Al-Balqa Applied University

Faculty Engineering Technology

Chemical Engineering Department
Heat Transfer Lab

Experiment (8)
Convection
Objective :
1- To indicates how the fins effected in the heat transfer .
2- To compare the surface temperatures of the heat
transfer surfaces in forced and free convection for a
fixed input power.
3- To show how to find a value for heat coefficient and
nusselt number for a heat transfer surface in a duct for
free convection.
Theory :
Convection is the mode of energy transfer between a solid
surface and moving fluid ( liquid or gas ) , and it involves the
combined effects of conduction and fluid motion. The faster
the fluid motion, the greater the convection heat transfer. In
the absence of any bulk fluid motion, heat transfer between
a solid surface and the adjacent fluid is by pure conduction .
Convection is called forced convection if the fluid is forced to
flow over the surface by external means such as a fan, pump,
or the wind. In contrast, convection is called natural (or free)
convection if the fluid motion is caused by buoyancy forces
that are induced by density differences due to the variation
of temperature in the fluid .
Despite the complexity of convection, the rate of convection
heat transfer is observed to be proportional to the
temperature difference, and is conveniently expressed by
Newton’s law of cooling as
Q · conv = h As (Ts – T ) W
where h is the convection heat transfer coefficient in W/m2.c
, As is the surface area through which convection heat
transfer takes place, Ts is the surface temperature, and T
is the temperature of the fluid sufficiently far from the
surface. The convection heat transfer coefficient h is not a
property of the fluid. It is an experimentally determined
parameter whose value depends on all the variables
influencing convection such as the surface geometry, the
nature of fluid motion, the properties of the fluid, and the
bulk fluid velocity.
Nusselt Number, it is common practice to nondimensionalize
the governing equations and combine the variables, which
group together into dimensionless numbers in order to
reduce the number of total variables. It is also common
practice to nondimensionalize the heat transfer coefficient h
with the Nusselt number defined as
Nu = ℎ𝐿/K
Where k is the thermal conductivity of the fluid and L is the
length.The Nusselt number is named after Wilhelm Nusselt,
who made significant contributions to convective heat
transfer in the first half of the twentieth century, and it
is viewed as the dimensionless convection heat transfer
coefficient.
Relation used in this experiment :
T mean=¿ ¿ (1)
Q = h A T mean (2)
hL
Nu=
K
(3)
Reading of the experiment :
Power = 15 W
Heat transfer Ts ( C ) T in ( C ) Ts – T in ( C )
surface
Flat plate 54.1 19.1 35
Pinned 34.1 19.5 14.6
Finned 41.9 20 21.9

Free convection
Q = 19.6 W
Depth = 74 mm
A = 106mm × 106mm
L = 106 mm
Depth mm T in C Ts C T out C
0 19.8 85.3 23.6
5 19.8 85.7 23.9
10 19.8 86 23.6
15 19.9 86.3 23.4
20 19.9 86.5 23.1
25 19.9 86.7 22.8
30 19.9 87 22.7
35 19.9 87.2 22.6
40 20 87.4 22.4
45 20 87.6 22.3
50 20 87.8 22.1
55 20 88 22
60 20 88.1 21.8
65 20 88.2 21.5
70 20.1 88.4 21.2
75 20 88.6 21
T average 19.9375 87.175 22.5

Forced convection
Air speed = 1.7 m / s
Depth mm T in C Ts C T out C
0 20.4 79 21.9
5 20.4 79 21.9
10 20.4 79 21.6
15 20.4 79.1 21.2
20 20.4 79.1 20.9
25 20.4 79.1 20.7
30 20.4 79 20.6
35 20.4 79 20.5
40 20.4 79 20.4
45 20.4 79 20.5
50 20.3 79 20.5
55 20.3 79 20.6
60 20.5 79 20.8
65 20.4 79 21.1
70 20.4 79 21.4
75 20.4 79 21.7
T average 20.39375 79.01875 21.01875

Air speed = 3.3 m / s

 Depth mm T in C Ts C T out C
0 20.5 76.6 22.3
35 20.6 75.6 21.2
74 20.5 75 21.3

Air speed = 2.6 m / s

Depth mm T in C Ts C T out C
0 20.5 72.8 22.1
35 20.5 72.7 21.5
74 20.5 72.5 21.4

Sample of calculation :
( 22.5−19.9375 )
Tmean=
ln
87.175−19.9375 = 65.948 C
87.175−22.5

T mean = 65.948 + 273.15 = 339.098 K

A = 0.106×0.106 = 0.0112m2
19.6
h=
0.0112× ( 339.098 )
= 5.1607 W/ m2. K

K air = 0.0257 W/m .K from the chart for thermal

conductivity of air .
( 5.1607 ×0 .106 )
Nu=
0.0257
= 21.285

Result of calculation :
Free convection
T mean A h K Nu
K m2 w/m2.k w/m.k
339.098 0.0112 5.1607 0.0257 21.285

Forced convection ( air speed = 1.7 m/s )

T mean A h K Nu
K m2 w / m2.k w/m.k
331.462 0.0112 5.2796 0.0259 21.6078

Curves :

heat transfer surface

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
flat pinned finned
 free convection
4.5

3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 74

^T

forced convection
1.6

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 74

T
 forced convection 3.3m/s
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 35 74

forced convection 2.6m/s

5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 35 74

Discuss:
From the result we note that the nusselt number for forced
convection higher than free convection , because heat
transfer coefficient for forced higher than free . From the
reading we note that the value of Tout decrease as the depth
value increase and this because with depth increase we
further away from the plate ( heat sources ) .