Tutorial 7-External forced convection

7-16 During a cold winter day, wind at

55 km/h is blowing parallel to a
4-m-high and 10-m-long wall of a
house. If the air outside is at 5°C
and the surface temperature of
the wall is 12°C, determine the
rate of heat loss from that wall
by convection. What would your
answer be if the wind velocity
was doubled?
Here we have convection over a
flat surface with a length of 10 m
and a width of 4 m. The mean
temperature is (5oC + 12oC)/2 = 8.5oC. We find the following properties of air at this temperature
from Table A-15: k = 0.02428 W/moC,  = 1.413x10-5 m2/s, and Pr = 0.7340.
We first find the Reynolds number.
55 km 1000 m 1 h
10 m
VL h km 3600 s
Re L    1.081x107
 1.413x105 m 2
s
This means that the flow becomes turbulent over the plate and we can use the Nusselt number
equation for combined laminar and turbulent flow.

Nu L 
hL
k
 0.8

 0.037 Re 0L.8  871Pr1 / 3  0.0371.081x107   8710.7340  1.336x104
1/ 3

We then use this Nusselt number to find the heat transfer coefficient and the heat transfer.

kNu L 1.336x104 0.02484W 32.43 W

h   2 o
L 10 m m o C m  C

Q  h ATs  T  
32.43 W
m  C
2 o
 
40 m 2 12o C 5 o C
1 kW

1000 W
 9.08 kW

If the wind velocity were doubled, the Reynolds number would be doubled and we would repeat
the calculations above, starting with this revised Reynolds number..

Nu L 
hL
k
   
 0.037 Re 0L.8  871 Pr1 / 3  0.037 2.162x107 
0.8

 8710.7340
1/ 3
 2.384x104

kNu L 2.384x104 0.02484W 57.88 W

h   2 o
L 10 m m o C m  C

Q  h ATs  T  
57.88 W
m  C
2 o
 
40 m 2 12o C 5 o C
1 kW
1000W

 16.21 kW
 Page 2

7-32 A transformer that is 10 cm long, 6.2 cm wide,

and 5 cm high is to be cooled by attaching a
10-cm by 6.2-cm wide polished aluminum
heat sink (emissivity = 0.03) to its top surface.
The heat sink has seven fins, which are 5 mm
high , 2 mm thick, and 10 cm long. A fan
blows air at 25°C parallel to the passages
between the fins. The heat sink is to dissipate
12 W of heat and the base temperature of the
heat sink is not to exceed 60°C. Assuming the
fins and the base plate to be nearly
isothermal and the radiation heat transfer to
be negligible, determine the minimum free-
stream velocity the fan needs to supply to
avoid overheating.
With the simplifying assumptions given in this
problem, we really have a problem of 7 flat plates
with heat transfer from two sides. The spaces at
the base of the fins also form flat plates. So we
find the heat transfer from one flat plate with a
total area of all the fins plus the unifnned surface
at the base of the fins.
We have to work this problem in reverse. We are
essentially given the required heat transfer – the
12W that the transformer has to dissipate – and
data on the fin area, and the temperature difference. We can therefore compute the heat transfer
coefficient and work backwards to find the air velocity.
The flat plates in this case have a length of 10 cm and a width of 0.5 cm. The total area from one
side of one fin is (0.005 m)(0.1 m) = 0.0005 m2. There are 14 such sides giving an area of 0.007
m2. In addition, the total area at the top of the transformer is (0.1 m)(0.062 m) = 0.0062 m2. The
bases of the seven fins take up an area of 7(0.1 m)(0.002 m) = 0.0014 m2. Thus the unfinned
area on the base is the difference in these areas: 0.0062 m2 – 0.0014 m2. = 0.0048 m2. The total
area for the air is the sum of the fin area and the unfinned area: 0.007 m2 + 0.0048 m2 = 0.0118
m2. From these area data and the other given data we can compute the heat transfer coefficient
as follows.

