17.

68 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

TABLE 17.13 Important Dimensionless Groups for Internal Flow Forced Convection Heat Transfer
and Flow Friction Useful in Heat Exchanger Design

Dimensionless Definitions and working

groups relationships Physical meaning and comments
Reynolds pVDh GDh A flow modulus proportional to the ratio of inertia force to
number Re - - -kt - g viscous force

T,w
Fanning friction '--~
f = ~t"PVZ/2gc The ratio of wall shear (skin frictional) stress to the flow kinetic
factor energy per unit volume; commonly used in heat transfer literature
f = A p * rh _ Ap rh
L (pVZ/2gc) L
rh
Apparent Fanning fapp = Ap* -- Includes the effects of skin friction and the change in the momen-
friction factor L tum rates in the entrance region (developing flows)

L
Incremental K(x)=(f~pp-~d) r--~ Represents the excess dimensionless pressure drop in the
pressure drop entrance region over that for fully developed flow
number K(oo) = constant for x --)

Darcy friction fo = 4f = Ap , Dh Four times the Fanning friction factor; commonly used in fluid
factor
L
mechanics literature
Ap
Euler number Eu -- ~ p * - - ~ The pressure drop normalized with respect to the dynamic veloc-
(pVZ/2gc)
ity head
X
Dimensionless X+ _ The ratio of the dimensionless axial distance (X/Dh) to the
axial distance Dh Re Reynolds number; useful in the hydrodynamic entrance region
for the fluid
flow problem
h q"Dh
Nusselt number Nu- The ratio of the convective conductance h to the pure molecular
k/Dh k(Tw- Tin)
thermal conductance k/Dh
h
Stanton number St- The ratio of convection heat transfer (per unit duct surface area)
Gcp
to amount virtually transferable (per unit of flow cross-sectional
Nu Nu area); no dependence upon any geometric characteristic dimen-
St sion
Pe Re Pr

Colburn factor j = St Pr 2/3= (Nu pr-1/3)/Re A modified Stanton number to take into account the moderate
variations in the Prandtl number for 0.5 ~< Pr ~< 10.0 in turbulent
flow
v gcp
Prandtl number Pr- - A fluid property modulus representing the ratio of momentum
o~ k
diffusivity to thermal diffusivity of the fluid

P6clet number Pe = pcpVDh= VDh.= Re Pr Proportional to the ratio of thermal energy convected to the fluid
k tx
to thermal energy conducted axially within the fluid; the inverse
of Pe indicates relative importance of fluid axial heat conduction
X X
Dimensionless X*- - ~ Useful in describing the thermal entrance region heat transfer
axial distance
Dh Pe Dh Re Pr results
for the heat
transfer problem
Gz-rhcp-PeP- P 1
Graetz number Conventionally used in the chemical engineering literature related
kL 4L 4Dh X* to x* as shown when the flow length in Gz is treated as a length
Gz = n/(4x*) for a circular tube variable