1 s2.0 S0196890403000694 Main

Optimum interior area thermal resistance model to analyze
the heat transfer characteristics of an insulated pipe

with arbitrary shape
Huann-Ming Chou
*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kun-Shan University of Technology, 949, Da-Wan Road, Yung-Kang City,
Tainan Shien 710, Taiwan, ROC
Received 24 October 2002; accepted 17 February 2003
Abstract
The heat transfer characteristics for an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe are investigated
by using a wedge thermal resistance model as well as the interior area thermal resistance model
R
th
t=K
s
=1 aA
2
aA
3
with a surface area weighting factor a. The errors of the results generated by
an interior area model can be obtained by comparing with the exact results generated by a wedge model.
Accurate heat transfer rates can be obtained without error at the optimum a
opt
with the related t=R
2
. The
relation between a
opt
and t=R
2
is a
opt
1= ln1 t=R
2
1=t=R
2
. The value of a
opt
is greater than zero and
less than 0.5 and is independent of pipe size R
2
=R
cr
but strongly dependent on the insulation thickness t=R
2
.
The interior area model using the optimum value a
opt
with the related t=R
2
should also be applied to an
insulated pipe with arbitrary shape within a very small amount of error for the results of heat transfer rates.
The parameter R
2
conservatively corresponds to the outside radius of the maximum inside tangent circular
pipe within the arbitrary shaped pipes. The approximate dimensionless critical thickness t
cr
=R
2
and neutral
thickness t
e
=R
2
of an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape are also obtained. The accuracies of the value of
t
cr
=R
2
as well as t
e
=R
2
are strongly dependent on the shape of the insulated small pipe. The closer the shape
of an insulated pipe is to a regular polygonal or circular pipe, the more reliable will the values of t
cr
=R
2
as
well as t
e
=R
2
be.
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Insulation; Polygonal pipe; Arbitrary shape; Optimum; Interior area thermal resistance
Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 29152939
www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman
*
Tel.: +886-6-2724833; fax: +886-6-2734240.
E-mail address: hmchou@mail.ksut.edu.tw (H.-M. Chou).
0196-8904/03/$ - see front matter 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0196-8904(03)00069-4
Nomenclature
a weighting factor between inner and outer surface area of interior area thermal re-
sistance model
a
opt
optimum value of a for heat transfer rate Q
M
, Q
M
Q
E
at a
opt
a
t cr
optimum value of a for critical thickness t
cr
, t
cr
M
t
cr
E
at a
t cr
a
t e
optimum value of a for neutral critical thickness t
e
, t
e
M
t
e
E
at a
t e
h angle inside polygon as shown in Fig. 2
A
1
inner surface area of pipe
A
2
outer surface area of pipe
A
3
outer surface area of insulated pipe
Bi Biot number Bi 2R
2
h
o
=K
s
e edge length of regular polygonal pipe (e 2R

