19

If material 2 is an insulator with a low thermal conductivity, we expect its resistance to play
an important role in the calculation of U from equation (81). Suppose that we wanted to design
the insulation to be used to reduce heat transfer losses from a cylinder to the surroundings. The
problem can be formulated as follows. Given:
(1) inside and outside temperatures, T1 and T0,
(2) original wall characteristics, k1, R1, R2,
(3) external convective heat transfer coefficient, h, and
(4) material to be used for insulation, which fixes k2,
we can manipulate R0 to change Qr (equation 78). At first thought, it may appear that an increase
in the amount of insulating material used (i.e. an increase in R0) would result in a decrease in Qr.
This would be the case for a flat wall, but will not be so necessarily in this geometry. In fact,
simple inspection of equation (78) shows that Qr→0 as R0→∞, so that the addition of insulating
material will be always effective for thick insulating layers. However, when R2 is a relatively
small number and R0→R2, we see that the third term in the denominator of equation (78) may
become much larger than the other two, in which case Qr will increase with increases in R0.
Under these conditions, the function Qr(R0) has an absolute maximum. To analyze this case, let

A=2πL(T1-T0) (86)

ln(R 2 / R 1 )
B= (87)
k1

Equation (78) can be written as follows,

A
Qr = (88)
ln(R 0 / R 2 ) 1
B+ +
k2 R 0h

Let R0=Rc be the value of R0 that maximizes Qr. For an absolute maximum we can state

dQ r
=0 (89)
dR 0 R 0 =R c

Taking the derivative of equation (88), we get

⎡ ⎤
⎢ ⎥
⎢ −A ⎛ 1 1 ⎞⎟⎥
⎜ − =0 (90)
⎢ 2 ⎜k R hR 2 ⎟⎥
⎛
⎢⎜ B + ln( R / R ) 1 ⎞ ⎝ 2 0 ⎠ ⎥
0 2
+ ⎟⎟ 0
⎢ ⎜⎝ 0 ⎠
⎥
⎣ k 2 R h ⎦R 0 =R c

which yields
k2
Rc = (91)
h
 20

The parameter Rc is called the critical radius. Since R0>R2 (Figure 6), a necessary condition for
the absolute maximum to exist is Rc>R2. In other words, if it happens that

k2
≤ R2 (92)
h

then Qr will decrease monotonically with R0, which means that adding insulation will be always
beneficial. However, when

k2
> R2 (93)
h

the heat transfer rate will look qualitatively as shown in Figure 7. In this case, adding insulation
with an R0 in region I would increase the heat transfer rate with respect to the rate without
insulation (R0=R2). Insulation only would make sense in this system in region II only.

Qr I II

R2 Rc R0

Figure 7. Heat transfer rate from a cylinder with insulation when equation (93) holds: as
insulation is added, the heat transfer rate increases until it reaches a maximum. Adding insulation
reduces the heat transfer rate only when the value of R0 is in region II.

The physical reason for the existence of a maximum is the competition between an increased
heat transfer resistance in the insulation layer and an increase in the surface area for convection.
Since we are considering that the heat transfer coefficient is independent of R0 (which is only an
approximation), the rate of heat lost by convection will increase proportionally to the surface area
of the outer layer (i.e. 2πR0L).
To explore how relevant the previous analysis may be in practical applications, let us do a
 21

sample calculation. A typical insulating material will have a thermal conductivity close to (Figure
2) k 2 ≈ 0.05 W/m K (this is the conductivity of cork, certain wool foams and fiber glass duct
liners at ambient conditions). A low heat transfer coefficient for natural convection is
h ≈ 10 W/m 2 K . From equation (91) this yields Rc=5 mm. We can expect to be in the range of
equation (93) for small cylinders only. It is uncommon to find pipes to transport fluids that small,
but electrical wires that heat up due to the pass of an electric current may be of this size.
Fortunately, in the case of electrical wires, we are usually interested in high heat transfer rates to
avoid overheating of the wire.

(4) Heat transfer through extended surfaces

In the previous application, we considered the use of composite walls for insulation purposes.
There are applications in which the objective of surface modifications is to increase the heat
transfer rates, such as in heat exchangers or in systems that release an excess of thermal energy
that must be removed (e.g. internal combustion engines, nuclear reactors). One way to increase
the heat transfer rate from a surface that is in contact with a fluid is to increase the surface area of
contact. In practice, this is achieved by attaching to the surface extensions that are made from the
same material as the original surface. In this example, we will analyze heat transfer through a
cylinder used as an extended surface. The system consists of a flat wall to which a solid cylinder
is attached (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Heat transfer through an extended cylindrical surface: the cylinder is attached to a
flat wall at temperature Tw greater than the ambient air temperature (Ta) to increase the heat
transfer rate from the surface to the surrounding air.

