Consider steady one-dimensional heat transfer through a plane wall exposed to convection from both sides to environments at known temperatures \(T_{\infty 1}\) and \(T_{\infty 2}\) with known heat transfer coefficients \(h_{1}\) and \(h_{2}\). Once the rate of heat transfer \(\dot{Q}\) has been evaluated, explain how you would determine the temperature of each surface.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: The key step in solving this type of problem is to understand and calculate the thermal resistance of each part of the system (conduction resistance and convection resistance), and use it to determine the heat transfer rate and surface temperatures.

Step by step solution

01

Identify the thermal resistances

Each part of the system has a thermal resistance associated with it: the conduction resistance through the wall and the convection resistances for the fluid on both sides. The conduction resistance can be denoted as \(R_{cond}=\frac{L}{kA}\), and the convection resistances can be denoted as \(R_{conv1} = \frac{1}{h_1 A}\) and \(R_{conv2} = \frac{1}{h_2 A}\), where \(L\) is the wall thickness, \(k\) is the thermal conductivity of the wall material and \(A\) is the area.
02

Calculate the total resistance

Now we need to find the total resistance in the system, which will be the sum of the three resistances mentioned above: \(R_{total} = R_{cond} + R_{conv1} + R_{conv2}\). This is because in a steady state and one-dimensional situation, the thermal resistances are in series.
03

Determine the heat transfer rate, \(\dot{Q}\)

Using the conservation of energy principle and the total resistance, we can determine the heat transfer rate, \(\dot{Q}\): \(\dot{Q} = \frac{T_{\infty 1} - T_{\infty 2}}{R_{total}}\). This formula relates the difference in environmental temperatures, the rate of heat transfer, and the total resistance in the system.
04

Calculate the surface temperatures

To find the temperature of each surface (\(T_1\) and \(T_2\)), we can use the formula \(\dot{Q} = h_1 A (T_{\infty 1} - T_1)\) and \(\dot{Q}= h_2 A (T_2 - T_{\infty 2})\). These equations express the heat transfer rate in terms of the heat transfer coefficients and surface temperatures.
05

Solve for surface temperatures \(T_1\) and \(T_2\)

Plugging the found value of \(\dot{Q}\) from Step 3 into the two equations from Step 4, we get two linear equations for \(T_1\) and \(T_2\), which can be solved analytically or numerically. In summary, we determined the rate of heat transfer \(\dot{Q}\) by evaluating the total resistance in the system and used the conservation of energy principle. Using this heat transfer rate, we were able to solve for the surface temperatures \(T_1\) and \(T_2\) on each side of the plane wall. The key step is to understand and calculate the thermal resistance of each part of the system and use it to determine the heat transfer rate and surface temperatures.

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