Facultad Regional Delta

INGLES TÉCNICO 1 – Prof. Valeria Traverso.

What Is Heat Transfer?

Last updated: September 2nd, 2021

In general, heat transfer describes the flow of heat (thermal energy) due to
temperature differences and the subsequent temperature distribution and changes.

The study of transport phenomena concerns the exchange of momentum, energy, and
mass in the form of conduction, convection, and radiation. These processes can be
described via mathematical formulas.

The fundamentals for these formulas are found in the laws for conservation of
momentum, energy, and mass in combination with constitutive laws, relations that
describe not only the conservation but also the flux of quantities involved in these
phenomena. For that purpose, differential equations are used to describe the
mentioned laws and constitutive relations in the best way possible. Solving these
equations is an effective way to investigate systems and predict their behaviour.

History and Terminology

Without external help, heat will always flow from hot objects to cold ones which is a
direct consequence of the second law of thermodynamics. We call that heat flow.
In the early nineteenth century, scientists believed that all bodies contained an
invisible fluid called caloric (a massless fluid thought to flow from hot to cold objects).
Caloric was assigned properties, some of which proved to be inconsistent with nature
(for instance it had weight and it could not be created nor destroyed). But its most
important feature was that it was able to flow from hot bodies into cold ones. That
was a very useful way to think about heat.
Thompson and Joule showed that this theory of the caloric was wrong. Heat is not a
substance as supposed, but a motion at the molecular level (so-called kinetic theory). A
good example is rubbing our hands against each other. Both hands get warmer, even
though initially they were at the same cooler temperatures. Now if the cause of the
heat was a fluid, then it would have flowed from a (hotter) body with more energy to
another with less energy (colder). Instead, the hands are heated because the kinetic
energy of motion (rubbing) has been converted to heat in a process called “friction”.
The flow of heat is happening all the time from any physical entity to objects
surrounding it. Heat flows constantly from your body to the air surrounding you.
Small buoyancy-driven (or convective) motion of the air will continue in a room
because the walls can never be perfectly isothermal as in theory. The only domain free
from heat flow would have to be isothermal and completely isolated from any other
system allowing heat transfer. Such a system is practically impossible to create.
The cooling of the sun is a primary process that we experience naturally. Other
processes are the conductive cooling of Earth’s centre and the radiative cooling of
other stars.

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 Facultad Regional Delta
INGLES TÉCNICO 1 – Prof. Valeria Traverso.

Heat Transfer Methods

Figure 1: Conduction, Convection and Radiation all happening concurrently.

Conduction

Fourier’s law: Joseph Fourier published his book “Théorie Analytique

de la Chaleur” in 1822.
In this book, he formulated a complete theory of heat conduction. He
stated the empirical law viz. the Fourier’s Law which states that heat
flux (q resulting from thermal conduction is directly proportional to
the magnitude of the temperature gradient.
Figure 2: Joseph Fourier – French mathematician and physicist

Radiation

Radiation describes the phenomenon of transmission of energy from one body to

another by propagation through a medium. All bodies constantly emit energy by
electromagnetic radiation. The intensity of such energy flux depends not only on the
temperature of the body but also on the surface characteristics. If you sit in front of a
campfire, most of the heat that reaches you is radiant energy. Very often, emission of
energy, or radiant heat transfer, from cooler bodies can be neglected in comparison to
convection and conduction. Heat transfer processes happening at high temperature, or
with conduction or convection suppressed by evacuated insulation, involve a
significant fraction of radiation in general.

Convection

Consider a convective cooling situation. Cold gas flows past a warm

body .The fluid forms a thin slowed-down region called the
boundary layer immediately adjacent to the body. Heat is
conducted into this layer, which vanishes and mixes into the
stream. We call this process of carrying heat away from the body by
a moving fluid convection.
Sir Isaac Newton – English mathematician, astronomer and physicist

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 Facultad Regional Delta
INGLES TÉCNICO 1 – Prof. Valeria Traverso.

Depending on how the fluid motion is initiated, we can classify convection

as natural (free) or forced convection. Natural convection is caused for instance by
buoyancy effects (warm fluid rises and cold fluid falls due to density difference). In the
other case, forced convection causes the fluid to move by external means such as a
fan, wind, coolant, pump, suction devices, etc.
The movement of a solid component into a fluid can also be considered as forced
convection. Natural convection can create a noticeable temperature difference in a
house or flat. We recognize this because certain parts of the house are warmer than
others. Forced convection creates a more uniform temperature distribution and
therefore a comfortable feeling throughout the entire home. This reduces cold spots in
the house, reducing the need to crank the thermostat to a higher temperature.

https://www.simscale.com/docs/simwiki/heat-transfer-thermal-analysis/what-is-heat-
transfer/
QUESTIONNAIRE
1- RESPONDER (En español – basados en el texto)
A. Identifique fuente y fecha de publicación.
B. Traduzca el título.
C. Identifique 5 palabras relacionadas con el título.
D. ¿El texto contiene imágenes relacionadas con el tema?
E. Identifique 5 palabras transparentes.
F. ¿Qué definición da el texto para “heat transfer”?
G. ¿Qué creían los científicos a comienzos del siglo XIX?
H. ¿Por qué se menciona a Fourier y a Newton?
I. ¿Cuál es la definición de radiación según el texto?
J. ¿Dónde se puede observar la convección natural?
2- BUSQUE EN EL TEXTO EJEMPLOS DE: (subrayarlos e identificarlos con la letra
asignada en la siguiente lista)
A. Omisión del artículo. (1)
B. Adjetivo calificativo (2)
C. Adjetivo comparativo (2)
D. Adjetivo superlativo (1)
E. Demostrativos (2 – diferentes casos)
F. Caso posesivo (1)
G. Pronombre posesivo (1)
H. Sustantivo funcionando como adjetivo (2)
I. Sustantivo plural proveniente de un sustantivo terminado en Y
J. Sustantivos plurales (2)
K. Sustantivo del Latín – mismo ejemplo en forma singular y plural
L. Cuantificador (1)
M. Post-modificador de la frase nominal (2)
3- Busque en el texto un sinónimo en inglés de HEAT TRANSFER.