1

CHAPTER 2

HEAT CONDUCTION EQUATION

2
➢ INTRODUCTION
• The rate of heat conduction in a specified direction is proportional to the
temperature gradient, which is the rate of change in temperature with distance in
that direction.

• Heat is conducted in the direction of decreasing temperature, and thus the temperature
gradient is negative when heat is conducted in the positive x-direction.
• Heat transfer has direction as well as magnitude, and thus it is a vector quantity.

3
 • The location of a point is specified as (x, y, z) in rectangular coordinates, as (r, ∅,z) in
cylindrical coordinates, and as (r, ∅, 𝜃) in spherical coordinates, where the distances x,
y, z, and r and the angles ∅ and 𝜃 are as shown in Fig

• The notation T(x, y, z, t) implies that the temperature varies with the space variables x, y,
and z as well as time.
• The notation T(x), on the other hand, indicates that the temperature varies in the x-direction
4
only and there is no variation with the other two space coordinates or time.
• Heat transfer problems are often classified as being steady(also called steady state)
or transient(also called unsteady). The term steady implies no change with time at
any point within the medium, while transient implies variation with time or time
dependence.
• Therefore, the temperature or heat flux remains unchanged with time during steady
heat transfer through a medium at any location, although both quantities may vary
from one location to another

5
 • To obtain a general relation for Fourier’s law of heat conduction, consider a medium
in which the temperature distribution is three-dimensional.
• The heat transfer vector at a point P on this surface
must be perpendicular to the surface, and it must
point in the direction of decreasing temperature. If
n is the normal of the isothermal surface at point P,
the rate of heat conduction at that point can be
expressed by Fourier’s law as

• In rectangular coordinates, the heat conduction vector

can be expressed in terms of its components as

The heat transfer vector is always normal to an

isothermal surface and can be resolved into its
components like any other vector 6
➢ Heat Generation
• A medium through which heat is conducted may involve the conversion of mechanical,
electrical, nuclear, or chemical energy into heat (or thermal energy). In heat conduction
analysis, such conversion processes are characterized as heat(or thermal energy)
generation.
• Heat generation is a volumetric phenomenon. That is, it occurs throughout the body of a
medium. Therefore, the rate of heat generation in a medium is usually specified per unit
volume and is denoted by 𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛
ሶ , whose unit is W/𝑚3 .
• The rate of heat generation in a medium may vary with time as well as position within the
medium. When the variation of heat generation with position is known, the total rate of
heat generation in a medium of volume V can be determined from

• In the special case of uniform heat generation, as in the case of electric resistance
heating throughout a homogeneous material, the relation in Eq. reduces to
Where 𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑛
ሶ is the constant rate of heat generation per unit volume.
7
 ➢One-dimensional Heat Conduction Equation in a Large Plane Wall
• Consider a thin element of thickness∆𝑋in a large plane wall, as shown in Fig.
• Assume the density of the wall is 𝜌, the specific heat is c, and the area of the wall normal to
the direction of heat transfer is A. An energy balance on this thin element during a small time
interval ∆ t can be expressed as

(1)

(2)

(3)

Substituting into Eq (1), we get 8

Dividing by A ∆𝑋 gives
(1)

Taking the limit as ∆𝑋 0 and ∆t 0 yields

since, from the definition of the derivative and Fourier’s law of heat conduction,

Noting that the area Ais constant for a plane wall, the one-dimensional transient heat conduction equation in a plane wall
becomes

9
The thermal conductivity k of a material, in general, depends on the temperature T(and
therefore x), and thus it cannot be taken out of the derivative. However, the thermal
conductivity in most practical applications can be assumed to remain constant at some average
value. The equation above in that case reduces to

𝑘
where the property a 𝛼= is the thermal diffusivity of the material and represents how fast
𝜌𝐶
heat propagates through a material. It reduces to the following forms under specified
conditions

10
➢ GENERAL HEAT CONDUCTION EQUATION (Rectangular Coordinates)
An energy balance on this element during a small time interval ∆ t
can be expressed as

Fourier-Biot equation

11
12
 ➢ BOUNDARY AND INITIAL CONDITIONS
▪ The mathematical expressions of the thermal conditions at the boundaries are called the
boundary conditions.
• From a mathematical point of view, solving a differential equation is essentially a process of
removing derivatives, or an integration process, and thus the solution of a differential
equation typically involves arbitrary constants.
• Boundary conditions most commonly encountered in practice are the specified temperature,
specified heat flux, convection, and radiation boundary conditions

13
 ➢ Specified Temperature Boundary Condition
• For one-dimensional heat transfer through a plane wall of
thickness L, for example, the specified temperature
boundary conditions can be expressed as

• where T1 and T2 are the specified temperatures at surfaces at x =0 and x= L,

respectively. The specified temperatures can be constant, which is the case for steady
heat conduction, or may vary with time.