2
tan h, Fig. 2)
E
QM
actual heat transfer rate percentage error generated by insulated regular polygonal
pipe relative to interior area model with weighting factor a
E
QP
actual heat transfer rate percentage error generated by insulated regular polygonal
pipe relative to plate model
E
t cr
critical insulation thickness percentage error generated by insulated regular polygonal
pipe using interior area model with weighting factor a
E
t e
neutral critical insulation thickness percentage error generated by insulated regular
polygonal pipe using interior area model with weighting factor a
h
i
inner heat convection coecient
h
o
outer heat convection coecient
K conductivity of pipe
K
s
conductivity of insulation layer
l length of polygonal or circular pipe
N edge number of regular polygon
Q insulated heat transfer rate
Q
0
heat transfer rate without insulation
Q
E
exact heat transfer rate of insulated regular polygonal pipe with plane wedge thermal
resistance model
Q
M
heat transfer rate of insulated pipe with interior area model with weighting factor a
R
1
inner radius of bare circular pipe
R
2
outer radius of maximum inside tangent circular pipe inside pipe with arbitrary shape
R
3
outer radius of insulated circular pipe
R
cr
critical radius of insulated circular pipe; R
cr
K
s
=h
o
R
e
neutral radius of insulated circular pipe
R
th
t=K
s
1 aA
2
aA
3
, interior area thermal resistance model with weighting factor a
R
th
tnA
3
=A
2
=K
s
A
3
A
2
, wedge thermal resistance model
R
th
t=K
s
A
2
, conventional plate thermal resistance model
R
th
total thermal resistance of insulated pipe
R
th0
total thermal resistance of bare pipe
2916 H.-M. Chou / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 29152939
1. Introduction
The relation of the critical thickness and neutral thickness as well as heat transfer characteris-
tics for an insulated pipe are always interesting subjects to investigate. There is a well known
result, attributed to Porter [1], that a long cylinder may be of so small a radius that a small
amount of thermal insulation may increase heat loss rather than decrease it as anticipated. This
arises due to the relative increase in perimeter resulting in the area over weighing the insulating
eect of the added thickness. This cannot occur in plane geometry. Lewins and Cockerill [2]
suggested that the problem for a cylinder with a diameter 2R
2
, with insulation of a constant
thermal conductivity K
s
and a constant surface heat transfer coecient h
o
, which is properly
maintained at a constant temperature dierence T
1
T
o
above the ambient, could be considered
as having a critical size. They discovered that the critical size of a small insulation addition refers
to Biot number Bi 2R
2
h
o
=K
s
2. It also corresponds to a critical radius R
cr
K
s
=h
o
com-
monly denoted for an insulated pipe in heat transfer as well as air conditioning and refrigeration
text books [314].
In recent times, there has been much interest in the heat transfer of regular polygonal (including
triangular, square, pentagonal,. . . etc.) pipes and circular pipes in studies concerning small long
heat pipes [1524]. The heat transfer characteristics of a small insulated regular polygonal pipe
should be similar to those of a small insulated circular pipe. The above phenomenon has not been
studied by the previous investigations. In engineering applications, the constant surface area plate
model [314] is conventionally used to analyze the insulation of a polygonal pipe. As a result, the
greater is the insulation thickness, the greater the insulation eect will be. The critical thickness,
thus, cannot be obtained. However, when analyzing the heat transfer characteristic of a small
insulated polygonal heat pipe, it is inappropriate to neglect the eect of increasing surface area
that will reduce the insulation eect due to the increasing insulation thickness. Thus, the con-
ventional constant surface area plate model cannot be used to analyze insulated small polygonal
pipes.
Recently, Chou and Wong [25] have developed a plane wedge thermal resistance model to
investigate the relation between the critical thickness and neutral thickness as well as the heat
transfer characteristics for an insulated regular polygonal pipe based on its varying pipe surface
area. They found that the dimensionless heat transfer characteristics of the insulated regular
polygonal pipe with a wedge thermal resistance model are the same as those of an insulated
circular pipe, even though their actual heat transfer rates are dierent. The existent conditions
are the same between the critical thickness and neutral thickness, t
cr
and t
e
, for the inside tan-
gent insulated small circular and regular polygonal pipes (Figs. 1 and 2) with a wedge thermal
t thickness of insulation layer
t
1
thickness of pipe
t
cr
critical thickness of insulated pipe
t
e
neutral thickness of insulated pipe
T
i
temperature of the uid inside the sphere or polyhedron
T
o
temperature of the uid outside the sphere or polyhedron
H.-M. Chou / Energy Conversion and Management 44 (2003) 29152939 2917
Fig. 1. The bare regular polygonal and circular pipes having the same thickness and material are tangent with each
other on the edges.
Fig. 2. For a regular polygonal pipe with N edges, the cross-section area of the insulation material can be divided into
N number of the same wedges, and each wedge has its insulation boundaries, owing to its symmetrical shape.
resistance model both having an outer radius R
2
less than the critical radius R
cr
R
2
=R
cr
< 1.
Thus, the results of the relation of the critical and the neutral thickness and heat transfer char-
acteristics for an insulated regular polygonal pipe generated by the wedge thermal resistance
model introduced by Chou and Wong [25] can be treated as exact results and used as a com-
parison basis. The plane wedge thermal resistance model can also be applied to an insulated
rectangular pipe with long symmetric wedge blocks (as shown in Fig. 3a) but not to the irregular
polygonal pipes with long asymmetric wedge blocks (as shown in Fig. 3b and c) and pipes with
arbitrary shapes (such as elliptic, streamline and double circle as shown in Fig. 4). They also found
that there is a great dierence in the actual heat transfer rate between insulated regular polygonal
pipes with a wedge thermal resistance model and with a plate model, especially in situations with
smaller pipe sizes or greater insulation thicknesses. Soylemez and Unsal [26] studied the optimum
insulation thickness for refrigeration application. They still used the constant surface area plate
model in that investigation. According to the results of Chou and Wong [25], the above optimum
insulation thickness will not be accurate in situations with smaller pipe sizes or greater insulation
thicknesses.
Until now, there are no relative investigations concerning the heat transfer characteristics of the
insulated irregular polygonal pipes and insulated pipes with arbitrary shapes. In the present study,
the heat transfer characteristics for an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe are investi-
gated by using a wedge thermal resistance model as well as an interior area thermal resistance
model with a surface area weighting factor a. The error in the results generated by an interior area
thermal resistance model can be obtained by comparing with the exact results generated by the
Fig. 3. The insulated rectangular and irregular polygonal pipes.
Fig. 4. The insulated pipes with arbitrary shapes (such as elliptic, streamline and double circle).
wedge thermal resistance model introduced by Chou and Wong [25]. The errors generated by an
interior area thermal resistance model with a surface area weighting factor a applied to an in-
sulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe should be approximately the same as those applied to
an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape (Figs. 3 and 4).
2. Problem statement
It is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 that the bare regular polygonal (including triangular, square,
pentagonal,. . . etc.) pipes and circular pipe are of the same pipe thickness, material, wall con-
ductivity K, constant convection coecients of the inside and outside uids, h
i
and h
o
, and
constant temperatures of the inside and outside uids, T
i
and T
o
, and are tangent with each other
on the edges. The circular pipe has an inner radius R
1
and an outer radius R
2
(where the wall
thickness t
1
R
2
R
1
). An insulation layer of conductivity K
s
and thickness t is wrapped around
the pipes as shown in Fig. 2. The constant temperature dierence T
i
T
o
condition between the
inner and the outer uids can be applied more extensively than the constant temperature dif-
ference T
1
T
o
condition between the inner pipe surface and the outer uid according to Porter
[1] as well as Lewins and Cockerill [2].
It has been found the plane wedge thermal resistance model introduced by Chou and Wong [25]
can also be applied to the circular pipe, since the plane wedge thermal resistance model R
th
Po
can
be simplied to the circular pipe thermal resistance model R
th
Ci
as follows:
R
th
Po

tnA
3
=A
2
K
s
A
3
A
2

tn2pR
3
=2pR
2
2pR
3
R
2
K
s

nR
3
=R
2
2pK
s
R
th
Ci
1
Eq. (1) shows that the thermal resistance model of an insulated circular pipe is one of the special
cases of the plane wedge thermal resistance model of an insulated polygonal pipe.
The thermal resistance equations of a bare and an insulated regular polygonal pipe with a plane
wedge thermal resistance model can be written as Eqs. (2) and (3), respectively.
R
th0

1
h
i
A
1
t
1
ln
A
2
A
1
KA
2
A
1

1
h
o
A
2
2
R
th

1
h
i
A
1
t
1
ln
A
2
A
1
KA
2
A
1

t ln
A
3
A
2
K
s
A
3
A
2

1
h
o
A
3
3
In Fig. 2, e may be dened as the edge length of a regular polygon, thus e 2R
2
tanh. l is the
pipe length, N is the edge number of the regular polygon. Thus,
A
2
N2R
2
tan hl; A
3
N2R
2
2ttan hl and h
360
2N
4
The interior area thermal resistance model with a weighting surface area factor a, used to
obtain the approximate solutions, is as follows:
R
th

t
K
s
1 aA
2
aA
3
5
The interior area thermal resistance equations of a bare and an insulated pipe with a surface area
weighting factor a are written as Eqs. (6) and (7), respectively. The heat transfer rate equations of
a bare and an insulated pipe can be written as Eqs. (8) and (9), respectively.
R
th0

