Analysis We have a spherical enclosure filled with air. The characteristic
length in this case is the distance between the two spheres,
Lc (Do Di)/2 (0.3 0.2)/2 0.05 m
The Rayleigh number is
RaL
(0.729) 4.776 105
The effective thermal conductivity is
Fsph
0.005229
keff 0.74k (FsphRaL)1/4
0.74(0.02566 W/m °C) (0.005229 4.776 105)1/4
0.1104 W/m °C
Then the rate of heat transfer between the spheres becomes
Q ·
keff (Ti To)
(0.1104 W/m °C) (320 280)K 16.7 W
Therefore, heat will be lost from the inner sphere to the outer one at a rate of
16.7 W.
Discussion Note that the air in the spherical enclosure will act like a stationary
fluid whose thermal conductivity is keff/k 0.1104/0.02566 4.3 times
that of air as a result of natural convection currents. Also, radiation heat transfer
between spheres is usually very significant, and should be considered in a
complete analysis.