ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the subject of time-dependent nuclear heat transfer. A numerical solution to the heat conduction equation requires converting it into a set of algebraic equations called finite difference equations. A computer program that solves these equations has the advantage that different boundary conditions and convective heat transfer coefficients can be applied to different parts of the same object. Small values for the Biot number imply that the internal resistance to the conduction of heat is small relative to the convective resistance at an object’s surface. The Fourier number measures the amount of heat conducted through an object relative to the amount of heat stored in the object. Fourier’s equation conserves the flow of heat through a material object, and it relies on the fact that the heat flow rate is proportional to the negative gradient of the local temperature.
