HEAT-TRANSFER IN A CYLINDRICAL GEOMETRY AND APPLICATION TO RECIPROCATING INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES

In many previous investigations, heat flux through a wall has been studied when the system can be regarded as having a planar geometry. Traditionally, cylindrical coordinate systems, such as reciprocating internal combustion engines, have been approximated by planar geometries. In this work, we present an expression for the heat flux through the wall of a cylindrical chamber and establish conditions for which it can be approximated by a planar geometry. We have used the harmonic method to solve the heat equation with boundary conditions appropriate for a four-stroke internal combustion engine. These studies have bearing on engine efficiency and hence on energy conservation.