1
h
i
A
1
t
1
K1 aA
1
aA
2

1
h
o
A
2
6
R
th

1
h
i
A
1
t
1
K1 aA
1
aA
2

t
K
s
1 aA
2
aA
3

1
h
o
A
3
7
Q
0
T
i
T
o
=
R
th
0
8
Q T
i
T
o
=
R
th
9
3. Heat transfer rate ratio between the insulated and bare pipes
For convenience, to compare the heat transfer characteristics among an insulated circular pipe,
an insulated regular polygonal pipe with a plane wedge thermal resistance model and an insulated
regular polygonal pipe with an interior area thermal resistance model, the inner convection term
and the pipe conduction term are neglected in the following equations. Namely, the present di-
mensionless heat transfer ratio results should be applied to the very great h
i
and K situations.
3.1. An insulated circular or regular polygonal pipe with a plane wedge thermal resistance model
By neglecting the eect of the terms 1=h
i
A
1
and t
1
lnA
2
=A
1
=fKA
2
A
1
g, the dimensionless
heat transfer rate ratio Q=Q
0
for an insulated regular polygonal pipe can be obtained from Eqs.
(2)(4), (8) and (9) as follows:
Q
Q
0
1
h
o
A
2
t ln
A
3
A
2
K
s
A
3
A
2

1
h
o
A
3
1
R
2
R
cr
_ _
ln
t
R
2
1
_ _
1
t
R
2
1
10
However, the surface area of an insulated circular pipe is
A
3
2pR
2
3
l and A
2
2pR
2
2
l 11
By substituting Eq. (11) into the left hand side of Eq. (10), the same right hand side result of Eq.
(10) will be obtained. Thus, Eq. (10) represents the dimensionless heat transfer rate ratio Q=Q
0
for
an insulated regular polygonal pipe as well as an insulted circular pipe with a plane wedge thermal
resistance model.
According to the conclusion introduced by Chou and Wong [25], the results of the dimen-
sionless heat transfer characteristics of Eq. (10) for an insulated regular polygonal (or circular)
pipe generated by a wedge thermal resistance model can be treated as exact results to be used as a
comparison basis.
3.2. Insulated regular polygonal pipes with an interior surface area model
By neglecting the eect of the terms 1=h
i
A
2
and t
1
=K1 aA
1
aA
2
, the dimensionless
heat transfer rate ratio Q=Q
0
for an insulated regular polygonal pipe with an interior surface area
model can be obtained from Eqs. (4) and (6)(9) with a weighting surface area factor a as follows:
Q
Q
0
1
h
o
A
2
t
K
s
1 aA
2
aA
3

1
h
o
A
3
1
R
2
R
cr
t
R
2
1 a a 1
t
R
2
_ _
1
1
t
R
2
12
Fig. 5. The dimensionless heat transfer rate ratios Q=Q
0
between an insulated polygonal (or circular) pipe with a wedge
model, with an interior area model at various a and plate model at R
2
=R
cr
0:6.
(12) will be obtained. Thus, Eq. (12) represents the dimensionless heat transfer rate ratio Q=Q
0
for
an insulated regular polygonal pipe as well as an insulated circular pipe with an interior surface
area model.
3.3. Insulated square pipes with a constant surface area (plate model)
The constant surface area plate model [718] is conventionally used to calculate the insulation
thickness of a square pipe. By neglecting the eect of the terms 1=h
i
A
2
and t
1
=KA
2
, the di-
mensionless heat transfer rate ratio Q=Q
0
for an insulated square pipe with a constant surface area
(plate model) can be obtained as follows:
0
2
=R
cr
0:8.
Q
Q
0
1
h
o
A
2
t
K
s
A
2
1
h
o
A
2
K
s
h
o
=R
2
t
R
2
K
s
h
o
=R
2
1
t
R
2
R
2
R
cr
1
13
One must note that the result of a 0 in Eq. (12) is not equivalent to Eq. (13) and thus, a 0 does
not denote the conventional plate model. The conventional plate model treats all the insulated
surface areas the same as A
2
, as shown in Eq. (13). The main dierence between the interior area
thermal resistance model with a surface area weighting factor a 0 and the plate model is the
0
2
=R
cr
1.
0
2
=R
cr
10.
outside convective term: 1=h
o
A
2
is used in the plate model and 1=h
o
A
3
is used in the interior
area thermal resistance model with a surface area weighting factor a 0.
The results of Eqs. (10)(13) in situations of R
2
=R
cr
0:6, 0.8, 1, 10 and 100 are shown in Figs.
59.
4. Actual heat transfer ratio between the insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipes with an
interior area model and with a wedge thermal resistance model
The heat transfer rate ratio Q
M
=Q
E
between an insulated regular polygonal pipe with an in-
terior area model and with a wedge thermal resistance model can be obtained from Eqs. (3), (4),
(7) and (9) as follows:
Q
M
Q
E
t ln
A
3
A
2
K
s
A
3
A
2

1
h
o
A
3
t
K
s
1 aA
2
K
s
aA
3
1
h
o
A
3
R
2
R
cr
ln 1
t
R
2
_ _
1
1
t
R
2
t
R
2
R
2
R
cr
1 a a 1
t
R
2
_ _
1
1
t
R
2
_
_
_
_
14
(14) will be obtained. Thus, Eq. (14) represents the heat transfer rate ratio Q
M
=Q
E
between an
insulated regular polygonal pipe as well as an insulated circular pipe with an interior area model
and with a wedge thermal resistance.
0
2
=R
cr
100.
The error percentages E
QM
of the heat transfer rate ratio Q
M
=Q
E
between an insulated regular
polygonal pipe as well as an insulated circular pipe with an interior area model and with a wedge
thermal resistance are as follows:
E
QM

