MEL242

Heat and Mass Transfer

Tutorial Sheet 1
1. The inner and outer surfaces of a 0.5-cm-thick 2-m X 2-m window glass in winter are
10C and 3C, respectively. If the thermal conductivity of the glass is 0.78 W/m-C,
determine the amount of heat loss, in kJ, through the glass over a period of 5 hours.
What would your answer be if the glass were 1 cm thick?
2. A heat flux meter attached to the inner surface of a 3 cm thick refrigerator door
indicates a heat flux of 25 W/m
2
through the door. Also the temperatures of the inner
and outer surfaces of the door are measured to be 7
o
C and 15
o
C respectively.
Determine the average thermal conductivity of the door.
3. Consider a person standing in a room maintained at 20C at all times. The inner
surfaces of the walls, floors, and ceiling of the house are observed to be at an average
temperature of 12C in winter and 23C in summer. Determine the rates of radiation
heat transfer between this person and the surrounding surfaces in both summer and
winter if the exposed surface area, emissivity, and the average outer surface
temperature of the person are 1.6 m
2
, 0.95, and 32C, respectively.
4. Hot air at 80C is blown over a 2-m X 4-m flat surface at 30C. If the average
convection heat transfer coefficient is 55 W/m
2
C, determine the rate of heat transfer
from the air to the plate, in kW.
5. The heat generated in the circuitry on the surface of a silicon chip (k = 130 W/mC) is
conducted to the ceramic substrate to which it is attached. The chip is 6 mm X 6 mm
in size and 0.5 mm thick and dissipates 3 W of power. Disregarding any heat transfer
through the 0.5-mm-high side surfaces, determine the temperature difference between
the front and back surfaces of the chip in steady operation.
6. An ice chest whose outer dimensions are 30 cm X 40 cm X 40 cm is made of 3-cm-
thick Styrofoam (k = 0.033 W/m C). Initially, the chest is filled with 40 kg of ice at
0C, and the inner surface temperature of the ice chest can be taken to be 0C at all
times. The heat of fusion of ice at 0C is 333.7 kJ/kg, and the surrounding ambient air
is at 30C. Disregarding any heat transfer from the 40-cm X 40-cm base of the ice
chest, determine how long it will take for the ice in the chest to melt completely if the
outer surfaces of the ice chest are at 8C.
7. A glass window of width W = 1m and height H = 2m is 5 mm thick and has a thermal
conductivity k
g
= 1.4 W/mK. If the inner and outer surface temperatures of glass are
15
o
C and -20
o
C, respectively, on a cold winter day, what is the rate of heat loss
through the glass. To reduce heat loss through windows, it is customary to use a
double pane construction in which adjoining panes are separated by an air space. If
the spacing is 10 mm and the glass surfaces in contact with the air have temperatures
of 10
o
C and -15
o
C what is the rate of heat loss from a 1m X 2m window? k
air
= 0.024
W/mK.
8. What is the thickness required of a masonry wall having thermal conductivity 0.75
W/mK if the heat rate is to be 80% of the heat rate through a composite structural wall
having k = 0.25 W/mK and thickness of 100 mm? Both walls are subjected to the
same surface temperature difference.
9. A cartridge electrical heater is shaped as a cylinder of length 200 mm and outer
diameter 20 mm. Under normal conditions, the heater dissipates 2 kW while
submerged in a water flow that is at 20 deg. C and provides a convection heat transfer
coefficient h = 5000 W/m
2
K. Neglecting heat transfer from the ends of the heater,
determine its surface temperature T
s
. If the water flow is inadvertently terminated
while the heater is still operating, the heater surface is exposed to air that is also at 20
deg. C but h = 50 W/m
2
K. What is the corresponding surface temperature? What are
the consequences of such an event?
10. Chips of width L = 15 mm on a side are mounted to a substrate that is installed in an
enclosure whose walls and air are maintained at T
sur
=T

= 25
o
C. The chips have an
emissivity of 0.6 and a maximum allowable temperature T
s
= 85
o
C.
a> If heat is rejected from the chips by radiation and natural convection, what is the
maximum operating power of each chip? The convection coefficient depends on
the chip to air temperature difference and may be approximated as
h = C(Ts- T

)
1/4
, where C = 4.2 W/m
2
K
5/4
.
b> If a fan is used to maintain air flow through the enclosure and heat transfer is by
forced convection, with h = 250 W/m
2
K, what is the maximum operating power?