We will analyze the steady state heat transfer process through the cylinder. We will assume
angular symmetry, but we can see that the temperature in the cylinder will be a function of both
radial and axial positions: T=T(r,z). However, we will see that, under certain conditions, this two-
dimensional problem can be treated as a one-dimensional problem as an approximation. We start
 22

by writing the heat conduction equation (48) with Er=0 and considering k to be constant:

1 ∂ ⎛ ∂T ⎞ ∂ 2 T
0= ⎜r ⎟+ (94)
r ∂r ⎝ ∂r ⎠ ∂z 2

Since the objective of the extended surface is to increase the heat transfer rate from the wall to
the surrounding air, we would expect L to be appreciably larger than R to generate as much
surface area as possible. Therefore, we expect more significant variations of temperature in the z
direction than in the r direction. In this type of situations, it is useful to try to describe how the
average of the temperature over the cross section varies with axial position. The average
temperature is defined as

1
A A∫
< T >= TdA (95)

where A is the cylinder's cross section. In cylindrical coordinates, we have:

R 2π
1 2 R
< T >=
πR 2 ∫ ∫ Trdθdr = R 2 ∫0
Trdr (96)
0 0

Note that <T>=<T>(z). To find a governing equation for <T>, we take the cross-sectional
average of equation (94):

2 R ⎡1 ∂ ⎛ ∂T ⎞ ∂ 2 T ⎤
R 2 ∫0 ⎢⎣ r ∂r ⎝ ∂r ⎠ ∂z 2 ⎥⎦
⎜r ⎟+ rdr = 0 (97)

Since r and z are independent variables, integration with respect to r can be interchanged with the
z derivative in the second term of this equation:

2 R ∂ 2T ∂ 2 ⎛⎜ 2 R ⎞ d2 < T >
⎟=
R 2 ∫0 ∂z 2 ∂z 2 ⎜⎝ R 2 ∫0
rdr = Trdr (98)
⎟ dz 2
⎠

The first term can be integrated directly:

R
2 R ⎡1 ∂ ⎛ ∂T ⎞⎤ 2 ∂T 2 ∂T
∫ ⎢ ⎜ r ⎟⎥ rdr = 2 r
R 0 ⎣ r ∂r ⎝ ∂r ⎠⎦
2
=
R ∂r 0 R ∂r r = R
(99)

where we have used the symmetry condition

∂T
=0 (100)
∂r r = 0
 23

The radial temperature derivative can be related to the radial heat flux using Fourier's law
(equation 49). Also, on the surface of the cylinder (r=R), the radial heat flux must equal the heat
convected to the surroundings:

∂T
qr r=R
= −k = h (T r = R − Ta ) (101)
∂r r = R

Substituting this equation into equation (99) and then substituting equations (98) and (99) into
equation (97) leads to

d 2 < T > 2h
− (T − Ta ) = 0 (102)
dz 2 kR r = R

The temperature on the surface of the cylinder ( T r = R ) varies with z. Hence, this equation
contains two dependent variables. However, we would expect the temperature to experience only
minor changes over the cross section: since our objective is to increase heat transfer rates, the
thermal conductivity of the material will be relatively high, which would make radial conduction
faster than external convection. If this is the case, we can make the approximation

T r = R ≈< T > (103)

Later, we will develop a quantitative criterion for the applicability of this approximation. For
now, we will assume it valid, which allows us to write equation (102) as follows

d 2 < T > 2h
− (< T > −Ta ) = 0 (104)
dz 2 kR

This is a second order, ordinary differential equation for <T> that requires two boundary
conditions. The first one comes from the knowledge of the wall temperature:

<T>=Tw, z=0 (105)

At the end of the cylinder (z=L), the heat conducted in the z direction will be transferred by
convection to the surrounding air:

d<T>
qz z=L
= −k = h e (< T > z = L − Ta ) (106)
dz z = L

where we have used the average temperature as representative of the temperature of the cross
section, which is in agreement with the approximation (103). Here, he denotes the convective heat
transfer coefficient at the tip of the cylinder, which we are taking to be, in general, different from
h. To solve equation (104) we make the change of variable

Φ=<T>-Ta (107)
 24

so that equation (104) becomes

d 2 Φ 2h
− Φ=0 (108)
dz 2 kR

and the boundary conditions (105) and (106) can be expressed as

Φ= Φw=Tw-Ta, z=0 (109)

dΦ h
= − e Φ , z=L (110)
dz k

The general solution of the differential equation (108) is

Φ = C1e αz + C 2 e − αz (111)
where
2h
α= (112)
kR

Applying the boundary conditions (109) and (110) we get

Φw=C1+C2 (113)

he
αC1e αL − αC 2 e − αL = − (C1e αL + C 2 e − αL ) (114)
k

These two equations are solved for C1 and C2 and the result is substituted into equation (111) to
find, after manipulations,

