Page 9 - Fundamentals of The Finite Element Method for Heat and Fluid Flow

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Introduction

1.1 Importance of Heat Transfer

The subject of heat transfer is of fundamental importance in many branches of engineering.
A mechanical engineer may be interested in knowing the mechanisms of heat transfer
involved in the operation of equipment, for example boilers, condensers, air pre-heaters,
economizers, and so on, in a thermal power plant in order to improve their performance.
Nuclear power plants require precise information on heat transfer, as safe operation is an
important factor in their design. Refrigeration and air-conditioning systems also involve
heat-exchanging devices, which need careful design. Electrical engineers are keen to avoid
material damage due to hot spots, developed by improper heat transfer design, in electric
motors, generators and transformers. An electronic engineer is interested in knowing the
efficient methods of heat dissipation from chips and semiconductor devices so that they can
operate within safe operating temperatures. A computer hardware engineer is interested in
knowing the cooling requirements of circuit boards, as the miniaturization of computing
devices is advancing at a rapid rate. Chemical engineers are interested in heat transfer
processes in various chemical reactions. A metallurgical engineer would be interested
in knowing the rate of heat transfer required for a particular heat treatment process, for
example, the rate of cooling in a casting process has a profound influence on the quality
of the final product. Aeronautical engineers are interested in knowing the heat transfer rate
in rocket nozzles and in heat shields used in re-entry vehicles. An agricultural engineer
would be interested in the drying of food grains, food processing and preservation. A
civil engineer would need to be aware of the thermal stresses developed in quick-setting
concrete, the effect of heat and mass transfer on building and building materials and also the
effect of heat on nuclear containment, and so on. An environmental engineer is concerned
with the effect of heat on the dispersion of pollutants in air, diffusion of pollutants in soils,
thermal pollution in lakes and seas and their impact on life. The global, thermal changes
and associated problems caused by El Nino are very well known phenomena, in which
energy transfer in the form of heat exists.

Fundamentals of the Finite Element Method for Heat and Fluid Flow R. W. Lewis, P. Nithiarasu and K. N. Seetharamu
 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd ISBNs: 0-470-84788-3 (HB); 0-470-84789-1 (PB)