Professional Documents
Culture Documents
01-2007
OBJECTIVE
Demonstrate the use of a fin (extended surface) to improve the heat transfer in forced convection.
2.
THEORY
Heat transfer from an object can be improved by
increasing the surface area in contact with the air by
adding fins or pins normal to the surface. This can be
seen in Newtons Law of Cooling, which defines the
convection heat transfer rate:
Q h As Ts T
The effect of the surfaces can be demonstrated by
comparing finned and unfinned surfaces with a flat
plate under the same conditions of power and flow.
EQUIPMENT
The surfaces are shown in the figure below. The finned surface consists of 9 fins that are each 0.1
m high and 0.068 m wide. The pinned surface consists of 17 pins that each have a diameter of
0.013 m and are 0.068 m long.
PROCEDURES
a. Place the heat exchanger into the test duct and record the ambient temperature (T).
b. Set the heater power control to 75 W. Allow the temperature to rise to 80C then adjust the
heater power control to 20 W.
c. Start stopwatch wait 5 minute and record the heated plate surface temperature (Ts).
d. Repeat step (b). Then set the fan speed control to give a reading of 1.0 m/s on the thermal
anemometer. Allow 5 min for the reading to stabilize and then again record Ts.
e. Then adjust the fan speed to 2.0 m/s and then 2.5 m/s, recording the Ts for each speed.
[Same Procedure at step (d) ].
5.
RESULTS
1.
Start with the unfinned flat plate. Using the data tables shown below, record the
ambient temperature (T) and the power input ( Q )
Table A
Air
Velocity
[m/s]
= __________ W
Heater
Temperature (Ts)
[C]
Ts-T
[C]
[W/(mC)]
0
1.0
2.0
2.5
2.
Calculate the temperature difference (TsT) and record on the data table.
3.
Calculate the convection heat transfer coefficient (h) from the equation:
5.
Q
As Ts T
Replace the flat plate with the finned surface plate and repeat the experiment. Then
replace the finned surface with the pinned surface plate and repeat the experiment. An
equation for the surface areas (As) of the finned and pinned plates are shown below:
A finned 9 L w Abase
plate
Apinned 17
DL
plate
Table B
Air
Velocity
[m/s]
Abase
Finned Plate
Heater
Temperature (Ts)
[C]
Ts-T
[C]
[W/(mC)]
0
1.0
2.0
2.5
Table C
Air
Velocity
[m/s]
Pinned Plate
Heater
Temperature (Ts)
[C]
Ts-T
[C]
[W/(mC)]
0
1.0
2.0
2.5
6.
Plot graphs of air velocity versus surface temperature (T s-T) of each plate. Compare the
ability of each plate surface to disseminate heat by convection.