Natural Convection

Air flow caused by a difference in temperature The air close to the plate is heated and thereby assumes a lower density The air closest to the plate starts to rise

Natural Convection
The air flow gives rise to heat exchange

Velocity field

Temperature field

Laminar or turbulent flow?

Looking at the flow close to the plate, we can distinguish between: laminar and turbulent flow.

Laminar flow
Laminar flow is: - orderly - follows known theory and is therefore predictable! Accurate results can be achieved by numerical solution of the differential equations governing the fluid flow and heat transfer!

Laminar

Turbulent

Turbulent flow
Turbulent flow is: - Chaotic, stochastisc Turbulence is small fluctuations in velocity, pressure, temperature - theory to describe this completely exists, but cannot be applied due to lack of computational resources It is however possible to model the effects that the turbulence have on friction (shear stresses), and heat transfer numerically Large computer power is needed to do this!

Laminar or turbulent flow

Laminar flow generally yields poorer heat transfer compared to turbulent flow The reason for this is that the turbulence causes a mixing of the fluid close to the plate. This mixing gives rise to better heat transfer due to thinner boundary layers close to the plate.

Boundary Layer

Heat transfer from a plane plate

Newtons law of cooling

& Q = h A t & Q q = = h t A
If we can calculate the heat transfer coefficient, h, & then we can calculate the heat dissipation, Q

Thin boundary layer yields good heat conduction

Turbulence gives rise to good mixing

Thin laminar sub-layer

Heat transfer from a vertical plane plate

Instead of solving the differential equations (and model the turbulence), results from experimental investigations have been presented in form of correlations like:
Heat transfer Characteristic cefficient length Rayleigh number

Heat transfer from a vertical plane plate

Solving for the heat transfer coefficient:

Nu L =

hL n n = C Ra L h = C Ra L L
3 g t L c p = 2
Observe!

The constant C and the hL exponent n depend on the n Nu = = C Ra L flow type (laminar or turbulent) Nusselt number Thermal conductivity

Rayleigh number, Ra (or the product GrPr)

Ra L = Gr Pr = = C Ra t L
3

Heat transfer from a vertical plane plate

Rayleigh number, Ra (or product GrPr)

Properties for air

CRa

Ra L = C Ra t L
Natural constants and fluid properties (temperature dependent)

Temperature difference between plate and air t = tplate- tair

Characteristic length (= height for a vertical plate)

CRa (Rayleigh function) should be evaluated at the film temperature, tfilm

tfilm = (tplate +tair)/2

This table is attached to the handouts

Laminar or turbulent?
Nu = hL n = C Ra L h = C C Ra t L L

3 n

Example
Calculate the heat dissipation by natural 60 C convection from a vertical plane plate with surface temperature of 60 C. The height of the plate is 0,5 m tair = 20 C and its width is 1 m. The ambient air is 20 C. Heat is dissipated from both sides of the plate.

Laminar flow if 104 < RaL < 108 => C = 0,56 and n = 1/4

14 1 4 t Nu L = 0,56 Ra L h = 0,56 C Ra L

14

& Q
1m

0,5 m

Turbulent flow if 108 < RaL < 1012 => C = 0,13 and n = 1/3

Nu L = 0,13 Ra L h = 0,13 C Ra t
13 13

13

Example
Calculate film temperature, t film tfilm = (60 +20)/2 = 40 C tluft = 20 C 60 C

Properties for air

& Q
1m 0,5 m
CRa

tfilm = 40 C => CRa = 77,1106 m-3K-1; = 0,0273 W/(mK)

Example
Calculate film temperature, t film tfilm = (60 +20)/2 = 40 C CRa = 77,1106 m-3K-1, = 0,0273 W/(mK)
3 6

Boundary conditions
& Q
0,5 m

60 C

tair = 20 C
3 8

1m

Ra L = C Ra t L = 77,1 10 (60 20) 0,5 = 3,85 10 Turbulent! => C = 0,13; n = 1/3

So far, we have considered the temperature as constant. Another boundary condition could be to have a constant heat flux, q (heat dissipation per surface area)

h=

0,0273 n 13 C Ra L = 0,13 3,85 10 = 5,16 W/(mK) L 0,5

& Q = h A t = 5,16 2 0,5 1 (60 20) = 206,6 W

Boundary conditions
Heat flux can be written

Randvillkor
Which can be re-written:

q =

& Q q = h t t = A h

h=

q 3 n n +1 3 C C Ra L = C C Ra q L L h L
n

n n +1

Heat transfer coefficient can be calculated as

3 h = C C Ra t L L

For the laminar case with C = 0,56 and n = 1/4:

h = 0,56 C Ra

14 45

q L

15

Equation for t is inserted in the equation for h:

For the turbulent case with C = 0,13 and n = 1/3:

h=

q 3 C C Ra L L h

h = 0,13 C Ra

13 34

14