Average Nusselt Number

Cylinder
Cross
Section
Reynolds
Number
Range
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
0.4-4
4-40
40-4,000
4,000-
40,000
40,000-
400,000
6,000-
60,000
gas flow
5,000-
60,000
gas flow
5,200-
20,400
gas flow
20,400-
105,000
gas flow
4,500-
90,700
gas flow
Flow
Conditions
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
Laminar
Turbulent


where
Note: All fluid properties
are evaluated at film
temperature for cylinder
in cross flow correlations.
Note: For flow around a
sphere, all fluid properties,
except
s
, are evaluated at T

s
is evaluated at T
S
.
Note: All fluid
properties are
evaluated at film
temperature for flat
plate correlations.
External Flow Correlations (Average, Isothermal Surface)
Alternative Correlations for Circular
Cylinders in Cross Flow:

The Zukauskas correlation (7.53) and
the Churchill and Bernstein correlation
(7.54) may also be used
Flow Around a Sphere
Flat Plate Correlations
Cylinders in Cross Flow
D
V
3 / 1 2 / 1
Pr Re 664 . 0
L L
Nu =
6 . 0 Pr >
( )
3 / 1 5 / 4
Pr Re 037 . 0 A Nu
L L
=
60 Pr 6 . 0 s s
8
,
10 Re Re s s
L c x
2 / 1
,
5 / 4
,
Re 664 . 0 Re 037 . 0
c x c x
A =
3 / 1 330 . 0
Pr Re 989 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 385 . 0
Pr Re 911 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 466 . 0
Pr Re 683 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 618 . 0
Pr Re 193 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 805 . 0
Pr Re 027 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 59 . 0
Pr Re 304 . 0
D L
Nu =
3 / 1 66 . 0
Pr Re 158 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 638 . 0
Pr Re 164 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 78 . 0
Pr Re 039 . 0
D D
Nu =
3 / 1 638 . 0
Pr Re 150 . 0
D D
Nu =
D
V
D
V
D
V
D
V
D
V
D
V
D
V
D
V
D
V
7 . 0 Pr >
7 . 0 Pr >
7 . 0 Pr >
7 . 0 Pr >
7 . 0 Pr >
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
( )
4 / 1
4 . 0 3 / 2 2 / 1
Pr Re 06 . 0 Re 4 . 0 2
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ + =
s
D D D
Nu

380 Pr 71 . 0 s s
4
10 6 . 7 Re 5 . 3 s s
D
( ) 2 . 3 / 0 . 1 s s
s

Freely Falling Liquid Drops
3 / 1 2 / 1
Pr Re 6 . 0 2
D D
Nu + =
Note: All fluid properties are evaluated
at T

for the falling drop correlation.

Internal Flow Correlations (Local, Fully Developed Flow)
Turbulent Flow in Noncircular Tubes
For turbulent flow in noncircular tubes, D in the
table above may be replaced by D
h
=4A
c
/ P
Local Nusselt Number Restrictions


Note: For all local correlations, fluid properties are evaluated at T
m
.
For average correlations, fluid properties are evaluated at the average of inlet and outlet T
m
.
If the tube is much longer than the thermal entry length, average correlation local correlation.
Re
h
D
f
Cross Section
Uniform Heat Flux Uniform Surface
Temperature
b
a
h
D
hD
Nu
k

Laminar Flow in Circular and Noncircular Tubes

n
D D
Nu Pr Re 023 . 0
5 / 4
=
160 Pr 6 . 0 s s
000 , 10 Re >
D
( ) 10 / > D L
m s
m s
T T for n
T T for n
< =
> =
30 . 0
40 . 0
Turbulent Flow in Circular Tubes
Alternative Correlations for Turbulent
Flow in Circular Tubes:
The Sieder and Tate Correlation (8.61) is
recommended for flows with large property
variations
Another alternate correlation that is more
complex but more accurate is provided by
Gnielinski (8.62).
Local Nusselt Number Restrictions


8 . 0
025 . 0 0 . 5
D D
Pe Nu + =
100 >
D
Pe
Liquid Metals, Turbulent Flow, Constant T
s
Pr Re
D D
Pe =
Note: Only use the correlation in the box directly
above for liquid metals. The other correlations on
this page are not applicable to liquid metals.
Combined Internal/External Flow Correlations (Average)
Note: For tube banks with fewer than 20 rows,
multiply the average Nusselt number from the table
at left by the correction factor C
2
in Table 7.6.
This correction is valid if Re
D,max
is > 1,000.
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions


Tube Bank Correlation
4 / 1
36 . 0
max ,
Pr
Pr
Pr Re
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
s
m
D D
C Nu 500 Pr 7 . 0 s s
6
max ,
10 2 Re 10 s s
D
20 >
L
N
Tube banks and packed beds have characteristics of both internal and external flow. The flow is internal in that the fluid
flows inside the tube bank/packed bed, exhibits exponential temperature profiles of the mean temperature, and has heat
transfer governed by a log mean temperature difference. The flow is external in that it flows over tubes/packed bed
particles and that the characteristic dimension in the Reynolds number is based on tube/particle diameter.
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions




where
Packed Bed Correlation
7 . 0 ) ( Pr ~ Sc or
000 , 4 Re 90 s s
D
575 . 0
Re 06 . 2

= =
D M H
j j c c
3 / 2
Pr
p
H
Vc
h
j

=
3 / 2
Sc
V
h
j
m
M
=
Orientation Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
Upper surface of hot plate or
lower surface of cold plate
,
, all Pr
Lower surface of hot plate or
upper surface of cold plate

,
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
External Free Convection Correlations (Average, Isothermal)
Vertical plate: no restrictions

Vertical cylinder:


Top Surface of Inclined Cold Plate /
Bottom Surface of Inclined Hot Plate:

Replace g with g cos u in Ra
L


Valid for


( ) | |
2
27 / 8
16 / 9
6 / 1
Pr / 492 . 0 1
387 . 0
825 . 0

+
+ =
L
L
Ra
Nu
Vertical Plate, Vertical Cylinder, Top Side of Inclined Cold Plate, Bottom Side of Inclined Hot Plate
Alternative Correlation
for Vertical Plate:

Equation (9.27) is
slightly more accurate for
laminar flow.
Evaluate all fluid properties at the film temperature T
f
= (T

+ T
s
) / 2 .
Horizontal Plate
4 / 1
35
L
Gr L
D
>
60 0 s su
4 / 1
54 . 0
L L
Ra Nu =
7 4
10 10 s s
L
Ra
3 / 1
15 . 0
L L
Ra Nu =
11 7
10 10 s s
L
Ra
7 . 0 Pr >
9 4
10 10 s s
L
Ra 7 . 0 Pr >
5 / 1
52 . 0
L L
Ra Nu =
P
A
L
s

Shape Average Nusselt Number Restrictions

Long
Horizontal
Cylinder
Sphere
( ) | |
2
27 / 8
16 / 9
6 / 1
Pr / 559 . 0 1
387 . 0
60 . 0

+
+ =
D
D
Ra
Nu
Curved Shapes
12
10 s
D
Ra
( ) | |
9 / 4
16 / 9
4 / 1
Pr / 469 . 0 1
589 . 0
2
+
+ =
D
D
Ra
Nu
11
10 s
D
Ra
7 . 0 Pr >
Alternative Correlation
for Long Horizontal
Cylinder:

The Morgan correlation
(9.33) may also be used.
For cavity correlations, evaluate all fluid properties
at the average surface temperature T= (T
1
+ T
2
) / 2 .
L is the distance between hot and cold walls.
1)
2)
3)
4)
Internal Free Convection Correlations
Vertical Parallel Plate Channels (Developing and Fully Developed)
S = plate spacing; T

=inlet temperature (same as ambient); T

s,L
=surface temperature at x=L
Boundary
Condition
Nusselt Number Rayleigh Number
Getting q and q
s

from Nu
Temperature to
evaluate fluid
properties in Ra
isothermal
(T
s
known
on one or
both plates)
Average Nu over whole plate
isoflux
(q
s
known
on one or
both plates)
Local Nu at x = L

( ) ( )
2 / 1
2 / 1
2
2
1
/ /

+ =
L S Ra
C
L S Ra
C
Nu
S S
S
( )
2 / 1
5 / 2
*
2
*
1
,
/
/

(
(

+ =
L S Ra
C
L S Ra
C
Nu
S
S
L S
( )
ov
|
3
S T T g
Ra
s
S

=
ov
|
k
S q g
Ra
s
S
4 "
*
=
k
S
T T
A q
Nu
s
S
|
|
.
|

\
|

/
k
S
T T
q
Nu
L s
s
L S
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
,
"
,
2

+
=
T T
T
s
2
,
+
=
T T
T
L s
C
1
and C
2
are given for four different sets of surface
boundary conditions. Use the isothermal equation for
conditions 1 and 3; isoflux equation for conditions 2 and 4.
T
s1
T
s2
= T
s1
1)
q
s1
q
s2
=q
s1

2)
T
s1
q
s2
=0
3)
q
s1
q
s2
=0
4)
Horizontal Cavity Heated From Below
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions


Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
074 . 0 3 / 1
Pr 069 . 0
L L
Ra Nu =
9 5
10 7 10 3 s s
L
Ra
L
w
H
29 . 0
2 . 0 Pr
Pr
18 . 0
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
L L
Ra Nu
Pr 2 . 0
Pr
10
3
+
s
L
Ra
5 3
10 Pr 10 s s

( ) 2 1 s s L H
4 / 1 28 . 0
2 . 0 Pr
Pr
22 . 0

|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
L
H
Ra Nu
L L
10 3
10 10 s s
L
Ra
5
10 Pr s
( ) 10 2 s s L H
3 . 0
012 . 0 4 / 1
Pr 42 . 0

|
.
|

\
|
=
L
H
Ra Nu
L L
Vertical Rectangular Cavity
7 4
10 10 s s
L
Ra
4
10 2 Pr 1 s s
( ) 40 10 s s L H
Correlations for Inclined/Tilted Geometries:
Inclined parallel plate channels: (9.47)
Tilted rectangular cavities: (9.54)-(9.57)
Correlations for Curved Geometries:
Space between concentric horizontal cylinders: (9.58)
Space between concentric spheres: (9.61)
Alternative Correlation for Vertical
Rectangular Cavity:
Eq. (9.53) covers a wide range of aspect
ratios but is more restrictive on Ra and Pr
Average Nusselt Number Restrictions
Eq. (10.51)
Boiling and Condensation
Nucleate Pool Boiling
3
,
,
2 / 1
"
Pr
) (
|
|
.
|

\
|
A
(

=
n
l fg f s
e l p
v l
fg l s
h C
T c
g
h q
o

Evaluate liquid and vapor properties at T

sat
.

C =0.149 for large horizontal plates.
C=0.131 for large horizontal cylinders, spheres,
and many large finite heated surfaces.

4 / 1
2
"
max
) (
(

=
v
v l
v fg
g
Ch q

4 / 1
3
) (
) (
(
(

'
= =
sat s v v
fg v l
v
conv
D
T T k
D h g
C
k
D h
Nu
v

Critical Heat Flux
C =0.67 for spheres. C=0.62 for horizontal cylinders.

Film Boiling
) ( 80 . 0
, sat s v p fg fg
T T c h h + = '
Evaluate vapor properties at T
f
= (T
sat
+ T
s
) / 2 .
Evaluate
l
and h
fg
at T
sat
.
Evaluate liquid and vapor properties at T
sat
.

Radiation should be considered for T
s
> 300C
See Eqs. (10.9)-(10.11)
Correlations for Flow Boiling:
External forced convection boiling: (10.12)-(10.14)
Two-phase flow: (10.15)-(10.16)

4 / 1
3
) (
) (
555 . 0
(
(

'
=
D T T
k h g
h
s sat l
l fg v l l
D

Inner Surface of Horizontal Tube
) ( 375 . 0
, s sat l p fg fg
T T c h h + = '
4 / 1
3
) (
) (
943 . 0
(
(

'
=
L T T
k h g
h
s sat l
l fg v l l
L

Laminar Film Condensation, Vertical Flat Plate
) ( 68 . 0
, s sat l p fg fg
T T c h h + = '
For all condensation correlations below:
Evaluate liquid properties at T
f
= (T
sat
+ T
s
) / 2 .
Evaluate
v
and h
fg
at T
sat
.
Laminar, Transition, and
Turbulent Film Condensation,
Vertical Flat Plate (for
l
>>
v
):

Calculate the parameter P using
(10.42), then solve for h
L
using the
appropriate correlation from
(10.43)-(10.45)
4 / 1
3
) (
) (
(
(

'
=
D T T
k h g
C h
s sat l
l fg v l l
D

Laminar Film Condensation, Sphere and Tube
) ( 68 . 0
, s sat l p fg fg
T T c h h + = '
C =0.826 for spheres.

C=0.729 for horizontal
tubes.

Film Condensation,
Vertical Tube:

Vertical flat plate
expressions can be
used if o(L) << D/2.
Evaluate o(L) using
(10.26).
Laminar Film Condensation, Vertical Tier of N Tubes:
Average heat transfer coefficient of each tube: Eq. (10.49).
000 , 35
,
<
|
|
.
|

\
|
i
v
v m v
D u

000 , 35
,
>
|
|
.
|

\
|
i
v
v m v
D u

Average Nusselt Number Restrictions

Dropwise Condensation
( ) C T h
sat dc
+ = 2044 104 , 51
510 , 255 =
dc
h
C T C
sat
s s 100 22
C T
sat
>100