14
 ➢ Specified Heat Flux Boundary Condition
• The heat flux in the positive x-direction anywhere in the medium, including the
boundaries, can be expressed by Fourier’s law of heat conduction as

For a plate of thickness L subjected to heat flux of 50

W/m2 into the medium from both sides, for example, the
specified heat flux boundary conditions can be expressed
as

Note that the heat flux at the surface at x = L is in the negative x-direction, and thus it is -50
W/m2 . The direction of heat flux arrows at x =L in Fig. in this case would be reversed.
15
➢ Special Case: Insulated Boundary
• A well-insulated surface can be modeled as a surface
with a specified heat flux of zero. Then the boundary
condition on a perfectly insulated surface (at x =0, for
example) can be expressed as

• That is, on an insulated surface, the first derivative of temperature with respect to the
space variable (the temperature gradient) in the direction normal to the insulated
surface is zero. This also means that the temperature function must be perpendicular to
an insulated surface since the slope of temperature at the surface must be zero.

16
 ➢ Another Special Case: Thermal Symmetry
• Some heat transfer problems possess thermal symmetry as a
result of the symmetry in imposed thermal conditions.
• For example, the two surfaces of a large hot plate of thickness
L suspended vertically in air is subjected to the same thermal
conditions, and thus the temperature distribution in one half of
the plate is the same as that in the other half. That is, the heat
transfer problem in this plate possesses thermal symmetry about
the center plane at x = L/2.
• The direction of heat flow at any point in the plate is toward the surface closer to the point,
and there is no heat flow across the center plane. Therefore, the center plane can be viewed
as an insulated surface, and the thermal condition at this plane of symmetry can be expressed
as

which resembles the insulation or zero heat flux boundary condition. This result can also be
deduced from a plot of temperature distribution with a maximum, and thus zero slope, at the
center plane. 17
EXAMPLE 2–1

18
19
➢ Convection Boundary Condition
The convection boundary condition is based on a surface energy balance expressed as

For one-dimensional heat transfer in the x-direction in a

plate of thickness L, the convection boundary conditions
on both surfaces can be expressed as

• The convection boundary condition simply states that heat continues to flow from a body
to the surrounding medium at the same rate.
20
 ➢ Radiation Boundary Condition
• In such cases, radiation becomes the only mechanism
of heat transfer between the surface under
consideration and the surroundings. Using an energy
balance, the radiation boundary condition on a surface
can be expressed as

For one-dimensional heat transfer in the x direction in a plate of thickness L, the radiation
boundary conditions on both surfaces can be expressed as

21
 ➢ Interface Boundary Conditions
• The boundary conditions at an interface are based on
the requirements that
(1) two bodies in contact must have the same temperature
at the area of contact and
(2) an interface (which is a surface) cannot store any
energy, and thus the heat flux on the two sides of an
interface must be the same.
• The boundary conditions at the interface of two bodies A
and B in perfect contact at x = x0 can be expressed as

22
➢ Generalized Boundary Conditions
In general, however, a surface may involve convection, radiation, and specified heat
flux simultaneously. The boundary condition in such cases is again obtained from a
surface energy balance, expressed as

23
EXAMPLE 2–2

24
25
➢SOLUTION OF STEADY ONE-DIMENSIONAL HEAT CONDUCTION PROBLEMS
Simple integration is all you need to solve the steady one-dimensional heat
conduction problems.
The solution procedure for solving heat conduction problems can be
summarized as
(1) formulate the problem by obtaining the applicable differential equation in
its simplest form and specifying the boundary conditions,
(2) obtain the general solution of the differential equation, and
(3) apply the boundary conditions and determine the arbitrary constants in the
general solution

26
EXAMPLE 2–3 Heat Conduction in a Plane Wall

27
28
29
30
EXAMPLE 2–4

31
32
33
34
 ➢Steady heat conduction though plane wall
• Consider steady heat conduction through the wall.
• If there is no heat generation, the energy balance for
the wall can be expressed as

• For steady operation, since there is no change in the

temperature of the wall with time at any point
• Therefore, the rate of heat transfer into the wall must be
equal to the rate of heat transfer out of it. In other words, the
rate of heat transfer through the wall must be constant ,
Qcond, wall=constant. 35
 Consider a plane wall of thickness L and average thermal conductivity k. The two surfaces of
the wall are maintained at constant temperatures of T1 and T2. For one-dimensional steady heat
conduction through the wall, we have T(x). Then Fourier’s law of heat conduction for the wall
can be expressed as

