Analysis of dimensional ratios of regular geometries for innite

geometry assumptions in conduction heat transfer problems

Ferruh Erdogdu
*
, Mahir Turhan
Department of Food Engineering, University of Mersin, 33343 Ciftlikkoy, Mersin, Turkey
Abstract
Assumptions for approximating a nite geometry as an innite one during unsteady-state conduction heat transfer processes have
been widely used in the literature. Comparison of the dimensions has been a unique approach in these assumptions. In this study,
the certainty of the innite body assumption was investigated for regular rod (circular and square rods) and regular slab (circular
and rectangular slabs) group geometries. For this objective, at a certain Biot number (Bi), the changes in center temperature and center
sterilization values were compared with the ones occurring in the reference innite geometries versus the ratio of the dimension through
which the heat transfer is negligible (VD) and/or the dimension through which the heat transfer is signicant (PD). Bi number was found
to be signicantly aecting the innite geometry assumptions. The values of innite assumption ratio (IAR), the ratio
VD
PD
required to
make the innite assumption ratio, for both rod and slab group geometries exponentially decreased with increasing Bi number until
Bi = 10. The
VD
PD
value of four for rod group geometries and eight for slab group geometries for Bi > 10 was enough to make the innite
geometry assumption. To summarize the change of IAR with Bi number, a chart and a regression equation were constructed. The given
chart and the equation (IAR vs Bi number) can easily be used to determine the IAR value for rod and slab group geometries with a given
Bi number.
Keywords: Innite geometry assumptions; Unsteady-state heat/mass transfer
1. Introduction
Innite geometry assumptions in heat transfer problems
are basically based on that the area of one of the surfaces is
too large compared to the area of the other surfaces of a
given three-dimensional geometry provided that heat ux
is same through all surfaces at a given time. The compari-
son of the heat transfer areas may be simplied to the com-
parison of dimensions while one of the dimensions is the
principle one (PD) along with the heat transfer is signi-
cant, and the others are variable ones (VD) along with
the heat transfer can be neglected (Fig. 1).
Olson and Schultz (1942) indicated that a length (VD)
four times the diameter (PD) of a cylinder or four times
the shortest dimension (PD) of a square rod would be suf-
cient to consider these geometries as innite ones, e.g.

VD
PD
P4. In that study, the surface temperature was as-
sumed to be equal to that of the medium (e.g. innite Biot
number-Bi). Incropera and DeWitt (1996) also reported
that a nite cylinder can be approximated as an innite
one as long as the length to radius ratio is greater than
10, e.g.
VD
PD
> 5. These innite geometry assumptions have
been widely used to simplify the heat and mass transfer
problems without any restriction.
Rovedo and Viollaz (2000) attempted to determine a
VD
PD
value to assume a nite slab as an innite one at Bi number
of 0.1 and 100. According to their results, a nite slab can
not be considered as an innite one even for a
VD
PD
value of
20, and the relative error obtained with this assumption
increased as the Fourier number (Fo) increased, and it was
dierent at Bi number of 0.1 and 100.
Recently, Turhan and Erdogdu (2003, 2004) reported
that the error due to approximating a nite geometry as
an innite one changed with Fo and Bi numbers indicating
that the innite geometry assumptions may not be accurate
by just considering the ratio of the dimensions, e.g.
VD
PD
.
In these previous works, only temperature changes were
considered in heat transfer problems for innite geometry
assumptions. On the other hand, in case of heat treatment
of foods, changes due to temperature may also be more
important than the temperature change itself. For example,
rather than a temperature reached for a given process time,
an ideal thermal process should give a certain sterilization
Notation
a geometrical constant in Eq. (15)
Bi Biot number
hd
k

D D-value (min)
Fo Fourier number
at
d
2

F sterilization value (min)

F
0
reference sterilization value (2.4 min)
h heat transfer coecient (W/m
2
K)
J
0
Bessel function of 1st kind 0th order
J
1
Bessel function of 1st kind 1st order
k thermal conductivity (W/m K)
IAR innite assumption ratio
VD
PD

L half thickness of an innite slab or half-length of

a cylinder (m)
log
N
0
N
required log cycle reduction of the given micro-
organism
PD principle dimension
r, h, z directions in the cylindrical coordinate system
R radius of a cylinder (m)
SV sterilization value (min)
t time (s)
T temperature (C)
T
c
center temperature (C)
T
i
initial temperature (C)
T
1
medium temperature (C)
T
ref
reference temperature (C)
VD variable dimension
x, y, z directions in the Cartesian coordinate system
z z-value (C)
a thermal diusivity (m
2
/s)
d half thickness for an innite slab, radius for and
innite cylinder (m)
k characteristic root of Eq. (7) or (9)
PD = 2L
VD = R
Circular slab (Reference: Infinite slab)
Rectangular slab (Reference: infinite slab)
VD = A
VD = A
C
PD = R
ylindrical rod
(Reference: Infinite cylindrical rod)
VD = 2L
Square rod
(Reference: Infinite square rod)
VD = 2L
PD
PD = 2, 5, 10, 20, & 40 mm
VD = PD2
0
, ....., PD2
n
mm (n = 1,2,)
PD = 2L
PD
Fig. 1. Description of the geometries used in the work (adapted from Turhan and Erdogdu, 2003).
value at the coldest point of a food product for this given
time. Hence, the sterilization value can be used for the
validity of innite geometry assumptions in thermal pro-
cessing of foods besides the temperature change.
Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate
the required conditions of dimensional ratios
VD
PD
_ _
for in-
nite geometry assumptions in unsteady-state conduction
heat transfer processes using the changes of both tempera-
ture and sterilization values (SV) with respect to the
changes in Bi number.
2. Methods
To accomplish the given objective, a circular rod, a
square rod, a circular slab and a rectangular slab were cho-
sen as nite geometries. The reference for the circular rod
was an innite cylinder, for the two dimensional square
rod an innite square rod and for the circular and rectan-
gular slabs an innite slab (Fig. 1). Thermal diusivity
value was chosen to be 1.47 10
7
m
2
/s, which is in the
typical range for food products, and it was assumed to
be constant during the given heating process.
A constant principle dimension (PD: 4, 10, 40 and
80 mm, from very small to very large),diameter for an
innite cylinder, the shortest dimension for a square rod,
thickness for a circular slab, and the shortest dimension
for a rectangular slab, and a variable dimension was de-
ned for the geometries (Fig. 1). The variable dimension
(VD) was the length for a cylindrical rod, the length for
a square rod, the diameter for a circular slab, and for the
width and the length for a rectangular slab. A certain
VD
PD
value, as independent of the given geometrys size, was then
dened as the innite assumption ratio (IAR) which is re-
quired to be able to make the innite geometry assumption
at a given Bi number.
The changes in the center temperature and the steriliza-
tion values (F) were then determined for each geometry
while their VDs were increased geometrically from
PD 2
0
to PD 2
n
mm (PD = 2, 5, 10, 20 and 40 mm
and n = 1, 2, . . . , 1) at dierent Bi numbers (0.01, 0.1, 1,
10 and 100). The Bi number was the same Bi number as
used in the reference geometry while the VDs of the geom-
etries changed, and it was also assumed to be same in all
directions for the case of two- and three-dimensional
geometries.
Center temperatures of the given nite geometries were
then compared with respect to the innite reference geom-
etries at the given Bi numbers. The process time was taken
for the center temperature ratio TR
TctT1
T
i
T1
_ _ _ _
of the
reference geometry was to be 0.10 to let a certain process
time elapsed. Then, the VD, where there was no signicant
dierence (<0.005) between the temperature ratios of the
given geometry and the reference geometries, was the point
(PIAR) to make the innite geometry assumption.
The sterilization values were, on the other hand, com-
pared with a reference SV of F
0
D log
N
0
N
_ _
2:4 min
where D is the decimal reduction time for a given microor-
ganism, and log
N
0
N
_ _
is the required log cycle reduction in
the number of a given microorganism. The reference SV
of 2.4 min was to be required for a 12 log cycle reduction
of Clostridium botulinum spores; D = 0.2 min (Singh &
Heldman, 2001). Based on these, ratios of
F
F
0
values were
determined, and the VD, where this ratio becomes equal
to 1, was assumed to be the point (PIAR) beyond which
the innite geometry assumption will hold true.
At the given points IAR
VD
PD
, the IAR value was also
independent of the size of the geometry, based on both ster-
ilization value and the center temperature change
approaches.
3. Mathematical background
3.1. Analytical solutions to determine the center
temperature change
Governing equations for unsteady-state heat conduction
in a slab and cylindrical solid objects are given as follows:
Slab (in Cartesian coordinates)
o
2
T
ox
2

