Convection Experiment

Leader: Tom Salerno

Partners:
Greg Rothsching
Stephen Johnson
Jen DiRocco

What will you hear today?

Introduction
Theory
Equipment and Procedure
Results and Discussion
Conclusions
Questions

Introduction

What is convection?

Heat transfer from fluid flowing over solid surface

Why study convection?

Occurs in almost every process plant

Example: Heat Exchangers, Tray Dryers, etc.

Theory Newtons Law of Cooling

Flat Plate:

h Heat TransferCoefficient Units of W

Finned Plate
(Resistances in
Parallel):

q ho Ao h f A f f Ts Tb

tanhL Tm
f

L
Ts

dqconvection = hf *P dx * (Tfin @ x - T8 )
t

Newton Rate Equation

q hATs Tb hAT

z
dx

hf P
Ak

Theory Forced Convection

A

Physical Situation:
H

u8

T8

dx

dq w kdx

dT
dy

Solving Boundary Layer Equations

0
x y

Continuity Equation u
u
u
Momentum Balance u x y y

T
T
T
Thermal Balance
u x y y

Rigorous analytical solution

2

Theory Forced Convection

Forced Convection analytically developed

Dimensionless Parameters

Reynolds:

Re x

Prandtl:

Pr

Nusselt:

Flat Plate:

ux

CP

x0 3/ 4
hx x
1/ 3
1/ 2
Nu x
.332 Pr Re x 1
k
x

Nu

hL
.664 Pr1/ 3 Re x1/ 2
k

1/ 3

for Re 5 1010

Theory - Natural Convection

Physical Situation:

= fucn(y)

T8

U = func(y)

Ts

New Momentum Equation:

u
u
2u

g (T T ) 2
x
y
y

Must now solve all three boundary layer equations

simultaneously

Theory - Natural Convection

Experimental Correlation:

Churchill and Chu

Dimensionless Parameters

g (Ts T ) L uo L
g (Ts T ) L3

u0 2
2

Grashoff:
Rayleigh:

Correlation:

GrL

RaL GrL Pr

Nu L .68

g (Ts T ) L3

.670 Ra1/L 4
.492 9/16
1

Pr

4/ 9

RaL 109

Equipment and Procedure

Chimney

Boundary Layer Profile Measurement

Heated Surface

Viewing Window

Inlet Air Measurement

Temperature Probe

Anemo meter

20 watts

Pump and Slide

Cover

Power Supply

Figure 9: Front view of convection duct.

Figure 10: Side view of convection duct.

Results and Discussions

Flat Plate: Laminar Flow
Heat transfer coefficients versus velocity for laminar flow over flat plate
90

80

h (Watts per meter squared degrees Celsius)

70

60

50

Predicted
Experimental
Linear (Predicted)

40

30

20

10

0
0

0.5

1.5

(Velocity (meters per second))^.5

2.5

3.5

Results and Discussions

Turbulent Mix

Turbulence begins because the

boundary layer formed over the
duct wall hits the edge of the
flat plate which is slightly
raised, thus disturbing the molecules in the boundary layer to
form a turbulent mix

u8
u8
T8

A8
u8

Duct Wall

New Correlation -

Nu

hL
1.169 Pr1/ 3 Re x1/ 2
k

Results and Discussions

Flat Plate: Turbulent Mix
Heat transfer coefficients versus velocity for laminar flow over flat plate
90

80

70

h (Watts per meter squared degrees Celsius)

60

50
Turbulent Mix Predicted
Experimental
Linear (Turbulent Mix Predicted)

40

30

20

10

0
0

0.5

1.5

-10
(Velocity (meters per second))^.5

2.5

3.5

Results and Discussions

Finned Plate: Laminar
Heat Transfer Coefficients for flow over Finned Plate
70

h (watts per meter squared degree celcius)

60
50
40

Predicted
Experimental

30

Linear (Predicted)

20
10
0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

(Velocity (m eters per second))^.5

3.5

Results and Discussions

Turbulent Mix

Turbulence begins because the

incoming air will h it the blunt
side of the fin, causing the
mo lecules to be disturbed in
many different directions. This
causes the boundary layer to
have a slight turbulent mix.

u8

T8

A8
u8

New Correlation -

Nu

hL
.90 Pr1/ 3 Re x1/ 2
k

Results and Discussions

Finned Plate: Turbulent Mix

Results and Discussions

Effectiveness of Fin Addition
Overal Heat Transfet Com parison (a)

80
70
60

Delta T (degrees Celsius)

34 deg

50

Flat Plate

40

Finned Plate

30

40 deg

20
29 deg

18 deg

10
0
0

Velocity (m eters per second)

10

12

Conclusions What we learned

The convective heat transfer coefficient increases

linearly with the square root of air velocity
Predictive Equations are useful for predicting trend in
data, but not the absolute numbers
Natural Convection is the limit to forced convection,
though it is difficult to predict
The addition of fins will increase the heat transfer
rate substantially at low air velocities, but not as
much at higher air velocities

Conclusions Significance?

Aid in design of heat exchangers

How to increase heat transfer coefficient

How to increase heat transfer rate
Realize presence of natural convection for cheap
ways to cool electronic equipment

Confidence of Predictive Equations

Use for other experiments, such as tray dryer

Only if can perfectly match geometry, or can run a
short scale experiment to obtain correction factor

Questions?