ME685 Arctic Heat and Mass Transfer Fall 2009 Midterm Exam Due 5:20 pm October 29, 2009

1. A circular pipe with 10-cm diameter is embedded in a low conductivity material. Perpendicular to the mid-plane of the pipe are thin heating pads (infinite half space) that maintain a temperature of +15C. The pipe wall is maintained at -7C. Use conformal maps to plot the 0C isotherm above the pipe (Excel, Matlab, Mathcad, etc). Use one of the conformal maps supplied in the handout, and an equation supplied in the Superposition notes. What is the longest distance between the pipe wall and the 0C isotherm? +15C

-7C

2. Consider an automobile defroster. To prevent condensation of water vapor on the inside, the air temperature and the inside surface convection coefficient must be large enough to maintain an inside surface temperature that is at least as high as the dew point. Assume the windshield has a length of 80 cm and thickness 6 mm and the vehicle moves at 70 mph, outside air is -15C, and defroster temperature is 50C with humidity of 30%. What is the smallest value of h on the inside to prevent condensation. For outside convection over a flat plate, use the correlation 0.8 0.33 Nu=0.03 Re Pr

70 mph -15C T = 50C = 30%

= 25

The velocity over the windshield is 70 mph 0.447 m/s V= =34.5 m/s 1 mph cos 25 The Nu number is 0.8 34.5m/s0.8m 0.33 Nu= 0.72 =3429 6 2 11.4410 m /s The convective heat transfer coefficient outside is Nuk air 34290.023 W/mK hout = = =95.6 W/mK L 0.8 m

At steady state, the rates of heat transfer are all equal: outside convection, glass conduction, and inside conduction T T g,out q=hout T g,outT =k glass g,in =h in T airT g,in d where Tg is glass temperature. The inside glass temperature must be at or above the dew point, which is 27.5C when T = 50C and = 30%. The glass conductivity is kglass = 1.4 W/mK. The energy balance is two equations and two unknowns: Tg,out and hin. Solving yields
T g,out =15.15 C

hin =128.1 W/m K

3. Revolving solar panels are used to maximize solar energy input, but the mechanical mechanism can be expensive. Calculate the difference in net energy input (in kJ) between a rotating panel that always faces the sun, and a stationary panel facing due south. Assume the solar panel area is 1m2, 15% efficient, a cloudless day in Fairbanks, and the atmosphere absorbs 15% of incoming radiation. Do this for the following four cases a) March 21, 45 tilt from horizontal. b) March 21, 90 tilt from horizontal. c) December 21, 90 tilt from horizontal. d) June 21, 45 tilt from horizontal. If the mechanism costs $200 for a single panel, estimate the payoff time for the mechanism. Assume my energy cost is otherwise $0.50 per kWhour. You can linearly interpolate between the values you calculated. Kudos credit for doing it numerically or with a spreadsheet.

4. Calculate the minimum thickness of gravel required for a road in Anaktuvuk Pass, AK, in order to prevent the permafrost from thawing. Use daily average temperature data available on the website for 2008. Assume the layer properties shown below, and use the Modified Berggren method. Then use the same weather data to determine the depth of freeze in winter for the winter months. Did all the material freeze? For a safety factor for subsequent years, assume everything is at -5C before the warming period, and +5C before the thawing period. Determine the equivalent freezing index by fitting the weather data to a sinusoidal form, and then averaging that formula over the appropriate freeze or thaw period. Material asphalt ballast gravel k [W/mC] 1.2 1.4 1.7 depth 0.1 m 0.3 m ?? C [kJ/m3C] 2000 2200 3000 latent heat, L [kJ/m3] 0 10000 15000