Determination of heat transfer

coefficient

Following methods may be employed for

the determination of heat transfer coefficient:

Experimental determination (Experimental

correlations)
Analysis of boundary layer
Using analogies

2
 Factors affecting heat transfer
coefficient
The heat transfer coefficient from hot horizontal surface to the
surrounding fluid has been found to be influenced by:

Specific heat capacity

Thermal
conductivity Density
Viscosity
Linear dimension of the surface (pipe diameter)
Flow velocity
Temperature difference
Coefficient of thermal expansion of the fluid, and
Acceleration due to gravity. 3
 Dimensional Analysis

By arranging the variables affecting the heat transfer

coefficient in certain dimensionless groups it is convenient to
observe the effect of variables as number of groups are less
than the individual parameters.

See class notes for the derivation.

3
Variables along with their dimensions

4
Nusselt Equation

Nu  f (Re,
Pr,Gr)

5
 Cases for Nusselt equation

Free Convection: Nu  f (Pr,Gr)

Forced Convection: Nu  f (Re,

Pr)

6
Physical interpretation of Nu, Re,
Pr, and Gr

8
 Schmidt number and Lewis
number
Schmidt number is a ratio of molecular diffusivity
of momentum (kinematic viscosity) to molecular
diffusivity of mass.

Lewis number is a ratio of molecular

diffusivity of heat (thermal diffusivity) to
molecular diffusivity of mass.

Write expression for each of the above.

9
 Heat transfer correlations
Increasing velocity of a fluid decreases the corresponding film
thickness and therefore heat transfer coefficient is increased by
increasing the velocity of the fluid. Increasing heat transfer
coefficient means increasing heat transfer rate. A higher rate of
heat transfer means generally a small size of heat transfer
equipment and less consumption of heating (or cooling) utility
and less time of operation in a batch process. All these lead to
more profit.
Viscosity is one of the major factor that influences the heat
transfer coefficient negatively. Higher viscosity of fluid means
thicker film and higher heat transfer resistance and therefore
lower heat transfer coefficient and lower rate of heat transfer.
Think the ways by which one can increase the heat
coefficient
transfer in various day to day heat transfer applications. 10
 Heat transfer correlations

A heat transfer coefficient depends upon many factors

(geometric, hydrodynamic, and fluid properties) and there is not
a single value of heat transfer coefficient for a given system.
Therefore, for the given situation, one needs to de experiments.
However, in the literature, concerned people have developed
(based on experiments) correlations that can be used, in usual
cases, with sufficient accuracy for a problem in hand. Many
such correlations have been developed over the years and cited
in heat transfer texts and related journals. A few of the
important correlations are discussed in the coming slides.

11
 Heat transfer correlations [1]

For laminar flow inside a horizontal pipe:

Seider and Tate correlation

h   
 1.86   Re  PrD    μ 
1/ 3 0.14
Nu 
Dk  L   μw 

For turbulent flow inside a pipe:

1
h   
0.14
Nu 
Dk  0.027 Re  Pr  
0.8 3

 w 
For detail see Reference 1. 12
 Problem [p. 262, 1]

Air at 206.8 kPa and an average of 477.6 K is being heated as

it flows through a tube of 25.4 mm inside diameter at a
velocity of 7.62 m/s. The heating medium is 488.7 K steam
condensing on the outside of the tube. Since the heat transfer
coefficient of condensing steam is several thousand W/m2·K
and the resistance of the metal wall is very small, it will be
assumed that the surface wall temperature of the metal in
contact with the air is 488.7 K. Calculate the heat transfer
coefficient for an L/D > 60.

13
 Solution to the problem

• Identify air and steam (A or B)

• Locate heat transfer resistances
Figure taken from Introduction to food engineering, 4th ed., by Singh and Heldman 14
 Solution to the problem
A

Double pipe or Hair-pin exchanger

•Identify air and
steam (A or B)
•Locate heat
transfer resistances

Hair-pin

Figure of double-pipe heat exchanger is taken from Process heat transfer by Kern. 15
Solution to the problem [p. 262, 1]

For application of the equation:

Re > 104
Pr between 0.7 and 16, 000, and DL  60
h is based on the log-mean driving force
Fluid properties except for μw are evaluated at the mean bulk
temperature.

Solution: See classwork.

15
 Problem [p. 272, 1]
A smooth, flat, thin fin of copper extending out from a tube is 51
mm by 51 mm square. Its temperature is approximately uniform at
82.2 oC. Cooling air at 15.6 oC and 1 atm abs flows parallel to the fin
at a velocity of 12.2 m/s.
a) For laminar flow, calculate the heat transfer coefficient, h.
b) If the leading edge of the fin is rough so that all of the boundary
layer or film next to the fin is completely turbulent, calculate h.

