Heat and Mass Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

UNITIV
Thermal radiation is the process by which the surface of an object radiates its
thermal energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. An example of thermal
radiation is the infrared radiation emitted by a common household radiator or
electric heater. A person near a raging bonfire will feel the radiated heat of the fire,
even if the surrounding air is very cold. Thermal radiation is generated when heat
from the movement of charged particles within atoms is converted to
electromagnetic radiation. Solar radiation heats the earth during the day, while at
night the earth re-radiates some heat back into space.

Figure 1: Hot metalwork from a blacksmith & a lady near a fire.

The yellow-orange glow is the visible part of the thermal radiation emitted due to
the high temperature. Everything else in the picture is glowing with thermal
radiation as well, but less brightly and at longer wavelengths that the human eye
cannot see. A far-infrared camera will show this radiation.

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of

electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the
characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that
particular object. The long wavelength limit is the size of the universe itself, while
it is thought that the short wavelength limit is in the vicinity of the Planck length,
although in principle the spectrum is infinite and continuous.

4.2

Figure 2: Electromagnetic-Spectrum

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Stefan-Boltzman Law
The Sefan-Boltzman law relates the total amount of radiation emitted by an
object to its temperature:
E=T4
where:
E = total amount of radiation emitted by an object per square meter (Watts m-2)
is a constant called the Stefan-Boltzman constant = 5.67 x 10-8 Watts m-2 K-4
T is the temperature of the object in K
Consider the earth and sun:
Sun: T = 6000 K
so E = 5.67 x 10-8 Watts m-2 K-4 (6000 K)4 = 7.3 x 107 Watts m-2
Planck's law is written as

4.3

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Weins Law

Most objects emit radiation at many wavelengths

However, there is one wavelength max where an object emits the largest
amount of radiation

T max = 2897 mm (T is the temperature of the object in K)

4.4

Figure3: Weins Law

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Figure4: Radiation curves for the Sun and Earth

4.5

Figure5: Radiation curve for the Sun - a closer look

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Radiative Equilibrium

If the temperature of an object is constant with time, the object is in

radiative equilibrium at its radiative equilibrium temperature (Te)

Figure6: Radiative Equilibrium

Radiative Equilibrium for the Earth

Energy gained through absorption of short wave radiation is equal to the

emitted long wave radiation

4.6

Figure7
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Emissivity
The radiation from real sources is always less than that from a blackbody.
Emissivity () is a measure of how a real source compares with a blackbody. It is
defined as the ratio of the radiant power emitted per area to the radiant power
emitted by a blackbody per area.
Kirchoff's Law
Kirchoffs Law states that the emissivity of a surface is equal to its absorptance,
where the absorptance () of a surface is the ratio of the radiant power absorbed to
the radiant power incident on the surface.
Emissivity = absorptivity at each wavelength for all materials.
(l)=(l)
Therefore, a good absorber is also a good emitter of radiation.
So snow also absorbs very little visible light, but a lot of infrared light
That is why we can see coming down on a dimly lighted ski-slope

Black body is an idealized object that absorbs all electromagnetic radiation that
falls on it. No electromagnetic radiation passes through it and none is reflected.
Because no light (visible electromagnetic radiation) is reflected or transmitted, the
object appears black when it is cold. However, a black body emits a temperaturedependent spectrum of light. This thermal radiation from a black body is termed
black-body radiation.
E=T4

4.7

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Gray Body Radiation Heat Transfer

Bodies that emit less thermal radiation than a blackbody have surface emissivities
less than 1. If the surface emissivity is independent of wavelength, then the body is
called a "gray" body, in that no particular wavelength (or color) is favored.
The net heat transfer from a small gray body at absolute temperature T with surface
emissivity to a much larger enclosing gray (or black) body at absolute
temperature Te is given by,

Radiation View Factors

The above equations for blackbodies and graybodies assumed that the small body
could see only the large enclosing body and nothing else. Hence, all radiation
leaving the small body would reach the large body. For the case where two objects
can see more than just each other, then one must introduce a view factor F and the
heat transfer calculations become significantly more involved.
The view factor F12 is used to parameterize the fraction of thermal power leaving
object 1 and reaching object 2. Specifically, this quantity is equal to,

Likewise, the fraction of thermal power leaving object 2 and reaching object 1 is
given by,
4.8

The case of two blackbodies in thermal equilibrium can be used to derive the
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Heat and Mass Transfer

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following reciprocity relationship for view factors,

Thus, once one knows F12, F21 can be calculated immediately.

Radiation view factors can be analytically derived for simple geometries and are
tabulated in several references on heat transfer (e.g. Holman, 1986). They range
from zero (e.g. two small bodies spaced very far apart) to 1 (e.g. one body is
enclosed by the other).

Radiation Heat Transfer Between Black Surfaces of Arbitrary Geometry

In general, for any two objects in space, a given object 1 radiates to object 2, and to
other places as well, as shown in Figure a.

