PROBLEM3.

51
KNOWN: Diameter, wall thickness and thermal conductivity of steel tubes. Temperature of steam
flowing through the tubes. Thermal conductivity of insulation and emissivity of aluminum sheath.
Temperature of ambient air and surroundings. Convection coefficient at outer surface and maximum
allowable surface temperature.
FIND: (a) Minimum required insulation thickness (r
3
r
2
) and corresponding heat loss per unit
length, (b) Effect of insulation thickness on outer surface temperature and heat loss.
SCHEMATIC:
T = 575 C
i
o
, oo
Steam
Insulation
k = 0.10 W/m-K
in
Aluminum
Steel
k = 35 W/m-K
stl
r = 180 mm
2
r = 150 mm
1
r
3
T = 27 C
o
o
, oo
h
o
= 6 W/m -K
2
Ambient
air
T
sur
= 27 C
o
T
s,o
< 50 C
o
= 0.20 c
ASSUMPTIONS: (1) Steady-state, (2) One-dimensional radial conduction, (3) Negligible contact
resistances at the material interfaces, (4) Negligible steam side convection resistance (T
,i
= T
s,i
), (5)
Negligible conduction resistance for aluminum sheath, (6) Constant properties, (7) Large
surroundings.
ANALYSIS: (a) To determine the insulation thickness, an energy balance must be performed at the
outer surface, where
conv,o rad
q q q .
' ' '
= + With
( )
conv,o 3 o s,o ,o
q 2 r h T T , t

'
=
rad 3
q 2 r t
'
= co
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
4 4
s,o sur s,i s,o cond,st cond,ins cond,st 2 1 st
T T , q T T / R R , R n r / r / 2 k , t =
' ' ' '
+ = and
cond,ins
R
'
( )
3 2 ins
n r / r / 2 k , t = it follows that
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
s,i s,o
4 4
3 o s,o ,o s,o sur
2 1 3 2
st ins
2 T T
2 r h T T T T
n r / r n r / r
k k
t
t co

(
= +
(

+

( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
2 8 2 4 4 4 4
3
3
2 848 323 K
2 r 6 W / m K 323 300 K 0.20 5.67 10 W / m K 323 300 K
n r / 0.18 n 0.18 / 0.15
35 W / m K 0.10 W / m K
t
t

= +
+

(


A trial-and-error solution yields r
3
= 0.394 m = 394 mm, in which case the insulation thickness is
ins 3 2
t r r 214mm = = <
The heat rate is then
( )
( ) ( )
2 848 323 K
q 420W/ m
n 0.18/ 0.15 n 0.394/ 0.18
35W/ m K 0.10W/ m K
t
' = =
+


<
(b) The effects of r
3
on T
s,o
and q
'
have been computed and are shown below.
Continued
PROBLEM3.51 (Cont.)
Beyond r
3
~ 0.40 m, there are rapidly diminishing benefits associated with increasing the insulation
thickness.
COMMENTS: Note that the thermal resistance of the insulation is much larger than that for the tube
wall. For the conditions of Part (a), the radiation coefficient is h
r
= 1.37 W/m, and the heat loss by
radiation is less than 25% of that due to natural convection (
rad
q 78 W / m,
'
=
)
conv,o
q 342 W / m .
'
=
cond,st
R
rad
R
conv,o
R
R
q
T
s,o
T =
i ,i s,
T
oo
q
conv,o
q
rad
T
sur
T
o , oo
0.2 0.26 0.32 0.38 0.44 0.5
Outer radius of insulation, m
40
80
120
160
200
240
O
u
t
e
r
s
u
r
f
a
c
e
t
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e
,
C
Ts,o
0.2 0.26 0.32 0.38 0.44 0.5
Outer radius of insulation, m
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
H
e
a
t
r
a
t
e
s
,
W
/
m
Total heat rate
Convection heat rate
Radiation heat rate