o
2
T
oy
2

o
2
T
oz
2

1
a

oT
ot
1
Cylinder (in cylindrical coordinates)
1
r

o
or
r
oT
or
_ _

1
r
2

o
2
T
oh
2

o
2
T
oz
2

1
a

oT
ot
2
Solutions for Eqs. (1) and (2) in three-dimension for dier-
ent boundary conditions are complicated, and these can be
found in the literature. However, the unsteady-state heat
transfer in innite plate and innite cylinder can be ap-
proached as a one-dimensional problem leading to simpli-
cation for this complicated problem. For the given
boundary conditions (Eqs. (3) and (4)) and the initial con-
stant temperature distribution (Eq. 5), the analytical solu-
tions for an innite plate and innite cylinder for
constant-isotropic properties are given in Eqs. (6) and
(8), respectively
k
oTx; t
ox
h Tx; t T
1
x L or R 3
oT0; t
ox
0 4
Tx; 0 T
i
5
Innite plate
w
T T
1
T
i
T
1

1
n1
2 sink
n

k
n
sink
n
cosk
n

cos k
n

x
L
_ _
expk
2
n
Fo
_ _
6
where k is given by
Bi k tank 7
Innite cylinder
w
T T
1
T
i
T
1

1
n1
2
k
n

J
1
k
n

J
2
0
k
n
J
2
1
k
n

J
0
k
n

r
R
_ _
expk
2
n
Fo
_ _
8
where k is given by
Bi k
J
1
k
J
0
k
9
where k is thermal conductivity (W/m K), h is heat transfer
coecient (W/m
2
K), L is half thickness of the innite slab
(m), and R is radius of the innite cylinder (m).
Using the super imposition technique, the solutions for a
nite cylinder and a nite slab can be given as
T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
finite
plate

T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
infinite
plate;depth

T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
infinite
plate;width

T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
infinite
plate;height
10
T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
finite
cylinder

