| Abstract: | The thermal decay of an initially hot isothermal water body contained in a tank was studied. Analytical solutions (including a group-theoretic solution) were obtained for the one-dimensional heat conduction equation with heat loss from the sides of the tank. The convective heat transfer coefficient was assumed not to be constant over the surface of the tank but to vary with space and time. A very good agreement was obtained between the group-theoretic solution and a numerical solution using the Crank-Nicholson finite difference scheme. The analytical results are discussed in terms of the underlying physical mechanisms. |
