MALAWI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS & APPLIED SCIENCES

MINING ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

PROGRAMME : BACHELOR OF METALLURGY & MINERAL PROCESSING ENGINEERING

SUBMITTED TO : Mr. W. MUSHANI
SUBMITTED BY : GROUP 5
Charity Phakati BMMP/16/SS/023
Innocent Mtenje BMMP/15/PE/021
David Muleme BMMP/16/SS/019

MODULE NAME : Process Design 501

MODULE CODE : Men-PRD-5-1
DUE DATE : 09.03.2022
HEAT TRANSFER AND HEAT EXCHANGERS

What is heat transfer?

Heat transfer is the process of the movement of thermal energy due to temperature difference.
High thermal energy atoms transfer energy to low energy ones by a single, composite or all of
the following mechanisms (Karthik, n.d.):

 Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation

HEAT TRANSFER MECHANISMS EXPLAINED

Conduction

Conduction is the heat transfer that occurs when adjacent molecule have direct contact and
transfer kinetic energy without bulk motion. In fluids conduction occurs by particle collision and
diffusion due to their random motion, whereas in solids transfer is due to lattice vibration and
kinetic energy in free electrons (Azadeh Shahidian, Mohadeseh Hashemi, 2017). A temperature
gradient within a substance causes energy to transfer from a high energy location to another with
lower energy until thermal equilibrium is reached.

Examples of conduction include the end of a metal rod placed in a fire heating up from one end
to the other, hot coffee heating through the mug or the cooling of ice cream in the bowl it is
placed in.

Figure 1: Conduction – heat moves from the hot end to the cold end of a metal pole.
Equation 1: Conduction Heat Transfer Rate

Q amount of heat transferred through the material in time t

∆T change in temperature

A cross section area of the material

k thermal conductivity (constant)

Convection

The transmission of heat caused by the bulk movement of fluids is known as convection. As a
result, convection only affects heat transport within a fluid or between a solid and a fluid, but not
within a solid. The mobility of molecules inside the fluid allows for this heat transmission.

Convection is a term that can relate to both mass and heat movement. When the term 'convection'
is used, it usually refers to heat transfer.

Convection is the sum of advection and diffusion:

Advection is the heat transported by the large-scale movement of currents in the fluid; and Heat
transfer

Diffusion is the random Brownian motion of individual particles in the fluid.

Examples of convection include the effect of hot air rising and falling (convection currents) or

the large-scale convection currents of the atmosphere and oceans.

Figure 2: Convection – Bulk movement of water as it heats up in a pot

Equation 2: Convection Heat Transfer Rate

Where

Q: dot is the rate of transfer of heat,

 hc: Convective heat transfer coefficient, 

A: Surface area over which the convection process is occurring,

ΔT: Temperature differential between the surface and the fluid.

The convective heat transfer coefficient hc is a function of the properties of the fluid,

Radiation

Thermal energy that is converted by the movement of the charges of electrons and protons in a
high temperature body, radiation is the transfer of energy via electromagnetic waves. When a
body radiates, energy is emitted from its whole depth, not simply the surface.

A temperature gradient is not required for radiation. A person standing some distance away from
the source of heat will nevertheless experience the effects of the heat; for example, a person
standing near a fire is warm by the fire, not by the air around them.
Examples include infra-red radiation such as, an incandescent light bulb emitting visible light,
the infrared radiation emitted by a common household radiator or electric heater, as well as the
sun heating the earth.

Figure 3: Shows heat transfer by radiation

Where

Q is the heat transfer per unit time,

 Th is the temperature of the hot object (in absolute units, oK), 

Tc is the temperature of the colder surroundings (also in absolute units, oK), 

σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant (whose value is 5.6703 x 10-8 W/m2K4).

The term represented by ε is the emissivity coefficient of the material.