T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
infinite
cylinder

T T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
infinite
plate
11
Then, these solutions are easily used to determine the un-
steady-state temperature changes of 13 dimensional
geometries.
In the solution of Eqs. (6), (8), (10), and (11), 150 roots
of Eqs. (5) and (7) were applied since the number of roots
that should be used especially when Fo < 0.2 was an impor-
tant matter to make these solutions as error-free as possible
at any time and geometry combination (Turhan &
Erdogdu, 2003).
3.2. Determination of sterilization value (SV)
Sterilization value (SV) at a center point of certain
geometry was determined using Eq. (12) for a given process
time:
F
_
t
0
10
TctT
ref
z
_ _
dt 12
where T
ref
is the reference temperature (121.1 C), z is the
z-value of Clostridium botulinum (z = 10 C (Singh &
Heldman, 2001)), T
c
is the center temperature change of
the given geometry. Change in T
c
values was determined
applying Eqs. (6) and (8) for innite plate and innite cyl-
inder cases while Eqs. (10) and (11) were applied for a nite
slab and nite cylinder, respectively.
3.3. Determination of process times
To determine the process times, Eqs. (13) and (14) were
solved for the temperature ratio (TR = 0.1) and the steril-
ization value (SV; F
0
= 2.4 min) approaches by applying
the analytical solutions of innite plate, innite cylinder
and innite rod using a simple bisection optimization
procedure.
T
c
t T
1
T
i
T
1
_ _
0:1 0 13
_
t
0
10
TctT
ref
z
dt
_ _
2:4 0 14
where T
c
is the change in center temperature of a given ref-
erence geometry.
All calculations in this study were performed using a
computer program written in Microsoft Visual Basic V.
6.0 (Microsoft Corporation, 1984).
4. Results and discussion
Required process times for the temperature ratio (TR)
and sterilization value (SV) approaches were determined
and used in the study. Tables 1 and 2 show the process
times for the reference geometries where the center TR is
0.10 and the center SV is 2.4 min, respectively.
Using the process times given in Tables 1 and 2, the
center TR and SV changes for cylindrical rod, square
rod, circular slab and rectangular slab geometries were
determined to obtain IAR (the
VD
PD
ratio required to make
innite geometry assumption). In these calculations, VDs
were changed as explained above while PDs were held con-
stant. The changes in IAR values in rod group (cylindrical
and square rods) and slab group (circular and rectangular
slabs) geometries were independent of PD (Table 3). The
IAR values were same within the groups (rod and slab
groups) but dierent between the groups at a given Bi num-
ber. The TR and SV approaches also resulted in the same
IAR values, and IAR decreased with increasing Bi number
for all geometries (Table 3). This nding is important since
the TR approach was using only a temperature value
reached after a certain period of time while the SV
approach used the temperature history at the center of
the given geometry for this period of time.
Fig. 2 gives the IAR values for rod and slab group
geometries at Bi number of 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100. The
change of IAR versus Bi number for both rod and slab
groups decreased exponentially for Bi 6 10 and remained
constant for Bi > 10 (Fig. 2). As seen in Fig. 2, for
Bi > 10, a nite rod was found to be assumed as an innite
one as long as IAR P4, which was used as ve by Farid
and Abdul Ghani (2004) based on Incropera and DeWitt
(1996). This value was determined to be four by Olson
and Schultz (1942) without any restriction. However, when
Bi 6 10, the IAR value was higher as seen in Fig. 2 (e.g. 8
for Bi = 1, 16 for Bi = 0.1, etc.). In the case of slab geom-
etries, the behavior of IAR versus Bi number was similar.
Bi = 10 was again the limiting value, but the
VD
PD
value of
eight was required to make the innite slab assumption
for Bi > 10.
The lumped system approach assumes that the tempera-
ture distribution in a solid body is uniform for Bi 6 0.1
(Incropera & DeWitt, 1996). According the ndings of this
work, the IAR was aected by Bi for Bi 6 0.1 (Fig. 2)
pointing the existence of a temperature prole within the
body. This behavior suggests a detailed investigation of
the lumped system assumption.
As seen in Table 3 and Fig. 2, the dimensional ratio
VD
PD
had been doubled (from PD 2
0
to PD 2
n
mm,
n = 1, 2, . . . , 1) with Bi number of 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10.
Therefore, the IAR values were determined to be more
than enough to make an innite geometry assumption.
This enabled the IAR value be as independent of the size
of the geometries (Table 3).
The change of IAR versus Bi number was regressed for
Bi 6 10. The following exponential equation perfectly t-
ted the data obtained from the given analytical solutions
at Bi numbers of 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 for both rod and slab
group geometries with <0.005% deviation (Fig. 2):
IAR 2 a Bi
0:30103
for 0:01 6 Bi 6 10 15
where a is the geometrical constant which gives the value of
IAR for Bi > 10 that is four for rod and eight for slab
group geometries. When the results of Eq. (15) were com-
pared with the analytical data obtained at dierent Bi num-
bers within 0.0110, the results were also in perfect
agreement with <0.005% deviation for both rod and slab
group geometries. The comparison pointed that the given
equation (Eq. (15)) can also be used to practically deter-
mine the IAR value at any Bi number within 0.0110.
The IAR values were always higher in the slab group
geometries than the rod group geometries that is obviously
