ASSIGNMENT NO.

One Dimensional Steady State Heat Conduction

1. Derive the general three dimensional heat conduction equation in Cartesian co-ordinates.
2. Derive the general three dimensional heat conduction equation in Cylindrical co-ordinates.
3. Write short note on thermal conductivity.
4. Explain the concept of critical radius of insulation. Derive an expression for critical radius of insulation for a)
cylinder and b) sphere.
5. Derive an expression for the temperature distribution under one-dimensional steady state heat conduction with
heat generation for a plane wall of thickness L, thermal conductivity k, temperature being T w at the two surfaces.
Also find the expression in terms of Tf using convective boundary condition.
6. Derive an expression for the temperature distribution under one-dimensional steady state heat conduction with
heat generation for a solid cylinder having radius R, constant thermal conductivity k, wall temperature T w and
surrounding fluid temperature Tf. Also write the expression for Tmax and rate of heat transfer Q.
7. A house wall may be approximated as two 1.2 cm layers of fibre insulating board, a 8 cm layer of loosely packed
asbestos and a 10 cm layer of common brick. Assuming convection heat transfer coefficient of 15 W/m 2K on both
sides of the wall, calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient for this arrangement. Take k fibre board=0.033 W/mK,
kasbestos=0.17 W/mK, kbrick=0.65 W/mK.
8. A composite wall consists of 15 cm thick layer of material A and a 30 cm thick layer of material B. thermal
conductivities of the two materials are unknown but constant. The outer surface temperature of the material A is
2500C and that of B is 500C. An insulation of k= 0.05 W/mK and thickness 2 cm is added to the outer face of B. It is
observed that the outer surface of A acquires a temperature of 330 0C and the junction between B and insulation
is at 2300C. The outer surface of the insulation is at 30 0C. Estimate the rate of heat flow per m2 i) before the
addition of insulation, ii) after the addition of insulation.
9. A furnace wall 30 cm thick has k= 1.4 W/mK. The heat transfer coefficient of outer surface is given as h= 8.1 +
0.09 ∆T where ∆T is the temperature difference between outside wall surface and surrounding. If the inner
surface temperature is 14500C, calculate the rate of heat loss per unit area. The furnace wall is insulated such
that the heat losses do not exceed 500 W/m2. This is done by putting two layers of insulation on the outer
surface; the first one is of heat resisting brick of k= 0.6 W/mK and the second one is of silica brick of k= 0.15
W/mK. If the thickness of the silica brick is 30 cm, find the thickness of the heat resisting brick. Assume the
surrounding temperature to be 400C.
10. In order to reduce heat loss from a furnace wall, the thickness of its brickwork is increased by 100%. The
temperature of the inner surface of the brickwork is 660 0C. The temperature of the outer surface before
increasing the wall thickness was 2350C. Calculate the percentage decrease in the heat loss due to increase in
brickwork thickness. Assume that the thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient remain constant. Take
atmosphere temperature as 350C.
11. A furnace wall is made of composite wall of total thickness 55 cm. The inside layer is made of refractory material
of k= 2.3 W/mK and the outside layer is made of an insulating material of k= 0.2 W/mK. The mean temperature
of the gases inside furnace is 9000C and the interface temperature is 5200C. The heat transfer coefficient
between the gas and inner surface can be taken as 230 W/m2K. Assume the surrounding temperature as 300C,
calculate: i) required thickness of each layer ii) rate of heat loss per unit area iii) the temperature of the surface
exposed to gases and of the surface exposed to atmosphere.
12. A steel pipe having an external diameter of 8 cm carries steam at 40 bar and is lagged with a layer, 4 cm thick of
material of k= 0.04 W/mK. Ambient temperature is 20 0C and the surface of lagging has h= 10 W/m2K. What
thickness of lagging of k= 0.06 W/mK must be added to reduce the steam condensation by 50% if the surface
 coefficient remains unchanged? Neglect the resistance of the pipe material and also of the steam film on the
inside of the steam pipe.