• Thus dT/dx =constant, which means that the temperature through the wall varies linearly with
x. That is, the temperature distribution in the wall under steady conditions is a straight line.
Separating the variables in the preceding equation and integrating from x =0, where T(0) = T1,
to x = L, where T(L) = T2, we get

Performing the integrations and rearranging gives

36
 ➢ Thermal Resistance Concept
• The previous equation for heat conduction through a plane wall can be rearranged as

where

is the thermal resistance of the wall against heat conduction or simply the conduction resistance
of the wall. Note that the thermal resistance of a medium depends on the geometry and the
thermal properties of the medium.

• This equation for heat transfer is analogous to the relation

for electric current flow I, expressed as

• The rate of heat transfer through a layer corresponds to the

electric current, the thermal resistance corresponds to electrical
resistance, and the temperature difference corresponds to
37
voltage difference across the layer
 Consider convection heat transfer from a solid surface of area As and temperature Ts to a
fluid whose temperature sufficiently far from the surface is T∞, with a convection heat
transfer coefficient h. Newton’s law of cooling for convection heat transfer rate

can be rearranged as

is the thermal resistance of the surface against heat convection,

or simply the convection resistance of the surface
• Note that 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. 38
• The rate of radiation heat transfer between a surface of emissivity 𝜀 and area As at temperature
Ts and the surrounding surfaces at some average temperature Tsur can be expressed as

where

is the thermal resistance of a surface against radiation, or the radiation resistance, and

is the radiation heat transfer coefficient. Note that both Ts and Tsur must be in K in the
evaluation of hrad. The definition of the radiation heat transfer coefficient enables us to express
radiation conveniently in an analogous manner to convection in terms of a temperature
difference. But hrad depends strongly on temperature while hconv usually does not.

39
• A surface exposed to the surrounding air involves
convection and radiation simultaneously, and the total
heat transfer at the surface is determined by adding (or
subtracting, if in the opposite direction) the radiation and
convection components

• When Tsurr≈T∞ the radiation effect can properly be

accounted for by replacing h in the convection
resistance relation

40
 ➢Thermal Resistance Network
Under steady conditions we have

which can be rearranged as

Adding the numerators and denominators yields

where
41
• The thermal resistances are in series, and the equivalent thermal resistance is determined by
simply adding the individual resistances, just like the electrical resistances connected in
series. Thus, the electrical analogy still applies.
• The rate of steady heat transfer between two surfaces is equal to the temperature difference
divided by the total thermal resistance between those two surfaces.

42
• The ratio of the temperature drop to the thermal resistance across any layer is constant, and
thus the temperature drop across any layer is proportional to the thermal resistance of the layer.
The larger the resistance, the larger the temperature drop. In fact, the equation
can be rearranged as

• which indicates that the temperature drop across any layer is equal to the rate of heat
transfer times the thermal resistance across that layer.
• It is sometimes convenient to express heat transfer
through a medium in an analogous manner to
Newton’s law of cooling as

where U is the overall heat transfer coefficient with

the unit W/m2·K. The overall heat transfer coefficient
is usually used in heat transfer calculations
associated with heat exchangers.
43
Therefore, for a unit area, the overall heat transfer coefficient is equal to the inverse of the total
thermal resistance.
➢Multilayer Plane Walls
The rate of steady heat transfer through
this two-layer composite wall can be
expressed as

where Rtotal is the total thermal resistance,

expressed as

44
• Note from the thermal resistance network that the resistances are in series, and thus the total
thermal resistance is simply the arithmetic sum of the individual thermal resistances in the
path of heat transfer.
• This result for the two-layer case is analogous to the single-layer case, except that an
additional resistance is added for the additional layer.

45
EXAMPLE 2-5

46
47
48
EXAMPLE 2-6
Consider a 0.8-m-high and 1.5-m-wide double-pane window consisting of two 4-mm-thick
layers of glass (k = 0.78 W/m·K) separated by a 10-mm-wide stagnant air space (k =0.026
W/m·K). Determine the steady rate of heat transfer through this double-pane window and the
temperature of its inner surface for a day during which the room is maintained at 20°C while the
temperature of the outdoors is 210°C. Take the convection heat transfer coefficients on the inner
and outer surfaces of the window to be h1 =10 W/m2·K and h2=40 W/m2·K, which includes the
effects of radiation.

49
50
51