Figure a: Radiation between two bodies

4.9

Figure b: Radiation between two arbitrary surfaces

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We want a general expression for energy interchange between two surfaces at

different temperatures. This is given by the radiation shape factor or view factor,
. For the situation in Figure b,
=

fraction of energy leaving 1 which reaches 2

fraction of energy leaving 2 which reaches 1

are functions of geometry only

For body 1, we know that

. The energy leaving body 1 and arriving (and being

leaving body 1 is

. The energy leaving body 2 and being absorbed

absorbed) at body 2 is
at body 1 is

is the emissive power of a black body, so the energy

. The net energy interchange from body 1 to body 2 is

(i)

Suppose both surfaces are at the same temperature so there is no net heat exchange.
If so,

4.10

but also

. Thus

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Equation (i) is the shape factor reciprocity relation. The net heat exchange between
the two surfaces is

Example: Concentric cylinders or concentric spheres

Figure c: Radiation heat transfer for concentric cylinders or spheres

The net heat transfer from surface 1 to surface 2 of Figure c is

We know that

, i.e., that all of the energy emitted by 1 gets to 2. Thus

This can be used to find the net heat transfer from 2 to 1.

View factors for other configurations can be found analytically or numerically.

Shape factors are given in textbooks and reports (they are tabulated somewhat like
Laplace transforms), and examples of the analytical forms and numerical values of
shape factors for some basic engineering configurations are given in Figures d
through g, taken from the book by Incropera and DeWitt.

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Figure d: Total emittances for different surfaces [from: A Heat Transfer Textbook, J. Lienhard]

4.12

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Figure e: View Factors for Three-Dimensional Geometries [from: Fundamentals of Heat

Transfer, F.P. Incropera and D.P. DeWitt, John Wiley and Sons]

4.13

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Figure f: View factor for aligned parallel rectangles [from: Fundamentals of Heat
Transfer, F.P. Incropera and D.P. DeWitt, John Wiley and Sons]

Figure g: View factor for coaxial parallel disks [from: Fundamentals of Heat
Transfer, F.P. Incropera and D.P. DeWitt, John Wiley and Sons]

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4.14

Heat and Mass Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

Principles of radiation protection

Radiation protection can be divided into occupational radiation protection, which
is the protection of workers; medical radiation protection, which is the protection
of patients; and public radiation protection, which is protection of individual
members of the public, and of the population as a whole. The types of exposure, as
well as government regulations and legal exposure limits are different for each of
these groups, so they must be considered separately.
There are three factors that control the amount, or dose, of radiation received from
a source. Radiation exposure can be managed by a combination of these factors:
1. Time: Reducing the time of an exposure reduces the effective dose
proportionally. An example of reducing radiation doses by reducing the time
of exposures might be improving operator training to reduce the time they
take to handle a source.
2. Distance: Increasing distance reduces dose due to the inverse square law.
Distance can be as simple as handling a source with forceps rather than
fingers.
3. Shielding: Adding shielding can also reduce radiation doses. The radiation
getting through falls exponentially with the thickness of the shield. In x-ray
facilities, the plaster on the rooms with the x-ray generator contains barium
sulfate and the operators stay behind a leaded glass screen and wear lead
aprons. Almost any material can act as a shield from gamma or x-rays if
used in sufficient amounts.
Practical radiation protection tends to be a job of juggling the three factors to
identify the most cost effective solution.
Shielding design
Shielding reduces the intensity of radiation exponentially depending on the
thickness.
This means when added thicknesses are used, the shielding multiplies. For
example, a practical shield in a fallout shelter is ten halving-thicknesses of packed
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Heat and Mass Transfer

Mechanical Engineering

dirt, which is 90 cm (3 ft) of dirt. This reduces gamma rays by a factor of 1/1,024,
which is 1/2 multiplied by itself ten times. Halving thicknesses of some materials,
that reduce gamma ray intensity by 50% (1/2.

Material

Halving
inches
0.4
2.4
0.99
3.6
7.2

lead
concrete
steel
packed soil
water
lumber or other
11
wood
depleted uranium 0.08
air
6000

Thickness, Halving Thickness, Density,

cm
g/cm
1.0
11.3
6.1
3.33
2.5
7.86
9.1
1.99
18
1.00

Halving
g/cm
12
20
20
18
18

29

0.56

16

0.2
15000

19.1
0.0012

3.9
18

Weight,

Column Halving Weight in the chart above indicates mass of material, required to
cut radiation by 50%, in grams per square centimetre of protected area.
The effectiveness of a shielding material in general increases with its density.
Gas Radiation
Radiation in absorbing-emitting media
When a medium is transparent to radiation, radiation propagating through such a
media remains unchanged
However gases such as CO, NO, CO2, SO2, H2O and various hydrocarbons
absorb and emit radiation over certain wavelength regions called absorption bands
We will discuss a very simple analysis of radiation exchange in an absorbing and
4.16

emitting medium, exchange between a body of hot gas and its black enclosure.

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Heat and Mass Transfer

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Beers Law
If Io is the intensity of radiation at the source and I is the observed intensity after
a given path, then optical depth is defined by the following equation:

Figure8

Characterization of Participating Media

Figure9: Radiation heat transfer in gas turbine combustors

References:
1://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/classes/met130/notes/
chapter2/ebal2.html.
2://www.efunda.com/formulae/heat_transf
er/radiation/blackbody.cfm
3://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_body
4: web.iitd.ac.in/~prabal/gas-radiation.pdf
5: Heat and Mass Transfer - A Practical
Approach
by
Yugnus-A-Cengel.

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4.17