Heat

Transfer Lab
Report 3 Transient Conduction

Name: Hugo Felippe da Silva Lui

Date: 12/09/2014

Introduction


The experiment aims to investigate the Lumped capacitance method for different

shapes, sizes and materials.

Heat transfer analysis that consider the temperature of a body varies with time but
remains constant throughout the body at any time is known as lumped system analysis.
In the analysis of transient conduction, we will assume a solid of arbitrary shape
of surface area ! , mass , density , volume V, and specific heat ! , where the uniform
initial temperature is ! . At time t = 0, the solid is place into a medium, with a heat
transfer coefficient , at temperature ! . Therefore, heat transfer starts between the solid
and its environment. Using lumped system analysis, it means, temperature is only
function of time. Heat transfer into the solid during at instant of time is equal to the
increase in the energy of the solid during at instant of time:
! ! ! = !

(1)

Rearranging and integrating Equation (1), we obtain:

!
!
= !!
! !

(2)

Where:
=

!
!

(3)

The constant is called the thermal time constant and has time unit (s).
Equation (1) can be used to determine the temperature of a solid at time , or, the
time required to reach a specific temperature. Equation (2) indicates how long time the
body will approach the environment temperature. For small value of , the temperature of
the solid will reach the medium temperature in a short time.
The Biot number is the ratio of the internal resistance of a body to conduction to
its external resistance to convection:
=
Where:
K - Thermal Conductivity constant
! - Characteristics length

(4)

! =

(5)

By Equation (4), a small Biot number represents small resistance to conduction,

therefore small temperature gradients within the body, and thus temperature is only
function of time. Then, Lumped system analysis is applicable if 0.1.
For validation of theory and their considerations, we used both experimental and
computational tools.

Method

Figure 1. Cross-sectional view of experiment set up

Equipment
- HT17 Unsteady Heat Transfer Accessory
- HT10XC Heat Transfer Service Unit
- Armfield Heat Transfer Software
- Test pieces
Stainless steel sphere
Stainless steel cylinder (20 mm diameter) and Brass cylinder (30 mm diameter)
Brass and stainless steel slabs

Procedure
First, at the instant t = 0, measure the temperature at the center (T3) and the
surface of the solid (T2), and bath temperature (T1). After that, measure the temperatures
T1, T2 and T3 every second. When the temperature at the center is similar to the bath
temperature, stop to measure. Do this procedure for every test piece.

Results and Discussions



Table 1. Biot number and thermal time constant for stainless steel

Geometry
Slab
Small Cylinder
Sphere

Bi number
0.391
0.521
1.172

Thermal constant [s]

36.04
24.02
36.04

Table 2. Biot number and thermal time constant for brass

Geometry
Slab
Large Cylinder
Sphere

Bi number
0.152
0.101
0.680

Thermal constant [s]

32.81
32.81
32.81

Table 3. Brass properties

Property
Specific heat (Cp)
Thermal conductivity (K)
Thermal diffusivity ()
Density ()

Value
385 /
121 /
3.7 10!! ! /
7930 /!

Table. 4. Stainless steel properties

Property
Specific heat (Cp)
Thermal conductivity (K)
Thermal diffusivity ()
Density ()

Value
460 /
16.3 /
0.45 10!! ! /
8500 /!

Figure 2. Temperature profile at the center of brass and stainless steel slab
In Figure 2, temperature profiles have an exponential trend. From table (1) and
(2), the thermal diffusivity of brass is larger than the thermal diffusivity of stainless steel,
thus, the temperature of the brass will reach the environment temperature in a short time
than stainless steel. Because of Biot numbers for both are larger than 0.1, therefore we
cannot use lumped capacitance analysis.

Figure 3. Temperature profile at the center of stainless steel slab and sphere

In Figure 3, temperature profiles have an exponential trend. From table (1) and
(2), Biot numbers for stainless steel slab and sphere are larger than 0.1, thus the lumped
capacitance method cannot be applied. By figure 3, it noted that temperature profiles
reach the bath temperature in nearby time instants; the reason is that the thermal time
constant are the same.