13. A steam pipe (k= 45 W/mK) having 75 mm ID and 85 mm OD is lagged with two insulation layers; the layer in
contact with the pipe is 35 mm thick asbestos (k= 0.15 W/mK) and it is covered with 25 mm thick magnesia
insulation (k= 0.075 W/mK). The heat transfer coefficient for inside and outside surfaces are 220 W/m2K and 6.5
W/m2K respectively. If the temperature of the steam is 350 0C and ambient temperature is 30 0C, calculate i) the
steady state heat loss per metre length of pipe. ii) Overall heat transfer coefficient based on inside surface and
outside surface of pipe.
14. A 20 mm ID pipe carries superheated steam at 2100C. The value of k of pipe material = 13 W/mK. The outside
insulating layer has k=0.2 W/mK. Mean temperature at the inner surface is 195 0C. h between steam and pipe
wall = 60 W/m2K and between outer surface and ambient air is 35 W/m2K. Assuming the total thickness of pipe
(including pipe material) is 100 mm, ambient air at 300C, calculate i) required thickness of each layer ii) rate of
heat transfer per unit outer area, and iii) inner and outer surface temperatures.
15. A 600 mm OD sphere storing liquid is provided with two insulating layers, a high temperature insulation of k=
0.35 W/mK and a low temperature insulation of k= 0.07 W/mK. The thickness of the former is 100 mm. The
temperature drop across the high temperature insulation is required to be 2.5 times that across the low
temperature insulation. What should be the thickness of the latter?
16. A hollow copper sphere has outer radius of 5 cm. The internal temperature gradient can be neglected. The
temperature of the sphere to be maintained at 1000C by an embedded electric heater. The surrounding
temperature is 200C and the outside heat transfer coefficient is 10 W/m2K. If this sphere is covered by 5 cm thick
insulation (k=0.5 W/mK), what will happen to heat loss? Calculate the percentage change in heat loss.
17. An electric cable of 10 mm diameter is to be laid in the atmosphere of 25 0C. The estimated surface temperature
of the cable due to heat generation is 650C. Find the maximum percentage increase in the heat dissipated, when
the wire is insulated with the rubber of k=0.16 W/mK. Take h0=10 W/m2K.
18. The wall of a furnace consists of two layers, one of fireclay of thickness 12.25 cm and the other of red brick of
thickness 48 cm. The thermal conductivity of fireclay is a function of temperature and it is given by k 1=
0.28+0.00023T (W/mK), where T is in degree C. k2= thermal conductivity of red brick= 0.7 W/mK. The inside
surface temperature is 11500C and outside red brick wall temperature is 550C. Calculate the amount of heat loss
per m2 area of the furnace wall and interface temperature.
19. A long, hollow cylinder is constructed from a material whose k varies with temperature as k= 0.01+0.001T
(W/mK), where T is in degree C. The inner and outer radii of the cylinder are 125 mm and 250 mm respectively.
Under steady state conditions, the inner and outer surface temperatures are 698 K and 363 K respectively.
Determine i) the rate of heat flow per metre length. ii) the temperature of the air on the outside of the cylinder,
if the surface heat transfer coefficient on the exterior surface is 14.5 W/m2K.
20. A steel plate 25 mm thick (k= 50 W/mK) has uniform volumetric heat generation rate of 50 MW/m 3. Its two
surfaces are maintained at 1500C and 1000C. Neglecting end effects; determine i) position and value of maximum
temperature ii) heat flow rate from each surface.
21. A plane wall 6 cm thick generates heat internally at the rate of 0.30 MW/m 3. One side of the wall is insulated,
and the other is exposed to an environment at 930C. The convective heat transfer coefficient between the wall
and the environment is 570 W/m2K. Thermal conductivity of the wall is k= 21 W/mK. Calculate the maximum
temperature in the wall.
22. A copper wire 1 mm in diameter is insulated with a plastic to an outer diameter of 3 mm and is exposed to an
environment at 400C. Find the maximum current carried by the wire in amperes without heating any point of
plastic above 900C. Take heat transfer coefficient between outer surface of plastic and surrounding as 10 W/m 2K,
kplastic= 0.4 W/mK, electrical conductivity of copper is 5×107 ohm-1 m-1. Also find the maximum temperature of the
wire. Given kcopper = 380 W/mK.