HEAT TRANSFER IN METALLURGY

Heat transfers principles are most applicable in Pyro-Metallurgy

 The Blast Furnace: Heat is transferred mainly through Convection from the hot air blast
 Hot air currents rise to combust with coke
 Coke makes contact with ore and heats up through conduction
 Heat losses are made through wall linings by conduction
 Some heat is lost by radiation

 Reheating Furnace:
 o Heat from the flame radiates onto the billet to up to 1200°c ready for hot rolling
extrusion and other metal rolling processes
o Convectional air current also heat up the billet (Satyendra, 2013)

HEAT EXCHANGERS

Heat exchangers are devices that facilitate the exchange of heat between two fluids that are at
different temperatures while keeping them from mixing with each other.

Heat transfer in a heat exchanger involves convection in each fluid and conduction through the
wall separating the two fluids.

Types of heat exchanger

Due to different heat transfer requirements within the specific constraints there are a numerous
types of heat exchanger designs.

Double pipe or tube-in-tube heat exchanger is the simplest type.

It consist of two concentric pipes of different diameters.

One fluid flows through a smaller tube while the other fluid flows through the annular space
between the two pipes.
Two types of flow arrangement are possible in double pipe heat exchanger: in parallel flow, both
the hot and cold fluids enter the heat exchanger at the same end and flows in the same direction.
In counter flow, the hot and cold fluids enter the heat exchanger at opposite ends and flows in
opposite directions.

Figure 4: Double pipe heat exchanger

• Compact heat exchanger is specifically designed to realize a large heat transfer surface
area per unit volume. The ratio of the heat transfer surface to its volume is called the area
density β .
 •

• Shell and tube heat exchanger contain a large number of tubes packed in a shell.

Figure 5: A shell-and-tube heat exchanger

In double pipe heat exchanger

HEAT EXCHANGERS IN METALLURGICAL PROCESSES

Heat exchangers can be used in metallurgical equipment and processes such as

 The Blast Furnace

o Copper Staves
 These are piping systems embedded in the furnaces lining through which a
coolant i.e. water passes through to sap out the heat in the furnace wall
that subsequently prevent thermal destruction (P.K.Choudhary, 2020)
  The Reheating Furnace
o Air Recuperator
 Applied as a waste heat recovery unit to improve thermal efficiency and
energy conservation.
 Recovered waste heat is used to preheat the combustion air, which is then
fed to a burner.
 The preheated air results into energy conservation and good combustion
performance. However, the disadvantages included incorporating a large-
scale heat recovery system for waste heat. Furthermore,
 The temperature of the preheated air is on average around 650°c

 Quench tank water cooling: This device cools molded pieces while maintaining an ideal
temperature for desired mechanical properties (Quenching Tanks, n.d.)

Other Applications

 Temperature hold of surface treatment baths

 Cooling of particle-laden water before discharge

 Galvanization lines and process or energy circuits

 Phosphatizing bath cooling

 Water-jacket cooling

(Heat exchangers in iron- and steel-making and metallurgy, 2020)

Bibliography
Azadeh Shahidian, Mohadeseh Hashemi. (2017). Nano and Bio Heat Transfer and fluid. London: Elvevier
Inc.

Harding, G. (2021, september 4). Heat transfer introduction. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323144799_Heat_transfer_introduction

Heat exchangers in iron- and steel-making and metallurgy. (2020, 02 28). Retrieved 03 08, 2022, from
Barriquand: https://www.barriquand.com/en/heat-exchangers-applications/heat-exchangers-
heavy-industry/heat-exchangers-iron-steel-metalurgy/

Karthik. (n.d.). Heat Transfer - Radiation, Convection and Conduction. Retrieved 03 08, 2022, from BYJUS:
https://byjus.com/physics/heat-transfer-conduction-convection-and-radiation/

P.K.Choudhary. (2020, August 10). e Plant . Retrieved 03 08, 2022, from BLAST FURNACE COOLING
SYSTEM: https://eplantmaintenance.com/blast-furnce-cooling-system/

Quenching Tanks. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 09, 2022, from IECI: https://www.iecionline.com/quenching-

tanks/

Satyendra. (2013, 04 12). Reheating Furnaces and their Types. Retrieved 03 08, 2022, from ispatguru:
https://www.ispatguru.com/reheating-furnaces-in-steel-plants/