HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT

The heat transfer coefficient is used as a fudge factor in calculating heat transfer in thermodynamics. The heat transfer
coefficent is often calculated from the Nusselt number (a dimensionless number). Below is an example where it is used to
find the heat lost from a hot tube to the surrounding area.
where
Q = power input or heat lost
h = overall heat transfer coefficient
A = outside surface area of tubing
T = difference in temperature between tubing surface and surrounding area
There are different heat transfer relations for different liuids! flow regimes! and thermodynamic conditions. " common
example pertinent to many of the necessary power plant efficiency and thermal hydraulic calculations is the #ittus$Boelter
heat transfer corelation! valid for water in a circular pipe with %eynolds numbers between &'' ''' and &(' ''' and )randtl
numbers between '.* and &('. "n example is shown below where it is used to calculate the heat transfer from a tubing wall
to water.
where
kw = thermal conductivity of water
Nu = Nusselt number
= =+ #ittus$Boelter correlation for pipe flow
Pr = )randtl number =
Re = %eynolds number =
DH = hydraulic diameter
= mass flow rate
= water viscosity
Cp = heat capacity at constant pressure
A = cross$sectional area of flow
The heat transfer coefficient has ,- units in watts per meter suared$.elvin. /ften it can be estimated by dividing the
thermal conductivity by a length scale. 0eat transfer coefficients add inversely! li.e resistances. -t can be thought of as a
thermal resistance. ,hown below is an addition of heat transfer coefficients where one is estimated as a thermal conductivity
divided by a length scale.
where
Q = power input
h = heat transfer coefficient
t = tubing thic.ness
k = thermal conductivity of metal tube
A = cross$sectional area of flow
T = difference in temperature between outer wall of tubing and sample water.
FUDGE FACTOR
Fudge factor is a margin over and above the reuired resources such as time! capital! human capital! or cost reuired for a
certain pro1ect. ,ometimes! fudge factors may be factors other than resources! e.g. a margin of error above the minimum
error on a measurement. " fudge factor is also a number used in an euation to ma.e it match current theories. This is
usually derided as a false number! but one famous case that later turned out to be correct is the )lanc. constant.
"dditionally! the cosmological constant has gone bac. and forth between being a real value and a fudge factor.
NUSSELT NUMER
The Nusse!t nu"#er is a dimensionless number that measures the enhancement of heat transfer from a surface that occurs
in a 2real2 situation! compared to the heat transferred if 1ust conduction occurred. Typically it is used to measure the
enhancement of heat transfer when convection ta.es place.
where
L = characteristic length
kf = thermal conductivity of the 3fluid3
h = convection heat transfer coefficient
,election of the significant length scale should be in the direction of growth of the boundary layer. " salient example in
introductory engineering study of heat transfer would be that of a hori4ontal cylinder versus a vertical cylinder in natural
convection.
5or a local Nusselt number! one may evaluate the significant length scale at the point of interest. To obtain an average
Nusselt number analytically one must integrate over the characteristic length. 6ore commonly the average Nusselt number
is obtained by the pertinent correlation euation! often of the form Nu = Nu(%e! )r).
The Nusselt number can also be viewed as being a dimensionless temperature gradient at the surface. The mass transfer
analog of the Nusselt number is the ,herwood number.
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She!! and tu#e heat e$changer
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" She!! and tu#e heat e$changer is a class of heat exchanger designs. -t is the most common type of
heat exchanger in oil refineries and other large chemical processes. "s its name implies! this type of
heat exchanger consists of a shell (a large tube) with a series of small tubes inside it.
Two fluids! of different starting temperatures! flow through the exchanger. /ne through the tubes and
the other through the shell. 0eat is transferred from one fluid to the other. -n this way! waste heat can
be put to use. This is a great way to conserve energy.
There can be many variations on the shell and tube design. 6ost are either &! (! or ; pass designs. This
refers to the number of times the fluid in the tubes passes through the fluid in the shell. -n a single pass
heat exchanger! the fluid goes in one end and out the other. Two and four pass designs are common
because the fluid can enter and exit on the same side. This ma.es construction much simpler.
<ounter current heat exchangers are most efficient because they allow the highest log mean
temperature difference between the hot and cold streams. 6any companies however do not use them
because they can brea. easily in addition to being more expensive to build. /ften multiple heat
exchangers can be used to simulate the counter current flow of a single large exchange