Q
M
Q
E
_
1
_
100% 15
The various values of E
QM
produced from Eqs. (14) and (15), relative to the dimensionless in-
sulated thickness t=R
2
, pipe size R
2
=R
cr
and surface area weighting a, are shown in Figs. 10 and 11.
Fig. 10. The various values of E
QM
relative to the dimensionless insulation thickness t=R
2
and surface area weighting a
at pipe size R
2
=R
cr
0:6.
QM
relative to the dimensionless insulation thickness t=R
2
, and surface area weighting a
at pipe size R
2
=R
cr
1000.
5. Optimum a
opt
of interior area thermal resistance model
By letting the heat transfer rate ratio Q
M
=Q
E
in Eq. (14) 1, the optimum value of a for heat
transfer rate Q
M
can be found as follows:
a
opt

1
ln 1
t
R
2
_ _
1
t
R
2
16
It is clear that Q
M
Q
E
at a
opt
. It is also found from Eq. (16) that a
opt
is independent of pipe size
R
2
=R
cr
2
. The interior area thermal resistance
model with the optimum value a
opt
should also be applied to an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape
within a very small amount of error. The parameter R
2
conservatively corresponds to the outside
radius of the maximum inside tangent circular pipe within arbitrary shaped pipes (Figs. 3 and 4).
The relations between optimum a
opt
and their relative t=R
2
are shown in Fig. 12 and Table 1.
6. Heat transfer ratio between the insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipes with a plate model
and with a wedge model
The heat transfer rate ratio Q
pl
=Q
E
between the insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipes
with an interior area model and with a wedge model can be obtained from Eqs. (3), (4), (7) and (9)
as follows:
Fig. 12. The relations between optimum a
opt
2
.
Table 1
The relations between optimum a
opt
2
t=R
2
0.2 0.5 1 1.5 2 5 10 100 1000 10,000
a
opt
0.4848 0.4663 0.4427 0.4247 0.4102 0.3581 0.3171 0.2067 0.1437 0.1085
Q
pl
Q
E
t ln
A
3
A
2
K
s
A
3
A
2

1
h
o
A
3
t
K
s
A
2
1
h
o
A
2
R
2
R
cr
ln 1
t
R
2
_ _
1
1
t
R
2
t
R
2
R
2
R
cr
1
_
_
_
_
17
(17) will be obtained. Thus, Eq. (17) represents the heat transfer rate ratio Q
pl
=Q
E
between an
insulated regular polygonal pipe as well as an insulated circular pipe with a plate model and with a
wedge thermal resistance model.
QP
of the heat transfer rate ratio Q
M
=Q
E
between an insulated regular
polygonal pipe as well as an insulated circular pipe with a plate model and with a wedge thermal
resistance are as follows:
E
QP

Q
pl
Q
E
_
1
_
100% 18
QM
produced from Eq. (15) and E
QP
produced from Eq. (18) relative to the
dimensionless insulated thickness t=R
2
, pipe size R
2
=R
cr
and surface area weighting a are listed in
Table 2.
7. Relationship between the critical thickness and neutral thickness
The relations between the critical thickness and neutral thickness of an insulated circular pipe
as well as an insulated regular polygonal pipe [25] are shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 13a refers to the total
thermal resistance
R
th0
and the heat transfer rate Q
0
at radius R
2
in a situation without insu-
lation. The critical radius R
cr
, or the critical thickness t
cr
R
cr
R
2
, refers to the maximum heat
transfer rate or the minimum total thermal resistance, the neutral radius R
e
, or the neutral
thickness t
e
R
e
R
2
, refers to the total thermal resistance
R
th

R
th0
and the heat transfer
Table 2
QM
and E
QP
relative to the dimensionless insulated thickness t=R
2
, pipe size R
2
=R
cr
and surface
area weighting a
R
2
=R
cr
E
QM
or E
QP
(%)
t=R
2
0.6 10 1000
0.5 1 1.5 2 0.5 1 1.5 2 0.5 1 1.5 2
Plate )30 )42.7 )50 )54.8 )21.3 )32.4 )40.2 )46.1 )18.9 )30.7 )38.9 )45.1
a 0 )5.87 )16.7 )26.9 )35.2 )16.6 )29.2 )37.9 )44.3 )18.8 )30.6 )38.9 )45.1
a 0:4102 )0.62 )1.04 )0.77 0 )1.96 )2.1 )1.27 0 )2.27 )2.25 )1.33 0
a 0:4247 )0.46 )0.57 0 1.05 )1.45 )1.16 0 1.54 )1.68 )1.25 0 1.59
a 0:4427 )0.26 0 0.95 2.34 )0.82 0 1.58 3.46 )0.96 0 1.65 3.57
a 0:4663 0 0.74 2.17 4.01 0 1.52 3.65 5.97 0 1.63 3.81 6.16
a 0:5 0.36 1.77 3.88 6.34 1.17 3.69 6.59 9.54 1.36 3.97 6.9 9.86
a 1 4.99 14.4 24.9 35.3 18 35.1 49.4 61.7 21.6 38.5 52.6 64.7
rate Q Q
0
. When R
3
> R
e
, or t > t
e
, it begins to exhibit an insulation eect. Thus, the neutral
radius R
e
may be referred to as the minimum eective insulation radius, and the neutral thickness
t
e
may be referred to as the minimum eective insulation thickness. It is obvious from Fig. 13b
that the existence condition of R
e
is R
2
< R
cr
(or R
2
=R
cr
< 1). When R
2
=R
cr
, the thicker is the
insulation layer t, the larger is the insulation eect. Thus, R
e
(or t
e
) does not exist when R
2
=R
cr
=1.
8. Calculation for the critical radius R
cr
and thickness t
cr
8.1. Insulated circular or regular polygonal pipe with a plane wedge thermal resistance model
The well known results, critical radius R
cr
K
s
=h
o
, attributed to Refs. [314] for a small in-
sulated circular pipe as well as for a small insulated polygonal pipe introduced by Chou and Wong
[25] is shown in Fig. 13. The dimensionless critical thickness of an insulated polygonal pipe with
an inside tangent insulated circular pipe with an outside radius R
2
introduced by Chou and Wong
[25] is written as follows:
t
cr
R
2
1
R
2
R
cr
1
1
R
2
R
cr
R
2
R
cr
19
From Eq. (19), the range of R
2
=R
cr
for t
cr
=R
2
can be obtained as follows:
0 <
R
2
R
cr
61 20
Eqs. (19) and (20) are applicable to an insulated regular polygonal pipe as well as to an insulated
circular pipe with a plane wedge thermal resistance model.
Fig. 13. The relations between the critical and the neutral thickness of an insulated polygonal (or circular) pipe with a
plane wedge model.
8.2. Insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with interior area model
It is clear from Fig. 13a that one can gure out the critical thickness t
cr
in relation to the
maximum Q or the minimum
R
th
, by dierentiating
R
th
and letting it equal zero. From Eq.
(7), setting d
R
th
=dt
tt
cr
0, the t
cr
can be obtained.
d
dt
t
K
s
A
2
1 a K
s
aA
3
_