Φw ⎡⎛ h e ⎞ αz ⎛ h e ⎞ 2αL − αz ⎤
Φ= ⎢⎜1 − kα ⎟e + ⎜1 + kα ⎟e ⎥ (115)
⎛ h e ⎞ ⎛ h e ⎞ 2 αL ⎣⎝ ⎠ ⎝ ⎠ ⎦
⎜1 − ⎟ + ⎜1 + ⎟e
⎝ kα ⎠ ⎝ kα ⎠

This equation gives the temperature profile. However, it is not commonly used in its present form
because it can be simplified further under typical conditions. To explore this, let us go back to
assumption (103). First, let us consider under what conditions this assumption is valid. To do
this, consider the possible shape of radial temperature profiles over a cross section (Figure 9).
The preceding analysis obviously applies to a profile that looks like the one leading to surface
temperature T1, but not to the other two profiles. Consider the heat transfer rate at the surface
(equation 101). To determine the value of ∂T/∂r, we need to know the radial temperature profile.
However, we can estimate the derivative by considering that T varies linearly with r. We say that
the derivative is "of the order of" the corresponding estimate:

∂T ⎛ T − Tc ⎞
= O⎜ s ⎟ (116)
∂r r = R ⎝ R ⎠
 25

Figure 9. Possible shape of radial temperature profiles in the cylinder at a given z.

where Ts is the surface temperature, and O is the order of magnitude symbol. Now we will use
this equation in equation (101) to get

Ts − Tc
−k ~ h (Ts − Ta ) (117)
R

keeping in mind that this equation only works as a rough estimate. We can rearrange this
equation as follows
Tc − Ts hR
~ (118)
Ts − Ta k

The dimensionless parameter that appears on the right-hand side of this equation is the Biot
number,
hR
Bi = (119)
k

which represents a ratio of rate of conduction in the material to rate of external convection. We
can see that, to get a temperature profile such as the one leading to Ts=T1 in Figure 9, we must
require
Tc − Ts
«1 (120)
Ts − Ta

This will happen if

Bi«1 (121)

Consequently, we can state that equation (103) will be satisfied if the constraint (121) is satisfied.
Intuitively, if the extended surface's purpose is to increase the heat transfer rate from the wall, we
 26

would like to design it so that the Biot number is very small: if convection were fast (relatively
large Bi), we probably would not need an extended surface. Also, the material should have a
relatively large thermal conductivity (which implies low Bi) to transfer heat more efficiently. For
example, for a value of h=10 W/m2K (typical of natural convection), R=1 cm and k=15 W/m K
(stainless steel), we get Bi=6.7×10-3.
Given that constraint (121) is satisfied, we can simplify equation (115). First consider the
parameter
h e h e kR h e hR h e Bi
= = = (122)
kα k 2h h 2k h 2

If he and h are of the same order of magnitude (which is a good assumption) and constraint (101)
is satisfied, we see that this implies that

he
«1 (123)
kα

and equation (115) can be simplified to

Φw
Φ= [eαz + e 2αL − αz ] (124)
1 + e 2 αL

This equation can be expressed in terms of the hyperbolic cosine as follows,

cosh[α(L − z)]
Φ = Φw (125)
cosh(αL)

Another interesting simplification occurs when the cylinder is very long. In the limit, if L→∞,
equation (124) simplifies to

Φ = Φ w e −αz , L→∞ (126)

One way to assess how the extended surface aids in transferring heat from the wall is to
compare the heat transfer rate with and without extended surface. To do this, we first calculate
the heat transfer rate without extended surface. This would be the heat loss by convection from a
circular area of radius R (Figure 10). The heat loss from the wall through the extended surface is

Q = πR 2 q z z =0
(127)

To evaluate the heat flux, we use Fourier's law,

d<T> dΦ
Q = − πR 2 k = −πR 2 k (128)
dz z = 0 dz z = 0

Using the solution given by equation (124) we get

 27

e 2 αL − 1
Q = πR 2 kαΦ w (129)
e 2 αL + 1

Figure 10. Heat transfer from a circular area of radius R when no extended surface is present.

A comparison of the two heat transfer rates yields, using equations (112) and (119),

Q 2 e 2αL − 1
= (130)
Q0 Bi e 2αL + 1

which should be a large number, on the basis of equation (121).