Convective Heat

Transfer
Convective Heat Transfer
Convective Heat Transfer occurs when a gas or liquid flows
past a solid surface whose temperature is different from that
of the fluid.
Examples include an organic heat-transfer fluid flowing inside a
pipe whose wall is heated by electrical heating tape, and air
flowing over the outside of a tube whose wall is chilled by
evaporation of a refrigerant inside the tube.
Two broad categories of convective heat transfer:
forced convection
the fluid motion is caused by an external agent such as a pump or blower
natural (or free) convection.
the fluid motion is the result of buoyancy forces created by temperature
differences within the fluid
Convective Heat Transfer
In contrast to conductive heat transfer, convective heat-
transfer problems are usually solved by means of empirical
correlations derived from experimental data and dimensional
analysis.
The reason is that in order to solve a convection problem from
first principles, one must solve the equations of fluid motion
along with the energy balance equation.
Although many important results have been obtained by solving
the fundamental equations for convection problems in which the
flow is laminar, no method has yet been devised to solve the
turbulent flow equations entirely from first principles.
Convective Heat Transfer
The empirical correlations are usually expressed in terms of a heat-
transfer coefficient, h, which is defined by the relation:

=

q is the rate of heat transfer between the solid surface and the fluid
A is the area over which the heat transfer occurs
T is a characteristic temperature difference between the solid and
the fluid

This equation is often referred to as Newton's Law of Cooling, even
though Newton had little to do with its development, and it is not
really a physical law. It is simply a definition of the quantity, h. Note
that the units of h are W/m
2
K or Btu/h ft
2
F
Convective Heat Transfer
In particular, h is not a material property. It depends not only
on temperature and pressure, but also on such factors as
geometry, the hydrodynamic regime (laminar or turbulent),
and in turbulent flow, the intensity of the turbulence and the
roughness of the solid surface. Hence, the heat-transfer
coefficient should not be regarded as a fundamental quantity,
but simply as a vehicle through which the empirical methods
are implemented.
Convective Heat Transfer
From the standpoint of transferring heat, turbulent flow is
highly desirable. In general, heat transfer rates can be ordered
according to the mechanism of heat transfer as follows:


conduction < natural convection < laminar forced convection <
turbulent forced convection
Convective Heat Transfer
The reason that turbulent flow is so effective at transferring
heat is that the turbulent eddies can rapidly transport fluid
from one area to another.
When this occurs, the thermal energy of the fluid is transported
along with the fluid itself. This eddy transport mechanism is much
faster (typically, about two orders of magnitude) than the
molecular transport mechanism of heat conduction.
COMBINED CONDUCTION AND
CONVECTION
Combined Conduction and
Convection
Heat-transfer problems involving both conduction and
convection can be conveniently handled by means of the
thermal resistance concept.

= =

Convective resistances can be combined with other thermal
resistances according to the rules for adding resistances in
series and in parallel.
Combined Conduction and
Convection
Example
A 5 cm (2 in.) schedule 40 steel pipe carries a heat-transfer fluid
and is covered with a 2 cm layer of calcium silicate insulation to
reduce the heat loss. The inside and outside pipe diameters are
5.25 cm and 6.03 cm, respectively. The fluid temperature is 150C
and the temperature of the exterior surface of the insulation is
25C. The coefficient of heat transfer between the fluid and the
inner pipe wall is 700 W/m 2. K. Calculate the rate of heat loss per
unit length of pipe.
Combined Conduction and
Convection
Another situation involving conduction and convection is the
transient heating or cooling of a solid in contact with a fluid.
Combined Conduction and
Convection
For the special case in which the thermal resistance within the
solid is small compared with the convective resistance
between the fluid and solid, temperature variations in the
solid are small and can be neglected. The temperature of the
solid can then be approximated as a function of time only.