1
h
o
A
3
_
tt
cr
0 21
Owing to Eq. (21) with R
cr
K
s
=h
o
, the dimensionless critical thickness equation of an insulated
polygonal pipe as well as an insulated circular pipe with an interior area thermal resistance model
t
cr
R
2
a
R
2
R
cr
1 a
R
2
R
cr
_
R
2
R
cr
a
2
22
2
=R
cr
for t
cr
=R
2
a <
R
2
R
cr
61 23
The relationship between the two dimensionless parameters, t
cr
=R
2
and R
2
=R
cr
, can be solved by
Eqs. (19) and (22) as shown in Fig. 14.
8.3. Error of critical thickness produced by an insulated regular polygonal pipe with interior area
model
The ratio of critical thickness between an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with an
interior area model and that with a wedge model are obtained by Eqs. (19) and (22) as follows:
Fig. 14. The relationship between the dimensionless parameters t
cr
=R
2
and R
2
=R
cr
of an insulated polygonal (or circular)
pipe with a plane wedge model and with an interior area model with various a.
t
cr
M
t
cr
a
R
2
R
cr
1 a
R
2
R
cr
_
R
2
R
cr
a
2
1
R
2
=R
cr
1
24
2
=R
cr
for the error of critical thickness produced by an insulated
regular polygonal pipe with interior area model can be obtained as the same as Eq. (23).
t cr
of the critical thickness t
cr
M
of an insulated regular polygonal pipe
with an interior area model is as follows:
E
t cr
t
cr
M
t
cr
E
_
1
_
100% 25
t cr
produced from Eqs. (23) and (24) relative to the weighting area factor a
and dimensionless insulated thickness pipe size R
2
=R
cr
are shown in Fig. 15.
8.4. Optimum a
t cr
of interior area thermal resistance model
By letting the critical thickness ratio t
cr
M
=t
cr
E
in Eq. (24) 1, the optimum value of a for
critical thickness t
cr
can be found as follows:
a
t cr

R
2
R
cr
R
2
R
cr
_ _
2
4
R
2
R
cr
1
R
2
R
cr
_ _
2 1
R
2
R
cr
_ _
2
_ _ 26
The relation between optimum a
t cr
and R
2
=R
cr
is shown in Fig. 16 and Table 3.
t cr
relative to the dimensionless pipe size R
2
=R
cr
and various surface area weighting a.
9. Calculation for the neutral radius R
e
and the neutral thickness t
e
It is clear from Fig. 13a that one can gure out the neutral radius R
e
, or the neutral thickness t
e
,
by letting the total insulation thermal resistance
R
th
equal the total bare wall thermal resistance
R
th0
, i.e.
R
th

R
th0
(or Q Q
0
).
9.1. Insulated circular or regular polygonal pipe with a plane wedge thermal resistance model
The dimensionless neutral thickness of an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe in-
troduced by Chou and Wong [25] can be shown as follows:
R
2
R
cr
1
1
t
e
R
2
1
ln
t
e
R
2
1
_ _ 27
The range of R
2
=R
cr
for t
e
=R
2
can be obtained from Eq. (27) as follows:
0 <
R
2
R
cr
61 28
Fig. 16. The relations between optimum a
t cr
and their relative R
2
=R
cr:
Table 3
The optimum a
t cr
relative to the weighting area factor a and dimensionless insulated pipe size R
2
=R
cr
R
2
=R
cr
0.4831 0.5 0.545 0.6 0.631 0.7 0.763 0.8 0.9 1
a
t cr
0.4102 0.4142 0.4247 0.4365 0.4427 0.4555 0.4663 0.4721 0.4868 0.5
9.2. Insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with interior area model
Letting Eq. (6) Eq. (7), at t t
e
, the following equation can be obtained.
1
h
o
A
2
_

t
K
s
1 aA
2
aA
3

1
h
o
A
3
_
tt
e
29
Owing to Eq. (4) and R
cr
K
s
=h
o
, the dimensionless t
e
=R
2
for an insulated regular polygonal (or
circular) pipe with an interior area thermal resistance model can be obtained from Eq. (29) as
follows:
t
e
R
2
R
2
R
cr
1
_ _
a
R
2
R
cr
30
The range of R
2
=R
cr
for t
e
=R
2
can be obtained from Eq. (30) as follows:
a <
R
2
R
cr
61 31
The errors generated by the interior area model can be obtained from Eqs. (27) and (30) as
follows:
E
t e

