Heat Transfer

In the majority of chemical processes heat is either given out or absorbed, and in a very wide
range of chemical plant, fluids must often be either heated or cooled. Thus in furnaces,
evaporators, distillation units, driers, and reaction vessels one of the major problems is that of
transferring heat at the desired rate. Alternatively, it may be necessary to prevent the loss of heat
from a hot vessel or steam pipe. The control of the flow of heat in the desired manner forms one
of the most important sections of chemical engineering. Provided that a temperature difference
exists between two parts of a system, heat transfer will take place in one or more of three different
ways.

Conduction: In a solid, the flow of heat by conduction is the result of the transfer of vibration
energy from one molecule to another, and in fluids it occurs in addition as a result of the transfer
of kinetic energy. Heat transfer by conduction may also arise from the movement of free electrons.
This process is particularly important with metals and accounts for their high thermal
conductivities.

Convection: Heat transfer by convection is attributable to macroscopic motion of the fluid and
therefore is confined to liquids and gases. In natural convection it is caused by differences in
density arising from temperature gradients in the system. In forced convection, it is due to eddy
currents in a fluid in turbulent motion.

Radiation: All materials radiate thermal energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. When this
radiation falls on a second body it may be partially reflected, transmitted, or absorbed. It is only
the fraction that is absorbed that appears as heat in the body.

In many of the applications of heat transfer in chemical engineering, each of the mechanisms of
conduction, convection, and radiation is involved.

HEAT TRANSFER BY CONDUCTION

The rate of heat flow Q over the area A along a small distance dx may be written as:
dT
Q = −kA (1)
dx
The negative sign indicating that the temperature gradient is in the opposite direction to the flow
of heat. k is the thermal conductivity of the material of the wall. When the rate of heat transfer is
unaffected by time and· remains constant, the flow of heat is said to be in steady state. At steady
state, Eq. (1) may be integrated to get
Q = kA 1
(T − T2 )
(2)
x

Thermal conductivity
The proportionality constant k in the Fourier equation is a property of the material through which
heat is propagated. The magnitude of k for a given substance very much depends on its
microscopic structure and also tends to vary some what with temperature.

It has been seen that metals have very high thermal conductivities; non-metallic solids lower
values, non-metallic liquids low values, and gases very low values.

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TABLE 1. Thermal conductivities
Temp k Temp K
(K) (W/mK) (K) (W/mK)
Solids-Metals Solids-Non -metals
Aluminium 573 230 Asbestos sheet 323 0·17
Cadmium 291 94 Asbestos 273 0·16
Copper 373 377 Asbestos 373 0·19
Iron (wrought) 291 61 Bricks (alumina) 703 3·1
Iron (cast) 326 48 Bricks (building) 293 0·69
Lead 373 33 Magnesite 473 3·8
Nickel 373 57 Cotton wool 303 0·050
Silver 373 412 Glass 303 1·09
Steel 1% C 291 45 Mica 323 0·43
Tantalum 291 55 Rubber (hard) 273 0·15
Admiralty metal 303 113 Sawdust 293 0·052
Bronze - 189 Cork 303 0·043
Stainless Steel 293 16 Glass wool - 0·041

Mean Area of Heat Transfer, Am

The cross-sectional area of heat transfer may vary along the length of the conduction path.
Therefore, it is necessary to find the mean area for heat transfer rate calculations. The
determination of Am depends on the shape of the solid. Consider A1 and A2 as the limiting areas.

(a) For a solid of constant cross-section

e.g. a large flat plate, and a cylindrical wall where A2/A1 < 2
Am = (Al + A2)/2

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Mean Temperature Difference
If heat is being transferred from one wall to a second wall through the solid material of a vessel
and if the temperature is the same throughout, there is no difficulty in specifying the overall
temperature difference ∆T.
However, in shell & tube type heat exchangers, each fluid is flowing through a pipe in
parallel, and the temperature changes as it flows, and consequently the temperature difference is
continuously changing. In such situations, the average temperature difference can be estimated as
follows:

 2 − 1
m = `where  m is known as the logarithmic mean temperature difference
2
ln
1

Example 1 A pipeline, 150/160 mm in diameter, carries steam. The temperature of the inside
surface is 120 0C and that of the outside surface is 119.8 0C. The thermal conductivity of the tube
material is 50 W/m.K. Find the rate of heat loss from a length of 1 m of the pipeline.
.
Example 2 Estimate the rate of heat loss through the wall of a spherical boiling PAN with an
inner diameter of 1.0 m and total boiler wall and insulation thickness of 100 mm. The temperature
of the inner surface is 140°C and that of the outer surface is 50°C. The equivalent thermal
conductivity of the material of the spherical wall is 0.12 W/m.K.

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Conduction through resistances of a Composite Plane Wall
Many chemical engineering operations involve steady state heat flow through several layers of a
plane wall. For example, a furnace wall may consist of several layers of material for strength,
insulation, outer appearance, etc.

∆T

∆T1 ∆T2 ∆T3

Figure. Conduction through

resistances in series

Heat transfer rate through resistances of a composite wall

Figure above shows the temperature distribution for the steady state conduction of heat through a
composite plane wall. In this case it is convenient to add the resistances of all the layers in series
and then to find out the heat transfer through the entire resistance offered by the composite wall.
For any plane wall

 x x x 
q  1 + 2 + 3  = T0 − T3
 k1 A1 k 2 A2 k 3 A3 
q=
1
(T0 − T3 ) (Recall I =
1
V)
 x1
+
x2
+
x3  R
 
 k1 A1 k 2 A2 k 3 A3 
1 x1 x2 x3
q= T where R = R + R2 + R3 , R1 = , R2 = , R3 =
R
1
k1 A1 k 2 A2 k 3 A3

Example 3 The walls of a drying chamber are built up of a layer of red brick (k = 0.7 W/m
K) of thickness 250 mm and a layer of felt (k = 0.046 W/m K) of thickness 20 mm. The
temperature of the outside surface of the red brick layer is 1l0°C, and that of the felt layer is 25°C.
Calculate the heat loss from 1 m2 of the wall.

Example 4 A steam pipeline. 150/160 mm in diameter, is covered with a layer of insulating

material of thickness 50 mm. The thermal conductivity of the pipe is 50 W/m.K and that of
the insulating material is 0.08 W/m K. The temperature inside the pipeline is 120°C, and
that of the outside surface of the insulation is 40°C. Calculate the rate of heat loss per 1 m

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length of the pipeline.

Conduction through Resistances in Parallel Walls

Example 5 A composite insulating walls has a layer of red brick and another of insulating brick,
held together by an aluminum rivet of 30 mm diameter per 0.1 m2 of the surface. The red brick
layer is 100 mm thick, with the hot surface at 225°C, and the insulating brick layer is 250 mm
thick, with the cold surface at 37°C. The thermal conductivities of the materials are: kal = 203.6,
krb = 0.93 and kib = 0.116 W/m K. Estimate the percentage increase in heat transfer rate due to the
rivets.