Q 12 W 29.06 W
h  
 2 o o

ATs  T  0.0118m 60 C  25 C 
m 2 o C
We need air properties to continue. The mean temperature is (60oC + 25oC)/2 = 42.5oC. We find
the following properties of air at this temperature from Table A-15: k = 0.02681 W/moC,  =
1.726x10-5 m2/s, and Pr = 0.7248. The Nusselt number based on the common length of 0.1 m for
all the surfaces that we are treating as flat plates, can now be computed as follows

29.06 W
0.1 m
 m  C
hL 2 o
Nu L   108.4
k 0.02681W
m o C
Now we have to decide which equation to use for Nu: the laminar or turbulent equation. Since
the length is short we choose the laminar equation for the first attempt.
 Page 3

2
Nu L  108.4 
Nu L  0.664 Re 0.5
Pr 13
 Re 0.5
  Re L   13 
 3.302x104
 0.6640.7248 
L L
0.664 Pr1 3
Since this is less than the critical Reynolds number of 500,000 we have made a good guess!
Now we can complete our solution by finding the velocity that gives us this Reynolds number.

1.726x105 m 2
VL  Re L s

3.302x104 
Re L   V   5.70 m/s
 L 0.1 m

7-67C In flow across tube banks, why is the Reynolds number based on the maximum velocity
instead of the uniform approach velocity?
The uniform approach velocity is not as important to the flow phenomena across tube banks as
the local velocity between tubes. Thus the local maximum velocity is a better indicator of the heat
transfer effects and is used in the correlation equations.

8-22 Cooling water available at 10°C is used to condense steam at 30°C in the condenser of a
power plant at a rate of 0.15 kg/s by circulating the cooling water through a bank of 5-m-
long 1.2-cm-internal-diameter thin copper tubes. Water enters the tubes at a mean velocity
of 4 m/s, and leaves at a temperature of 24°C. The tubes are nearly isothermal at 30°C.
Determine the average heat transfer coefficient between the water and the tubes, and the
number of tubes needed to achieve the indicated heat transfer rate in the condenser.
Here we are using the data given in the problem to determine the heat transfer coefficient that is
responsible for the heat transfer performance represented by those data.
To start, we find the following properties for water at the average temperature of (10oC + 24oC)/2
= 17.5oC from Table A-9:  = 998.7 kg/m3, cp = 4183.8 J/kgoC, and latent heat of vaporization, hfg
= 2431 kJ/kg. The mass flow rate of water in one tube can be found as follows.
 998.7 kg 
m  AcV   D 2V  3
0.012 m2 4 m  0.4518 kg
4 m 4 s s
We can apply the first law of thermodynamics to determine the heat addition rate required to
increase the temperature from the inlet temperature of 10oC to the outlet temperature of 24oC in a
single tube.

Q1 tube  m c p Tout  Tin  

0.4518 kg 4183.8 J
s kg C
o
24 o

C  10 o
C  
2.646x104 J
s
 2.646x104 W

The log-mean temperature difference, which is used to calculate the heat transfer, is found below.

LMT 
Tout  Tin 

24o C  10o C
 11.63o C
 T  Ts   24 C  30 C 
o o
ln out  ln o 
 Tin  Ts   10 C  30 C 
o

The surface area, As, available for heat transfer is the wall area of the cylindrical tube.

As  DL   0.012 m5 m  0.1885 m2

We now have all the data required to compute the average heat transfer coefficient.
 Page 4

Q 2.646x104 W 1.21x105 W
Q  h ALMT   h   
 
ALMT  0.1885 m 2 11.63o C 
m 2 o C

The number of tubes required are found by determining the total heat transfer required to
condense 0.15 kg/s of steam with the latent heat found above: hfg = 2431 kJ/kg. The total heat
transfer required is
0.15 kg 2431 kJ 1000 W  s
Q total  m steam h fg   3.6365x105 W
s kg 1 kJ
Since each tube has a heat transfer of 2.656x104 W, the number of tubes required is simply the
ratio of the two heat transfers.

Q total 3.6365x105 W
N tubes    13.8
Q1 tube 2.646x104 W

Thus, 14 tubes are required .