t
e
M
t
e
E
_
1
_
100% 32
Fig. 17. The relations among optimum a
t e
and their relative R
2
=R
cr
as well as t
e
=R
2
.
Table 4
The optimum a
t e
relative to dimensionless insulated pipe size R
2
=R
cr
and neutral thickness t
e
=R
2
a
t e
0.2 0.4 0.41 0.4247 0.4427 0.4663 0.48 0.49 0.5
R
2
=R
cr
0.2066 0.575 0.607 0.6549 0.7214 0.8221 0.889 0.9423 1
t
e
=R
2
120.61 2.421 2 1.4996 0.9999 0.5 0.272 0.1275 0
When E
t e
0, the optimum a
t e
and relative t
e
=R
2
and R
2
=R
cr
can be obtained from Eqs. (27)(32).
The relationship among the optimum a
t e
(with E
t e
0) as well as the dimensionless parameters,
t
e
=R
2
and R
2
=R
cr
, are listed in Table 4 and shown in Fig. 17.
10. Results and discussions
(1) The optimum value of a for heat transfer rate Q
M
(i.e. Q
M
Q
E
at a
opt
) can be found in Eq.
(16): a
opt
1= ln1 t=R
2
1=t=R
2
. The results of Eq. (16) are shown in Fig. 12 and Table 1.
The interior area thermal resistance model with the optimum value a
opt
with the relative t=R
2
can
obtain the accurate solution without error when applied to an insulated regular polygonal (or
circular) pipe. Fig. 12 shows that the value of a
opt
is greater than zero and less than 0.5 and is
independent of pipe size R
2
=R
cr
2
. For
example: a
opt
0:4663 with t=R
2
0:5; a
opt
0:4427 with t=R
2
1:0; a
opt
0:4247 with
t=R
2
1:5; a
opt
0:4102 with t=R
2
2:0 as shown in Table 1.
(2) The various values of E
QM
produced from Eq. (14) and E
QP
produced from Eq. (18) relative
to the dimensionless insulated thickness t=R
2
, pipe size R
2
=R
cr
and surface area weighting a are
listed in Table 2 and shown in Figs. 10 and 11. Table 2 shows that E
QM
will be within 2% even
though the estimated errors of t=R
2
(generated by error with R
2
of arbitrary shaped pipe) are up to
50%. For example, in a situation of R
2
=R
cr
1000: E
QM
0 at a
opt
0:4247 with t=R
2
1:5;
E
QM
1:25% at a
opt
0:4247 with t=R
2
1; E
QM
1:59% at a
opt
0:4247 with t=R
2
2. In
fact, the estimated errors of t=R
2
should be within 10%, and it is clear from Figs. 10 and 11 that
E
QM
will be below 0.5%. Thus, the interior area thermal resistance model with the optimum a
opt
with the relative t=R
2
in Eq. (16) should also be applied to an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape
(Figs. 3 and 4) within a very small amount of error. The parameter R
2
can be conservatively
thought to correspond to the outside radius of the maximum inside tangent circular pipe within
the arbitrary shaped pipes (Figs. 3 and 4). The closer the shape is to a regular polygonal (or
circular) pipe, the smaller the error will be.
(3) The heat transfer rate ratios Q=Q
0
of an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with a
wedge model with a interior area model and with a plate model in situations of R
2
=R
cr
0:6, 0.8,
1, 10 and 100 are shown in Figs. 59, respectively. The heat transfer rates Q=Q
0
of an insulated
regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with a plate model decrease along the dimensionless insulation
thickness t=R
2
, with all values of R
2
=R
cr
. Table 2 also shows that the errors produced by a plate
model are quite large, especially in situations with very small pipe size or greater insulation
thickness. For example, in the situation of R
2
=R
cr
0:6: E
pl
30% at t=R
2
0:5; in the situation
of R
2
=R
cr
1000: E
pl
18:9% at t=R
2
0:5 (E
pl
4:73% at t=R
2
0:1). Thus, the results of a
plate model are not reasonable owing to the neglect of the increasing surface eect on outside
convection as well as insulation.
(4) It is clear from Figs. 59 that the distributions of Q=Q
0
of the interior area model with the a
of 0.40120.4663 are close to those of the wedge model near their relative t=R
2
from 0 to 2. It can
be seen in situations of R
2
=R
cr
0:6 and 0.8 from Figs. 5a and 6a, respectively, that the distri-
bution of Q=Q
0
with a 0:4663 intersects that of a wedge model at t=R
2
0:5; the distribution of
Q=Q
0
with a 0:4427 intersects that of a wedge model at t=R
2
1; the distribution of Q=Q
0
with
a 0:4247 intersects that of a wedge model at t=R
2
1:5; and the distribution of Q=Q
0
with
a 0:4102 intersects that of a wedge model at t=R
2
2. These phenomena also occur in situations
of various R
2
=R
cr
, such as in Figs. 79. It is also found from Figs. 59 that the greater is R
2
=R
cr
, the
closer the Q=Q
0
will be; in the situation of R
2
=R
cr
100, the Q=Q
0
of an interior area model with
various values of a as well as a plate model get quite close to that of a wedge model (but not for
the actual heat transfer rate shown in Table 2). It shows in Table 2 that the errors of a 0 and
a 1 as well as with the plate model are quite large even in the situation of R
2
=R
cr
1000 and
t=R
2
0:5. For these two extreme situations: a 0 ignores and a 1 exaggerates the increasing
surface eect on insulation, respectively, and thus, a 0 generates negative errors and a 1
generates positive errors.
(5) It can be seen from Figs. 10 and 11 that E
QM
0 for a 0:4663 at t=R
2
0:5; E
QM
0 for
a 0:4427 at t=R
2
1; E
QM
0 for a 0:4247 at t=R
2
1:5; and E
QM
0 for a 0:4102 at
t=R
2
2. This matches Eq. (16) and those phenomena shown in Figs. 59. It is also found in Figs.
511 as well as in Table 2 that a 0:5 referred to an average area thermal resistance model cannot
generate as accurate results as the optimum a
opt
do. It can be found from Eq. (16) and Table 1 that
all a
opt
< 0:5 (i.e. a
opt
6 0:5). One easily thinks by intuition that the average area thermal resis-
tance model a 0:5 should be the best approximate model. This investigation has proved that
this thinking is wrong. The average area thermal resistance model can be applied only in situa-
tions of very small t=R
2
with a small error. For example, from Table 2, in the situation of
R
2
=R
cr
1000 with a 0:5: E
QM
1:36% at t=R
2
0:5 and E
QM
9:86% at t=R
2
2:0. It is
recommended to use the optimum a
opt
with their relative t=R
2
as shown in Appendix A rather than
to use the average area thermal resistance model a 0:5.
(6) The relation between optimum a
t cr
and R
2
=R
cr
is shown in Eq. (26) and illustrated in Fig. 16
as well as Table 3. The critical thickness t
cr
M
t
cr
E
occurs at the optimum a
t cr
and their rel-
ative R
2
=R
cr
R
2
=R
cr
< 1. Table 3 and Fig. 16 show that 0 < a
t cr
50:5 and a
t cr
is independent of
t=R
2
. It is clear from Fig. 13a that the locations of t
cr
=R
2
are related to the maximum Q=Q
0
. It is
clear from Figs. 5a and 6a that Q=Q
0
is increasing along t=R
2
before the point of t
cr
=R
2
, then
decreasing at R
2
=R
cr
0:6 and 0.8 R
2
=R
cr
< 1 for a wedge model as well as the interior area with
a 0:4102 $ 0:4663 with their relative t=R
2
0:5 $ 2. Obviously, it can be seen from Figs. 5b
and 6b that there exists no t
cr
=R
2
for the plate model. It can be seen in Fig. 16 and Table 3 that
a
t cr
0:4102 with R
2
=R
cr
0:4831; a
t cr
0:4247 with R
2
=R
cr
