated section:

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