# Heat Transfer This section is dedicated to modeling thermal systems. We begin with the **law of conservation of energy** to derive the **energy balance equation**, which governs how the temperature of an object changes over time due to absorbed and emitted heat. We will apply **constitutive laws**, such as the **Stefan–Boltzmann law**, to describe the components of heat transfer. Using *nondimensionalization*, we'll simplify these models to identify key relationships between parameters, preparing them for numerical solution using SciPy. ### Big Ideas * The **law of conservation of energy** is the fundamental principle used to derive differential equations that model heat transfer. * **Constitutive laws** (like the **Stefan–Boltzmann law** for radiation) are specialized equations used to define individual components of a physical model. * **Nondimensionalization** is essential for simplifying models by reducing the number of parameters and determining how these parameters influence system dynamics. * `SciPy` is utilized to compute **numerical solutions**, enabling easy simulation and visualization of thermal models. ## Energy Balance ### Heat Capacity **Heat** is the transfer (or flux) of **thermal energy**. The **heat capacity** $C$ of an object relates the change in thermal energy $\Delta E$ to the resulting change in temperature $\Delta T$: $$ C = \frac{\Delta E}{\Delta T} $$ $C$ has units of $J/K$. Although heat capacity generally depends on temperature and pressure, we will assume $C$ is *constant* for the objects in our models. To model how temperature changes over time, we use the derivative form: $$ C \frac{dT}{dt} = \frac{dE}{dt} $$ This relates the rate of change of energy (heat transfer) to the rate of change of temperature. ### Energy Balance Applying the law of conservation of energy to an object that absorbs and emits heat yields the *energy balance equation*: $$ C \frac{dT}{dt} = Q_{in} - Q_{out} $$ where: * $T$ is the temperature of the object $(K)$ * $C$ is the heat capacity ($J/K$) * $Q_{in}$ is the rate of heat absorbed by the object ($W = J/s$) * $Q_{out}$ is the rate of heat emitted by the object ($W = J/s$) ## Dimensions and Units | Quantity | Symbol | Dimensions | SI Units | | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | | thermal energy | $E$ | M L<sup>2</sup> T<sup>-2</sup> | J | | temperature | $T$ | $\Theta$ | K | | heat capacity | $C$ | M L<sup>2</sup> T<sup>-2</sup> $\Theta^{-1}$ | J/K | | heat | $Q$ | M L<sup>2</sup> T<sup>-3</sup> | W | ## Thermal Radiation ### Solar Radiation **Thermal radiation** is heat emitted as electromagnetic waves. The *solar constant* $S_0$ is the thermal radiation emitted by the Sun, measured per unit area per unit time just outside the Earth's atmosphere: $$ S_0 = 1368 \ \text{W/m}^2 $$ Viewed from the Sun, the Earth presents a cross-sectional area of $\pi R^2$ (where $R$ is the radius of the Earth). Therefore, the total energy flux arriving from the Sun at the outer edge of the atmosphere is $\pi R^2 S_0$. ### Albedo The **albedo** $\alpha$ is a *dimensionless parameter* that measures the fraction of the Sun's radiation that is reflected by the Earth back into space ($0<\alpha<1$). The total energy flux from the Sun *absorbed* by the Earth is: $$ (1 - \alpha) \pi R^2 S_0 $$ ### Stefan–Boltzmann Law A *black body* is an idealized object that emits and absorbs thermal radiation perfectly at all frequencies. The **Stefan–Boltzmann law** states that the total energy $Q$ radiated by a black body per unit surface area per unit time is directly proportional to $T^4$: $$ Q = \sigma T^4 $$ where $\sigma = 5.670374419 \times 10^{-8}$ W m<sup>-2</sup> K<sup>-4</sup> is the **Stefan-Boltzmann constant**. Assuming the Earth is a black body with homogeneous temperature $T$, the total thermal radiation emitted from its surface area $4 \pi R^2$ would be $4 \pi R^2 \sigma T^4$. ### Greenhouse Effect The chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere affects how much longwave radiation is emitted into space. The [**greenhouse