0:5450; a
t cr
0:4427 with
R
2
=R
cr
0:6310; and a
t cr
0:4663 with R
2
=R
cr
0:7630. The t
cr
=R
2
is considerably important in
engineering applications to very small insulated pipes with R
2
=R
cr
< 1.
(7) The various values of E
t cr
relative to the weighting area factors a 0:4102, 0.4247, 0.4427,
0.4663 and 0.5 and R
2
=R
cr
are shown in Fig. 15. Fig. 15 shows that the intersection points
of a
t cr
0:4102, 0.4247, 0.4427, 0.4663 with the line of E
t cr
match their relative R
2
=R
cr
shown
in Table 3 as well as Fig. 16. Fig. 15 also shows that the greater is the value of R
2
=R
cr
, the lesser the
E
t cr
will be. a 0:5 does not intersect the line of E
t cr
0, and thus, this indicates a 0:5 is not an
optimum a
t cr
. E
t cr
is strongly dependent on the shape of pipe. The closer the shape of an insulated
pipe is to a regular polygonal or circular pipe, the lesser the E
t cr
and the more reliable the t
cr
=R
2
will be. One can follow the procedure shown in Appendix B to nd the value of t
cr
=R
2
of an
irregular insulated polygonal pipe or an arbitrary shaped insulated pipe with R
2
=R
cr
< 1.
(8) Figs. 79 show that the heat transfer rate ratios Q=Q
0
of an insulated regular polygonal
(or circular) pipe with a wedge model, with an interior area model and with a plate model are
decreasing along t=R
2
at R
2
=R
cr
1, 10 and 100 R
2
=R
cr
=1. It is clear from Figs. 79 that there
exists no t
cr
at R
2
=R
cr
=1 as shown in Fig. 13b. It is shown in Figs. 79 that the greater is the R
2
=R
cr
(larger pipe size) and the smaller is the t=R
2
(thinner insulation), the closer will be the Q=Q
0
among
the insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with a wedge model and those with an interior
area model as well as those with a plate model owing to the lesser surface convection eect. It is
found from Figs. 79 that there exists signicant dierences of the Q=Q
0
between the insulated
regular polygonal (or circular) pipe with a wedge model and those with a plate model when
R
2
=R
cr
510 and a greater t=R
2
but not for the interior area model with a 0:4102 $ 0:4663 near
their relative t=R
2
0:5 $ 2. Thus, the constant surface plate model cannot be applied to the size
of polygonal pipes from small to medium pipe sizes or greater insulation thicknesses.
(9) It is found from Fig. 9 that the Q=Q
0
between the insulated regular polygonal (or circular)
pipe with a wedge model and those with a plate model when R
2
=R
cr
=100 with a small t=R
2
are the
same but not for the actual heat transfer rate. It shows in Table 2 that the errors of a 0 and
a 1 as well as with the plate model are quite large even in R
2
=R
cr
1000 with t=R
2
0:5.
(10) The relationship among the optimum a
t e
(with E
t e
0) as well as the dimensionless pa-
rameters, t
e
=R
2
and R
2
=R
cr
are listed in Table 4 and Fig. 17. Table 4 and Fig. 17 show that 0 <
a
t e
50:5, and the greater is the value of a
t e
, the lesser the t
e
=R
2
will be. The accuracy of the value of
t
e
=R
2
is strongly dependent on the shape of the insulated small pipe. The closer the shape of an
insulated pipe is to a regular polygonal or circular pipe, the lesser is the E
t e
and the more reliable
the t
e
=R
2
will be. One can followthe procedure shown in Appendix Cto nd the value of t
e
=R
2
of an
irregular insulated polygonal pipe and an arbitrary shaped insulated pipe with R
2
=R
cr
< 1.
11. Conclusion
The heat transfer characteristics for an insulated regular polygonal (or circular) pipe are in-
vestigated using a wedge thermal resistance model as well as the interior area thermal resistance
model R
th
t=K
s
=1 aA
2
aA
3
with a surface area weighting factor a. As the thermal resis-
tance of the inner convection term and the pipe conduction term are neglected in the heat transfer
rate ratios between the insulated and the bare pipes, the present results can be applied to pipes in
situations of high inner convection coecients h
i
and high pipe conductivities K (such as a heat
exchanger). The errors of the results generated by an interior area thermal resistance model can be
obtained by comparing with the exact results generated by a wedge thermal resistance model. An
accurate solution of the heat transfer rate can be obtained without error at the optimum a
opt
with
the relative t=R
2
. The relation between a
opt
and t=R
2
is a
opt
1= ln1 t=R
2
1=t=R
2
. The value
of a
opt
is greater than zero and less than 0.5 and is independent of pipe size R
2
=R
cr
but is strongly
dependent on the insulation thickness t=R
2
(for example, t=R
2
1, a
opt
0:4427). The heat
transfer rate of an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape can be obtained within a very small amount
of error by applying the optimum interior area thermal resistance model. The parameter R
2
conservatively corresponds to the outside radius of the maximum inside tangent circular pipe
within arbitrary shaped pipes (Figs. 3 and 4). One can obtain the accurate heat transfer rate, the
approximate critical thickness t
cr
=R
2
and the neutral thickness t
e
=R
2
of an insulated pipe with
arbitrary shape by following the procedures shown in Appendices A, B, C, respectively. The
accuracies of the value of t
cr
=R
2
as well as t
e
=R
2
are strongly dependent on the shape of the in-
sulated small pipe. The closer the shape an insulated pipe is to a regular polygonal or circular
pipe, the more reliable the values of t
cr
=R
2
as well as t
e
=R
2
will be. It shows that the average area
thermal resistance model a 0:5 cannot generate as accurate results as the optimum a
opt
do (i.e.
a
opt
6 0:5). It is also found that the conventional constant surface area plate model is not suitable
to be used to analyze insulated pipes. There exists quite large errors especially in situations with
smaller pipe sizes or greater insulation thicknesses.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Science Council in Taiwan, ROC. This
investigation is completed under the support of the project NSC-91-2622-E-168-007-CC3. The
illustrations in this paper are drawn by Yung-Hsiang Li.
Appendix A. The procedure of how to use the optimum interior area thermal resistance model to
obtain the accurate heat transfer rate for an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape
(1) Choose insulation thickness t.
(2) Draw the geometric outside boundary gure of cross-sectional prole for a bare pipe with the
arbitrary shape in accurate scale.
(3) Draw the maximum tangent circle inside the above cross-sectional prole of a bare pipe as
shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
(4) Measure the radius R
2
of the inside circle and transfer it into real size by scale.
(5) Calculate the dimensionless t=R
2
.
(6) Substitute the above t=R
2
in Eq. (16), i.e. a
opt
1= ln1 t=R
2
1=t=R
2
, to nd the opti-
mum weighting factor a
opt
.
(7) Obtain the total thermal resistance from Eqs. (6) and (7) as follows:
R
th