Figure 4. Temperature profile for small stainless steel cylinder and large brass cylinder
In Figure 4, temperature profiles have an exponential trend. Biot numbers for
stainless steel and brass cylinders are larger than 0.1, thus the lumped capacitance method
cannot be applied. Despite not having the same thermal time constant, temperature
distributions are similar and reach the environment temperature at the same time. It can
be explained by the thermal diffusivity of brass is large than the thermal diffusivity of
stainless, however the heat transfer surface area of stainless steel is less than the heat
transfer surface area of brass. Therefore, the two circumstances make the temperature
profiles are similar.

Figure 5. Temperature profile for different spheres

In figure 5, temperature profiles have an exponential trend. As we increase the
radius, the temperature difference between the initial temperature and final temperature
becomes larger. The reason is explained by Equation (3), if we increase the surface area,
this make the thermal time constant smaller, then sphere 1 reach the bath temperature in a
short time.

Figure 6. Temperature profile for different radius

In Figure 6, temperature profiles for radius 0.0225 and 0.05 m have a

linear trend, while the temperature profile for radius 0.15 m has an exponential
trend. In Figure 6, it noted that the temperature at the center for radius 0.0225 m
reaches the bath temperature, while the temperature at the center for radius 0.05 m
is close to fluid temperature, and the temperature at the center for radius 0.15 m is
quite different from the bath temperature. Again, the reason is that the thermal
time constant of radius 0.0225 m is less than the thermal time constant for the
other radius. Therefore, It reaches the fluid temperature first.

Figure 7. Temperature profiles for different heat transfer coefficients

In Figure 7, the temperature profile for green line has a linear trend, while
temperature profiles for blue and red curves have an exponential trend. By Equation (2),
as we increase the heat transfer coefficient, the thermal time constant will decrease.
Therefore, the higher the heat transfer coefficient, the solid will reach the fluid in short
time, it is noted in Figure 7.

Figure 8. Temperature profile for different fluid temperatures

In Figure 8, the temperature profile for all fluid temperatures have an exponential
trend. In figure 8, it is noted that the spheres reach the bath temperature at the same time,
independent of the value of the fluid temperature. The reason is that, the thermal time
constant does not depends on fluid temperature; it is showed by Equation (3).
Table 5. Biot number for COMSOL evaluations
Study
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Biot number
0.152
0.338
1.013
0.020
0.101
0.152
0.152

Lumped capacitance method is applicable if 0.1, thus we can just use

lumped capacitance method for study 4. For 0.1, the spatial effects become
important; therefore we need to use alternative methods to determine the temperature
distribution for the other studies.

Conclusion
The experiment was intend to verify the viability of lumped capacitance method
and investigate the Lumped capacitance method for different shapes, sizes and materials.
We determined the temperature profile for different conditions using experimental and
computation tools.
In experimental, we used several test pieces, when we measured the temperature
at the center and bath temperature during at some instant of time until both temperatures
are the same. In computational, we simulated three situations; for different radius; for
different heat transfer coefficients and for different fluid temperatures.
It can be concluded that; for small value of the thermal time constant, the
temperature of the solid will reach the fluid temperature in a short time; when the thermal
time constant of two or more objects are the same, they will reach the bath temperature at
the same time; as we increased the heat transfer coefficient, the thermal time constant
will decreased. The verification of the key points was performed by experimental and
computational methods. The experiment and the computational simulation showed good
validation for the confirmation of the lumped capacitance method.

References
[1] Cengel, Yunus A and Afshin Ghajar. Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals and
Applications, 4th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2010
[2] Kreith, F., Manglik, R. M and BOHN, M S. Principles of heat transfer, seveth edition,
2011.
[3] F. P. Incropera and D. P. DeWitt. Introduction to Heat Transfer. 4th ed. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, 2002.