CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Heat Transfer 431

Tutorial 4

1 For gases flowing across a heated cylinder the Nusselt number is found to be a
function of Reynolds number only (i.e. Nu = C Re n where n and C are constants).
The results of experiments conducted with air are given below:

Experiment 1 2
Air velocity (m/s) 2 4
Cylinder diameter (mm) 10 25
Convective heat transfer coefficient (W/m 2.K) 46.1 39.2

Use the above information to calculate the convective heat transfer coefficient for
hydrogen flowing across a 50 mm diameter with a velocity of 4.0 m/s.

Properties Air Hydrogen

Viscosity, (kg/m.s) 2.591 x 10 -5 10.87 x 10 -
6

Thermal conductivity, k (W/m.K) 0.03365 0.228

Density, (kg/m 3) 0.0614

(Ans: 74.66 W/m2.K)

2 Hot water flows at a rate of 1.2 kg/s through a copper tube of internal diameter 25
mm and wall thickness 2.5 mm. The tube is cooled on the outside by air flowing
across the length. The free stream velocity of the air is 20.0 m/s. Assuming a
uniform air temperature of 25 oC, a bulk mean water temperature of 75 oC and a
mean wall temperature of 55 oC, calculate:

(i) the water to tube wall convective heat transfer coefficient.

(ii) the tube wall to air convective heat transfer coefficient.
(iii) the overall heat transfer coefficient from the water to the air based on the
inside area of the tube.

Obtain the properties of water and air from property tables.

For flow inside a tube: NuD = 0.023 ReD0.8. Pr0.4 for ReD > 2000
For flow across a tube: NuD = 0.174 ReD0.62 for 4000 < ReD < 40,000
For copper: k = 383.6 W/m.K.

(Ans: 12.0 kW/m2.K, 0.1024 kW/m2.K, 0.1215 kW/m2.K)

The hot water enters the tube at 80 oC. Calculate the length of the tube
necessary to cool the water to 60 oC at the tube outlet. Derive expressions for the
variation of water temperature and the tube wall temperature along the length of
the tube. Neglect axial heat conduction.

(Ans: 238 m)
3 A cylindrical heating element of diameter 25 mm and length 0.5 m is immersed
vertically into a large pool of water at 20 oC. The surface temperature of the
heater is 55 oC. Determine the rate of heat transfer from the heater to the water.
Obtain property values from appropriate tables.

For a vertical surface, the natural convective heat transfer is given by

NuL = 0.1 (Gr L .Pr)1/3 for Gr L .Pr > 10 9

(Ans: 915.9 W)

4 The air space between inside and outside walls of a kiln is used as an insulation
for the kiln. For an air gap of 20 mm, calculate the heat transfer through the walls
per unit area if the inner and outer wall temperatures are 100 oC and 51 oC,
respectively. Neglect the radiation heat exchange. Obtain property values from
appropriate property tables.

If the outer wall is exposed to an ambient at 30 oC, determine the operating heat
transfer coefficient at the outer surface.

For an enclosed space between two vertical surfaces,

Nub = 0.18 Gr b1/4 (L/b) -1/9 for 2x103 < Grb < 2x103
Nub = 0.064 Gr b1/3 (L/b) -1/9 for 2x104 < Grb < 11x106

where b is the distance between the two surfaces and L is the vertical height.

(Ans:80.2 W/m2, 3.82 W/m2.K)

Associate Professor TT Chandratilleke