A thermal energy balance on the solid gives:

rate of accumulation of thermal energy
= rate of heat transfer from fluid
Combined Conduction and
Convection











density
Volume of
the solid
Heat
capacity
Surface area of the
solid
Combined Conduction and
Convection
The solution to this linear first-order differential equation
subject to the initial condition that T = T
0
when t = 0 is:




The approximation T = T (t) is generally acceptable when the
following condition is satisfied
Thermal
conductivity
of the solid
In this case, the fluid
inside the vessel is
maintained
at a nearly uniform
temperature by the
mixing.
Combined Conduction and
Convection
Example
A batch chemical reactor operates at 400 K and the contents are
well mixed. The reactor volume is 0.8 m
3
with a surface area of
4.7 m
2
. After the reaction is complete, the contents are cooled to
320 K before the reactor is emptied. The cooling is accomplished
with ambient air at 300 K and h = 75 W/m
2
-K. The agitator
continues to operate during cool down. The reactor contents
have a density of 840 kg/m
3
and a heat capacity of 2200J/kg-K.
Determine the cooling time required.
EXTENDED SURFACES
Extended Surfaces
An important application involving both conduction and
convection is that of heat-transfer fins, also referred to as
extended surfaces.
Two most frequently used in process heat exchangers fins
rectangular fins



Extended Surfaces
An important application involving both conduction and
convection is that of heat-transfer fins, also referred to as
extended surfaces.
Two most frequently used in process heat exchangers fins
annular (radial or transverse) fins.
Extended Surfaces
The basic idea behind fins is to compensate for a low heat-
transfer coefficient, h, by increasing the surface area, A. Thus,
fins are almost always used when heat is transferred to or
from air or other gases, because heat-transfer coefficients for
gases are generally quite low compared with those for liquids.
Since fins usually consist of very thin pieces of metal attached
to the primary heat-transfer surface (the prime surface), a
relatively large amount of additional surface area is achieved
with a small amount of material.
Extended Surfaces
All the heat transferred by convection from the fin surface
must first be transferred by conduction through the fin from
its base, which is generally taken to be at the same
temperature as the prime surface.
Therefore, a temperature gradient must exist along the length
of the fin, and as the distance from the base of the fin
increases, the temperature of the fin becomes closer to the
temperature of the surrounding fluid. As a result, the T for
convective heat transfer decreases along the length of the fin,
and hence the extended surface is less effective in transferring
heat than the prime surface.
Extended Surfaces
In order to calculate the rate of heat transfer from a fin, it is
necessary to determine the temperature profile along the
length of the fin. We consider a rectangular fin attached to a
flat surface, and make a thermal energy balance on a
differential volume element.
The following assumptions are made:
Steady state
Heat transfer from fin surface by convection only (no radiation)
No heat generation in the fin
Constant thermal conductivity in the fin
Negligible temperature difference across the thickness of the fin
Negligible edge effects
Extended Surfaces
With steady state and no heat generation, the thermal energy
balance on the control volume is simply:

{rate of thermal energy in} - {rate of thermal energy out} = 0

Heat enters the control volume by conduction at position x,
and leaves by conduction at position x + x and by convection
at the surface of the control volume. Thus, the balance
equation can be written:
Extended Surfaces
So the general solution will be




or
Extended Surfaces
Now the maximum possible rate of heat transfer occurs when
the entire fin is at the prime surface temperature, Ts:


The fin efficiency,

, is defined as the ratio of q

fin
to q
max
:



or
Extended Surfaces
The rate of heat transfer from the fin can now be expressed in
terms of the fin efficiency as:




where the surface area, A
fin
, is equal to PL for the rectangular
fin, and absolute value signs have been added to make q
fin

positive regardless of the direction of heat flow.
or
Extended Surfaces
One further modification is made to the fin equations to
account (approximately) for the heat transfer from the fin tip,
which was neglected in the above analysis.
This is accomplished by, in effect, adding the tip area to the
periphery of the fin. To this end, the fin length is increased by
an amount, L, determined as follows:
Extended Surfaces
The analysis of an annular fin is somewhat more complicated
and the equation for fin efficiency involves Bessel functions
making it inconvenient to use. However, the following simple
equation provides a very good approximation for annular fins:
Extended Surfaces
The rate of heat transfer from the fin is given by


The total rate of heat transfer from a finned surface is the sum
of the heat-transfer rates from the prime surface and from all
of the fins. Thus,
Extended Surfaces
Where




It then follows that the thermal resistance of a finned surface
is:
Extended Surfaces
Example
A rectangular aluminum alloy (Duralumin) fin is 2 in. long, 0.1 in.
thick and 40 in. wide. It is attached to a prime surface at 150F
and is surrounded by a fluid at 100F with a heat transfer
coefficient of 75 Btu/h-ft
2
-F. Calculate the fin efficiency and the
rate of heat transfer from the fin.
Extended Surfaces
Assignment
Derive the rate of heat transfer for annular fin.