due to the higher volume to surface area ratio (characteris-
tic dimension) in the rod group geometries. Obtaining
Table 2
Process times (min) for the reference geometries of innite slab, innite cylinder and innite rod for the sterilization value (SV) to be 2.4 min
Reference geometry Principle dimension (PD; mm) Biot number (Bi)
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Innite slab (2L) 2 35.51 6.69 2.99 2.62 2.59
5 165.30 25.04 6.02 3.77 3.56
10 551.22 78.14 15.53 7.73 6.95
20 1872.06 256.11 46.98 21.35 18.73
40 6425.09 861.84 152.28 66.75 58.00
Innite cylinder (R) 2 62.85 10.55 3.52 2.80 2.74
5 300.89 43.69 9.12 4.88 4.49
10 1013.85 140.36 25.91 11.76 10.39
20 3464.13 467.30 81.87 35.08 30.50
40 11929.32 1586.91 271.80 114.30 98.72
Innite rod (2L 2L) 2 2 20.46 4.59 2.70 2.52 2.50
5 5 91.56 14.72 4.29 3.13 3.02
10 10 301.22 44.10 9.60 5.29 4.85
20 20 1015.09 141.79 27.54 13.20 11.68
40 40 3468.70 472.40 87.54 39.96 34.87
Table 1
Process times (min) for the reference geometries of innite slab, innite cylinder and innite rod for the center temperature ratio (TR) to be 0.10
Reference geometry Principle dimension (PD; mm) Biot number (Bi)
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Innite slab (2L) 2 26.16 2.71 0.37 0.14 0.12
5 163.52 16.95 2.31 0.88 0.74
10 654.09 67.79 9.23 3.51 2.98
20 2616.37 271.16 36.92 14.05 11.90
40 10465.49 1084.65 147.69 56.21 47.61
Innite cylinder (R) 2 52.30 5.49 0.71 0.26 0.22
5 326.87 33.74 4.47 1.64 1.38
10 1307.49 134.97 17.87 6.56 5.54
20 5229.95 539.90 71.50 26.22 22.15
40 20919.80 2159.60 285.98 104.90 88.59
Innite rod (2L 2L) 2 2 13.09 1.37 0.19 0.077 0.065
5 5 81.82 8.53 1.21 0.48 0.41
10 10 327.37 34.13 4.83 1.92 1.63
20 20 1309.08 136.52 19.32 7.67 6.52
40 40 5236.31 546.07 77.29 30.68 26.06
Table 3
The change in innite assumption ratio (IAR) values in rod group (cylindrical and square rods) and slab group (circular and rectangular slabs) geometries
for the temperature ratio (TR) and sterilization value (SV) approaches with respect to principal dimension (PD) and Biot number (Bi)
Geometries PD (mm) Biot Number (Bi)
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
TR SV TR SV TR SV TR SV TR SV
Cylindrical rod 2 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
5 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
10 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
20 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
40 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
Square rod 2 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
5 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
10 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
20 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
40 32 32 16 16 8 8 4 4 4 4
Circular slab 2 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
5 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
10 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
20 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
40 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
Rectangular slab 2 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
5 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
10 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
20 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
40 64 64 32 32 16 16 8 8 8 8
0
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Bi
I
A
R
Slab Group Geometries, a=8
Rod Group Geometries, a=4
0. 30103
2 IAR a Bi = . .
Fig. 2. IAR (innite assumption ratio) changes versus Biot number (Bi) for the rod (cylindrical and square) and slab (cylindrical and rectangular) group
geometries (broken lines give the t of Eq. (15)).
smaller IARvalues in rod geometries at the same Bi number
also agreed with the results of a previous work (Turhan &
Erdogdu, 2004). In this work, it was concluded that, at
the same conditions (same Bi and Fo numbers), the errors
due to innite geometry assumption in slab geometries were
higher than the corresponding errors in rod geometries.
5. Conclusions and suggestions
The results of this study showed that the IAR (the
VD
PD
ratio required to make the innite geometry assumption)
in conduction-heated regular solid rod and slab geometries
was a function of Bi number. For diusional mass transfer
problems in solids, it is expected to obtain the same results
for the given geometries since the same analytical solutions
will hold. In the previous works of Turhan and Erdogdu
(2003, 2004), the errors associated with assuming a nite
slab and rod geometry as an innite one during an unstea-
dy-state heat/mass transfer processes were determined as a
function of Fo and Bi numbers. However, this study has
given the required
VD
PD
value to assume a nite slab or rod
geometry as an innite one at a given Bi number. It has
been also shown that the accepted ratio of P4 for the in-
nite cylinder and square rod cases was not always correct
(Olson & Schultz, 1942; Incropera & DeWitt, 1996).
Fig. 2 or Eq. (15), to determine the IAR value for rod
and slab group geometries at a known Bi number, can be
used together with the commonly used Heisler charts
(Heisler, 1947) to determine the temperature/mass concen-
tration change in regular rod and slab geometries.
The phase change phenomenon (freezing, thawing, dry-
ing, etc.) is very common during food processing opera-
tions aecting the heat transfer. Therefore, validity of the
innite geometry assumptions should be investigated for
these processes to determine the temperature changes dur-
ing phase change phenomenon applying the required
numerical solutions for dierent cases.
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