effect**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect) occurs because atmospheric gases absorb longwave radiation from the Earth but allow shortwave solar radiation to pass through. To model this, we introduce the **greenhouse parameter** $\varepsilon$, which is the fraction of radiation emitted by the Earth that escapes into outer space (where $1-\varepsilon$ is the fraction absorbed by the atmosphere). The total thermal radiation emitted by the Earth *into outer space* is: $$ 4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon T^4 $$ ## Global Energy Balance We construct a mathematical model for the Earth's temperature $T$ over time using the energy balance equation. ```python import numpy as np import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import scipy.integrate as spi ``` ### Variables and Parameters | Description | Symbol | Dimensions | Type | | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | | temperature of the Earth and atmosphere | $T$ | $\Theta$ | dependent variable | | time | $t$ | T | independent variable | | solar constant | $S_0$ | M T<sup>-3</sup> | parameter | | albedo of the Earth | $\alpha$ | 1 | parameter | | radius of the Earth | $R$ | L | parameter | | Stefan-Boltzmann constant | $\sigma$ | M T<sup>-3</sup> $\Theta^{-4}$ | parameter | | heat capacity of the Earth and atmosphere | $C$ | M L<sup>2</sup> T<sup>-2</sup> $\Theta^{-1}$ | parameter | | greenhouse parameter | $\varepsilon$ | 1 | parameter | ### Assumptions and Constraints * The Earth and the atmosphere are treated as one object with homogeneous temperature $T$ and heat capacity $C$. * $S_0$, $\alpha$, $C$, and $\varepsilon$ are *constant*. * Earth emits radiation as a black body $\sigma T^4$. ### Construction The governing equation is the energy balance equation, $C \frac{dT}{dt} = Q_{in} - Q_{out}$: $$ C \frac{dT}{dt} = \underbrace{(1 - \alpha) \pi R^2 S_0}_{Q_{in} \ (\text{Solor Absorption})} - \underbrace{4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon T^4}_{Q_{out} \ (\text{Space Emission})} $$ ### Nondimensionalization We apply the procedure to simplify the equation and identify key parameters. #### Step 1 & 2 (Variables and Substitution) Let $t = [t] t^*$ and $T = [T] T^*$. $$ C \frac{[T]}{[t]} \frac{dT^*}{dt^*} = (1 - \alpha) \pi R^2 S_0 - 4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon [T]^4 T^{*4} $$ #### Step 3 & 4 (Normalize and Simplify Coefficients) Divide by the coefficient of the $T^{*4}$ term, $4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon [T]^4$: $$ \frac{C}{4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon [T]^3[t]} \frac{dT^*}{dt^*} = \frac{(1 - \alpha)S_0}{4 \sigma \varepsilon [T]^4} - T^{*4} $$ We choose the temperature scale $[T]$ to make the constant term equal to 1, and the time scale $[t]$ to make the derivative coefficient equal to 1: \begin{align} [T] &= \left( \frac{(1 - \alpha) S_0}{4 \sigma \varepsilon} \right)^{1/4} \\ [t] &= \frac{C}{4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon [T]^3} = \frac{C}{4 \pi R^2 \sigma \varepsilon} \left( \frac{4 \sigma \varepsilon}{(1 - \alpha) S_0} \right)^{3/4} \end{align} #### Step 5 (Rewrite System and Analysis) The final dimensionless system is independent of the parameters $C$ and $R$: $$ \frac{dT^*}{dt^*} = 1 - T^{*4}, \quad T^*(0) = \frac{T_0}{[T]} $$ ### Analysis Since $T>0$, there is only one steady-state solution found by setting $dT^∗/dt^∗=0$: $$ T^*_{\infty} = 1 $$ In terms of physical quantities, the equilibrium temperature is: $$ T_{\infty} = \left( \frac{(1 - \alpha) S_0}{4 \sigma \varepsilon} \right)^{1/4} $$ The steady-state temperature depends only on the solar parameters $(S_0, \alpha)$ and the radiation parameters $(\sigma, \varepsilon)$. The parameters $C$ and $R$ only affect the time scale $[t]$. ```python= f = lambda T,t: 1 - T**4 t = np.linspace(0,1,100) for T0 in [0.5,0.75,1.0,1.25,1.5]: T = spi.odeint(f,T0,t) plt.plot(t,T,'b') plt.ylim([0,2]),plt.grid(True) plt.show() ``` ![8f4cd003-e5e4-4ff6-87d4-ceecbae58d02](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ry7_Nl22ex.png)