Computer aided heat transfer analysis

Many heat storage systems can be modeled with heat transfer equations in the porous medium. 2-D heat transfer equation in cylindrical coordinates for porous medium (as shown in Fig. 4.20) is defined in Eq. (4.113).
When Eq. (4.113) is solved, the temperature gradient inside the tank is obtained.

Heat transfer analysis uses basic formulas and computer programs.
Much of the film coefficient information is proprietary.
Pressure drop evaluation for single-phase tube-side is straightforward.
Every other mode, shell side or phase change, is difficult.
The pressure drop is generally obtained from proprietary sources.

Another variational approach to heat transfer analysis is Biot's variational principle [11 ].
By introducing a new vectorial field function H = H ( t, x ), named by Biot the heat displacement vector, we can write the heat conduction equation, (5.2.11), in the following canonical form:.

In heat transfer analysis, the ratio of the thermal conductivity to the heat capacity is an important property termed the thermal diffusivity α, which is calculated by where ρ is the density and cp specific heat.
It measures the ability of a material to conduct energy relative to its ability to store thermal energy.