Cooling air at
15.6 oC

16
Fins or extended surfaces
Longitudinal fins

Traverse fins

17
 Problem-2 [p. 272, 1]
0.5
Laminar: 1/ 3
Nu  0.664 ReL  Pr
For application of the equation:
Re < 3 × 105
Pr > 0.7

0.8 1/ 3
Turbulent Nu  0.0366 ReL  Pr
:
For application of the equation:
Re > 3 × 105
Pr > 0.7
19
Solution: See classwork.
Natural convection from various
geometries [p. 278, 1]
c 
Nu  h  L  a  L    g    mpk   a  Gr  Pr
3 2

k
T    m
 
2


20
Heat transfer in agitated vessels
[p. 327, 1]
1. Vessels with heating jackets
2. Vessels with heating coils

(1) (2) 21
 Heat transfer coefficient in
agitated jacketed vessel [p. 327, 1]

1
b m
h  D  N    c   3
2
a a p   
Dtk  
  k   
    w 
 

21
 Heat transfer coefficient in
agitated jacketed vessel [p. 327, 1]

22
 Types of impellers

Paddle impeller
Paddle impeller Flat-blade
turbine impeller

3-blade marine
propeller impeller 24
Ribbon impeller Achor impeller
Typical overall heat transfer coefficients
in jacketed vessels [p. 328, 1]

24
 Homework Problems

Ref. 1: 4.5-1, 4.6-1, 4.6-3

25
Co-current and Counter-Current
flow patterns

Hot fluid
Cold
fluid

Co-current flow or
parallel flow

Hot fluid
Cold
fluid 26
Co-current and Counter-Current
flow patterns

Identify the type of flow?

27
Identify the type of flow?

? ? 29
Co-current and Counter-Current
flow patterns (Class input)
What information you can get by
comparing co-current and counter-current
flows?

1.
2.
3.

29
Cross-flow pattern

30
Temperature distributions

31
 The Logarithmic (Log) Mean
Temperature Difference Method
For the heat exchanger system shown in the figure below, the
temperatures of the heating and cooling fluids are not constant
but vary along the length of the heat exchanger. Generally, both
these temperature variations are not straight lines and an
arithmetic mean temperature difference is not the appropriate
temperature difference. Under such conditions, we define
logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) which is a
better representation of mean temperature difference.

32
 The logarithmic (Log) mean
temperature difference method
δq

33
 The logarithmic (log) mean
temperature difference method
Assumptions:
•The overall heat transfer coefficient is constant over the entire
length of the heating surface (of the heat exchanger).
•The flowrates of cold and hot fluids are not varying with time
(constant). The steady-state conditions are therefore
established.
•The system is considered adiabatic and the heat losses are
negligibly small.
•Variations of the properties of the fluids with temperature are small
enough to be neglected. Thus specific heat capacities are taken as
constants.
•No phase change occurs in either of the fluids. The derivation is
applicable for the cases when there are sensible heat changes or
when vaporization and condensation is isothermal for the whole 35
length of the effective heat transfer surface.
 The logarithmic (log) mean
temperature difference method

T1  T2
LMTD  Tlm 
ln(T1 / T2 )

T1  Th1 Tc1

T2  Th2 Tc2

35
 The logarithmic (log) mean
temperature difference method

If the temperature difference between Th1 and Tc1 is not

more than 50% greater than Th2–Tc2, the arithmetic
mean temperature difference will be within 1% of the
LMTD. This can simplify the calculations.

36
Tube dimensions [p. 997, 1]

37
Steel pipe dimensions [p. 996, 1]

38
Nomogram for sp. heat capacity
[p. 984, 1]

39
 Homework problems

Ref 1: 14.5-2, 4.5-3, 4.5-4, 4.5-4, 4.5-4.

See also separate sheet of the problems, i.e., Part-12.

40
Critical thickness (radius) of
insulation for a cylinder

T2

ho

41
Critical thickness (radius) of
insulation for a cylinder

qmax

qbare

42
Critical thickness (radius) of
insulation for a cylinder

43
 Critical thickness (radius) of
insulation for a flat wall

What would be the critical thickness

for a flat wall?

44
Critical thickness (radius) of
insulation for a flat wall

45
Critical thickness (radius) of
insulation for a sphere

Derive an expression for critical

radius of insulation for a spherical
geometry.

rcr  2k
ho
46
 Boiling heat transfer

Types of boiling:

1. Pool boiling (just as water heating in a kettle)

2. Convective or flow boiling (just as flowing

water boiling inside a tube)

47
 Pool boiling

Pool boiling regimes:

A: Natural or free convection

boiling B: Nucleate boiling
C: Transition boiling
D: Film boiling

48
Pool boiling curve for water at
1.013 bar [p. 387, 9]

49
Pictorial representation of various
pool boiling regimes [p. 627, 10]

50
Rate of heat transfer in pool
boiling

How can we calculate the rate of heat

transfer for a pool boiling problem?
What do we need?

51
 References
1. Geankoplis, C.J. (2003). Transport processes and separation process principles:
includes unit operations. 4th ed. Prentice-Hall International, Inc.
2. Holman, J.P. (2010). Heat transfer. 10th ed. McGraw-Hill Higher Education,
Singapore.
3. Cengel, Y.A. (2003). Heat transfer: A practical approach. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill.
4. Incropera, F.P.; DeWitt, D.P.; Bergman, T.L.; Lavine. A.S. (2007) Fundamentals of heat
and mass transfer. 6th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
5. Kern, D.Q. (1965). Process heat transfer. McGraw-Hill International Book Co.,
Singapore.
6. McCabe, W.L.; Smith, J.C.; Harriott, P. (1993). Unit operations of chemical
engineering. 5th ed. McGraw-Hill, Inc., Singapore.
7. Coulson, J.M.; Richardson, J.F.; Backhurst, J.R.; Harker, J.H. 1999. Coulson
and
Richardson’s Chemical engineering: Fluid flow, heat trasnfer and mass transfer. vol. 1.
6th ed. Butterwoth-Heinemann, Oxford.
8. Staff of Research and Education Association. (1984). The heat transfer problem
solver.
Research and Education Association, New Jersey.
9. Serth, R.W. (2007). Process Heat Transfer: Principles and Applications. Academic 53
Learning.
Press.