1

Module 3:
Convective heat and mass transfer

Lecture 26:
Heat Transfer to Boundary Layers
(Continued)

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering

The solution of the temperature field for a situation of wall temperature described by eqn. (3) of
lecture 25, can be generalised to a wall temperature which varies arbitrarily along x. Such a
temperature variation can be expressed as

Tw T = a0 + a1 x + a2 x 2 + ... = ai x i

(1)

i =0

Solutions for the individual terms a0, a1x etc. are superimposed to obtain the solution for B.C. given
by eqn. (1).
Approximate Solutions
Use integrated B.L. energy equation. is approximated by a reasonable function of . Integration
gives T vs. x. Integrated B.L. energy equation is not limited to similar temperature profiles.
However, this approach can be applied to flat plate with an unheated length followed by a heated
section.
Also it can be applied to systems with arbitrary wall temperature distribution (by superposition
Duhamels principle)
Numerical solution (Finite element, finite difference etc.) can tackle complex geometries, complex
boundary conditions, and 3-D problems.

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering

Integrated B.L. Energy equation

vx v y
+
=0
x y

vx

(2)

2 (T T )
(T T )
(T T )
+ vy
=

x
y
y 2

(3)

Multiplying eqn. (2) by (T-T) and adding to eqn. (3), we get

( vx (T T ) )
x

( v y (T T ) )
y

2 (T T )
=

y 2

(4)

Integrating the above equation from 0 to T

(5)

T
vx (T T ) dy =
x 0

y =0

(6)

This equation holds for both laminar and turbulent flow.

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering

Asymptotic solutions for general plane and axis-symmetric flows

For large Pr (heavy oils) or large Sc (liquids)
Here T << vx can be approximated by linear function

vx = B ( x ) y
vx v y
+
=0
x y

vy =

(Plane 2-D flow)

1 dB 2
y
2 dx

Then eqn. (2) in lecture 24 becomes

B ( x) y

1 dB 2
2

y
=D 2
x 2 dx
y
y

(7)

= 0 at y = 0
= 1 at y

Here =

c cw
c cw

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering

Use combined variables =

y
g ( x)

Plugging into eqn. (7)

d 2
g 2 dg 1 dB 3
2 d

g =0
d 2
d
D dx 2 D dx

(8)

Must be a constant. Set = -3

Then
2 dg g 3 dB
Bg dx 2 dx = 3D

1
g=
B

and =

9 D Bdx
0

d 3 32
( g B ) = 9B1 2 D
dx

13

y B

9 D Bdx
0

13

(9)

Equation (9) is known as a Light hill transformation

Eqn. (8) becomes

d 2
d
3 2
=0
2
d
d

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering

Setting P =

Ny

d
d

P = P0 e

y =0

dc
dy

and

4 x3

= e dx = 0.89298
3 0

3
1
e x dx

4
0
3

= D

=
y =0

D ( c cw )
B
13
x
4
9 D Bdx

3
0

(10)

For corresponding heat transfer problem

qy

y =0

k (T Tw )
B
13
x
4
9 Bdx

3
0

(11)

Gamma function

Definition ( ) = e t t 1dt

(for > 0)

Properties
( + 1) = ( )
(1) = 1
1
=
2
( k + 1) = K

for k = integer (0, 1,2,....)

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering

Stirling formula

( + 1) 2
( for large )
e
with e = base of natural logarithm
x

Incomplete gamma function: P ( , x ) = e t t 1dt

( > 0 )

Q ( , x ) = e t t 1dt

( > 0 ) ;

( a ) = P ( , x ) + Q ( , x )

(shown in Fig. 1 below)

Fig. 1 Gamma functions

NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering