Advanced Heat Conduction

By Prof. Debasis Sarkar | IIT Kharagpur

Learners enrolled: 36

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This course will focus exclusively on principles and analysis of heat transfer by conduction. A wide range of mathematical techniques will be presented for formulations and analytical solutions of broad class of heat conduction problems. The course will cover analytical solutions of steady and transient one- and multi-dimensional heat conduction problems on various coordinate systems, heat conduction involving phase change, heat conduction with local heat source, and heat conduction in porous media. After completing the course, the participants will develop the required skills to model, analyze and solve a wide range of engineering problems involving heat transfer by conduction. The students will also find various analytical methods presented here in other areas of study or for individual research.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Chemical Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Practicing Engineers

PREREQUISITES: Heat Transfer (UG Level), Engineering Mathematics

INDUSTRY SUPPORT:

Various Chemical Process Industries
Thermal/Power industries
Manufacturers of Heat Transfer Equipment
Steel Industries

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Chemical Engineering
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Postgraduate
Start Date :	21 Jul 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Jul 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	15 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	02 Nov 2025 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Foundations of Heat Transfer

Week 2: The Sturm-Liouville Theory and Fourier Expansions

Week 3: Multi-dimensional Steady-State Heat Conduction Problems: Solution by Separation of Variables

Week 4: Multi-dimensional Transient Heat Conduction Problems: Solution by Separation of Variables

Week 5: Heat Conduction Problems in Semi-infinite and Infinite Domains

Week 6: Solution of Heat Conduction Problems with Integral Transforms

Week 7: Solution of Heat Conduction Problems by Duhamel’s Method and Green’s Function

Week 8: Heat Conduction Involving Phase Change

Week 9: Heat Conduction with Local Heat Sources

Week 10: Approximate Methods for Solution for Heat Conduction Problems

Week 11: Heat Conduction in Porous Media and Anisotropic Solids

Week 12: Numerical Methods for Heat Conduction Problems

Books and references

Heat Conduction by D. W. Hahn and N. M. Ozisik, Third Edition, John Wiley & Sons.
Heat Conduction by S. Kakac, Y. Yener, and C. P. Naveira-Cotta, Fifth Edition, CRC Press.
Heat Conduction by L. M. Jiji, Third Edition, Springer.

Instructor bio

Prof. Debasis Sarkar

IIT Kharagpur

Prof. Debasis Sarkar is currently a Professor at Chemical Engineering Department of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He received his BTech from Calcutta University, Master of Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and PhD from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, all in Chemical Engineering. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Western Ontario, Canada. Prior to joining IIT Kharagpur, he worked with ICES Singapore and HBTI Kanpur. His current research interests are in applications of process systems engineering approaches for crystallization engineering and biosystems engineering. His teaching interests include Advanced heat transfer, Optimization techniques, and Instrumentation and process control.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: November 02, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kharagpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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