1
h
i
A
1
t
1
K1 a
opt
A
1
a
opt
A
2

t
K
s
1 a
opt
A
2
a
opt
A
3

1
h
o
A
3
A:1
(8) Substituting Eq. (A.1) into Eqs. (9) and (12), the reliable result of actual heat transfer rate Q
and insulation eectiveness Q=Q
0
of an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape can be obtained. In
fact, the estimated errors of t=R
2
should be within 10%. It is clear from Figs. 10 and 11 their
relative E
QM
will be below 0.5%. Thus, the interior area thermal resistance model with opti-
mum value a
opt
and relative t=R
2
in Eq. (16) should also be applied to an insulated pipe with
arbitrary shape (Figs. 3 and 4) within a very small amount of error.
Appendix B. The procedure of how to use the interior area thermal resistance model to obtain the
approximate critical thickness for an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape
(1) Draw the geometric outside boundary gure of cross-sectional prole for a bare pipe with ar-
bitrary shape in accurate scale.
2
(4) Calculate the value of R
cr
K
s
=h
o
.
2
=R
cr
.
(6) Substitute the above R
2
=R
cr
in Eq. (26) or Fig. 16, to nd the optimum weighting factor a
t cr
.
(7) Obtain the approximate t
cr
=R
2
by substituting the above optimum weighting factor a
t cr
into
Eq. (22).
(8) The t
cr
=R
2
is an approximate value because of the incorrect R
2
generated by the pipe with ar-
bitrary shape. The accuracy of the value of t
cr
=R
2
is strongly dependent on the shape of the
insulated small pipe. The closer the shape of an insulated pipe is to a regular polygonal or cir-
cular pipe, the more reliable the value of t
cr
=R
2
will be.
Appendix C. The procedure of how to use the interior area thermal resistance model to obtain the
approximate critical thickness for an insulated pipe with arbitrary shape
(1) Draw the geometric outside boundary gure of cross-sectional prole for a bare pipe with ar-
bitrary shape in accurate scale.
2
cr
K
s
=h
o
.
2
=R
cr
.
(6) The approximate t
e
=R
2
and the optimum a
t e
can be obtained from the above calculated R
2
=R
cr
from Table 4 or Fig. 17.
(7) The t
e
=R
2
is an approximate value because of the incorrect R
2
generated by the pipe with ar-
bitrary shape. The accuracy of the value of t
e
=R
2
is strongly dependent on the shape of the
insulated small pipe. The closer the shape of an insulated pipe is to a regular polygonal or cir-
cular pipe, the more reliable the value of t
e
=R
2
will be.
References
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[14] Chatenever R. Air conditioning and refrigeration for the professional. John Wiley & Sons; 1988. p. 4458.
[15] Cotter TP. Principles and prospects of micro heat pipes. In: Prospects of Micro Heat Pipe, Proceedings of the 5th
International Heat Pipe Conference, Tsukuba, Japan, 1984. p. 32835.
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microgrooves. ASME J Heat Transfer 1994;116:489503.
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cylinder energy 1998;23(1):439.
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the heat transfer characteristics of an insulated pipe

e edge length of regular polygonal pipe (e 2R

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