Intro to PLUS

by Leta Moser and Kristen Cetin

PLUS accreditation
Peer-Led Undergraduate Studying (PLUS)
assists students enrolled by offering class-specific,
weekly study groups.
Students can attend any study group at any point in
the semester to review for an exam, discuss
confusing concepts, or work through practice
problems.
http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/slc/support/plus

Lecture Objectives:
Review - Heat transfer
Convection
Conduction
Radiation
Analysis of a practical problem

Example Problem radiant

barrier in attic

Example Problem heat transfer

in window construction

Convection

Convection coefficient h [W/m2K]

Q A h (Twall Tair ) A h (Tw T ) [W]
Heat flux

area

or

q h (Tw T ) [W/m2]
Specific heat flux

Natural convection

Forced convection

T
Tw

Tw
L characteristic length

Nusselt number:

hL
Nu
k

Convection
Conduction

h natural convection
k air conduction
L- characteristic length

Which surface in this classroom

has the largest forced convection
A. Window
B. Ceiling
C. Walls
D. Floor

Which surface has the largest natural

convection

How to calculate h ?
What are the parametrs that affect h ?

Laminar and Turbulent Flow

forced convection

Forced convection governing equations

1) Continuity

u v

0
x y

2) Momentum

u
u
2u
u
v
v 2
x
y
y

u, v velocities
air viscosity

Non-dimensionless momentum equation

Using

x* x L ;

y* y L ;

u* u

U oo

v* v

U oo

L = characteristic length and U0 = arbitrary reference velocity

*
*
2 *

u
1

u
*
*
u
v

*2
*
*
U oo L y
x
y

Re

Reynolds number

Forced convection
governing equations
Energy equation for boundary layer
2

T
T
T
u
v

x
y
y 2

T temperature, thermal diffusivity =k/cp,

k-conductivity, - density, cp specific cap.
Non-dimensionless energy equations

T*

T
1
T
* T
u
v

*
*
x
y
Re L . Pr . y *2
*

Reynolds number

UL
Re L

Inertial force
Viscous force

T T
Tw T

Air temperature outside

of boundary layer

Wall temperature

Prandtl number

Pr

Momentum diffusivity
Thermal diffusivity

Simplified Equation
for Forced convection
General equation

Nu f (Re, Pr)

For laminar flow:

Nu C L Re Pr

For turbulent flow:

Nu CT Re Pr

1/ 3

4/5

Nu

hL
k

Re L

For air: Pr 0.7, = viscosity is constant, k = conductivity is constant

Simplified equation:
m

h forced f (U , Ln ) C U m
Or:

h forced C ACH

ACH

Volume flow rate

RoomVolume

UL

Natural convection

GOVERNING EQUATIONS
Natural convection
Continuity

u v

0
x y

Momentum which includes gravitational force

u
u
2u
u
v
g T T v 2
x
y
y

Energy

T
T
2T
u
v

x
y
y 2

u, v velocities , air viscosity , g gravitation, 1/T - volumetric thermal expansion

T temperature, T air temperature out of boundary layer, temperature conductivity

Characteristic Number for Natural

Convection
Non-dimensionless governing equations
Using x* x L ; y * y L ; u * u U ; v* vU ;

T*

T T
Tw T

L = characteristic length and U0 = arbitrary reference velocity Tw- wall temperature

The momentum equation become

*
u *
g Tw T L *
1 2u *
* u
u
v

T
*2
*
*
2
x
y
U
Re L y

Gr

Multiplying by Re2 number Re=UL/

g Tw T L3
2

*
u *
2u *
2
* u
*
u
v
(Gr / Re L ) T (1 / Re L ) *2
*
*
x
y
y
*

Grashof number
Characteristic Number for Natural Convection
g Tw T L3
Gr
2

Buoyancy forces
Viscous forces

The Grashof number has a similar significance for natural convection

as the Reynolds number has for forced convection, i.e. it represents a
ratio of buoyancy to viscous forces.
General equation

Nu f (Gr , Pr)

Natural convection
simplified equations
For laminar flow:

Nu C L Gr Pr

For turbulent flow:

Nu CT Gr Pr

1/ 4

1/ 3

For air: Pr 0.7, = constant, k= constant, = constant, g=constant

Simplified equation:
h forced f ((Tw T ) m , Ln ) f (T m , Ln )
Or:
Even more simple

h forced C T m

T - air temperature outside of boundary layer, Ts - surface temperature

Forced and/or natural convection

In general,

Nu = f(Re, Pr, Gr)

GrL Re 2L 1 Nu f (Re, Pr, Gr)

natural and forced convection

GrL Re 2L 1 Nu f (Re, Pr)

forced convection

GrL Re 2L 1 Nu f (Gr , Pr)

natural convection

Combined forced and natural

convention
Churchill and Usagi approach :
n
hcombined (h1n h2n )1/ n ( hnatural
h nforced )1/ n
5

combined

3
n=2
n=3
2

n=6
1

T or ACH

0
0

This equation favors a dominant term (h1 or h2), and exponent coefficient n determines
the value for hcombined when both terms have the same order of value

Example of general forced and

natural convection
Equation for convection at cooled ceiling surfaces

hnatural (2.12 T 0.33 ) 3

h forced 1.19 ACH 0.8

hcombinbed (2.12 T

) (1.19 ACH

0.33 3

0.8 3

1/ 3

What kind of flow is the most

common for indoor surfaces
A. Laminar
B. Turbulent
C. Transitional
D. Laminar, transitional, and turbulent

What about outdoor surfaces?

Conduction

Conductive heat transfer

k - conductivity
of material

Steady-state

q k / L(TS 1 TS 2 )
Unsteady-state
TS1

T
k T

qsource
2

c p x
2

Boundary conditions
Tair

Dirichlet
Neumann

Tsurface = Tknown
T
h(Tair Tsurface )
x

TS2

Boundary conditions
Biot number

hL
Bi
k solid
convention
conduction

Importance of analytical solution

W
.5
K
J
2
/m
g
k
0

9
1
-T

lL
a
w
s
u
n
e
o
h

c
=

1.0
0.9
Analytical solution
Numerical -3 nodes, =60 min
Numerical -7 nodes, =60 min
Numerical -7 nodes, =12 min

(T-Ts)/(To-Ts)

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

5
hour

10

What will be the daily temperature

distribution profile on internal surface
for styrofoam wall?
External temperature profile
T

time

A.

B.

What will be the daily temperature

distribution profile on internal surface
for tin glass?
External temperature profile
T

time

A.

B.

Conduction equation describes

accumulation

Important numbers
Nusselt number

Reynolds number

Prandtl number

Grashof number

Biot number

hL
Nu
k

Convection
Conduction

UoL
Re L

Pr

Inertial force
Viscous force
Momentum diffusivity

Thermal diffusivity

g Ts T L3
Gr
2

hL
Bi
k solid

Buoyancy forces
Viscous forces

thermal internal resistance

surface film resistance

Reference book: Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, Incropera & DeWitt