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Convective Heat Transfer
Heat transfer between a solid and a moving fluid is called convection. This is a short
tutorial about convective heat transfer
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Heat energy transferred between a surface and a moving fluid at different temperatures is known as convection.
In reality this is a combination of diffusion and bulk motion of molecules. Near the surface the fluid velocity is low,
and diffusion dominates. Away from the surface, bulk motion increase the influence and dominates.
Convective heat transfer may take the form of either
forced or assisted convection
natural or free convection
Forced or Assisted Convection
Forced convection occurs when a fluid flow is induced by an external force, such as a pump, fan or a mixer.
Natural or Free Convection
Natural convection is caused by buoyancy forces due to dens ity differences caused by temperature variations in
the fluid. At heating the density change in the boundary layer will cause the fluid to rise and be replaced by cooler
fluid that also will heat and rise. This continues phenomena is called free or natural convection.

Boiling or condensing processes are also referred as a convective heat transfer processes.
The heat transfer per unit surface through convection was first described by Newton and the relation is
known as the Newton's Law of Cooling.

The equation for convection can be expressed as:

q = hc A dT (1)
where
q = heat transferred per unit time (W)
A = heat transfer area of the surface (m
2
)
hc= convective heat transfer coefficient of the process (W/(m
2
K) or W/(m
2o
C))
dT = temperature difference between the surface and the bulk fluid (K or
o
C)
Heat Transfer Coefficients - Units
1 W/(m
2
K) = 0.85984 kcal/(h m
2

o
C) = 0.1761 Btu/(ft
2
h
o
F)
1 Btu/(ft
2
h
o
F) = 5.678 W/(m
2
K) = 4.882 kcal/(h m
2

o
C)
1 kcal/(h m
2

o
C) = 1.163 W/(m
2
K) = 0.205 Btu/(ft
2
h
o
F)


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Convective Heat Transfer Coefficients
The convective heat transfer coefficient - hc - is dependent on the type of media, gas or liquid, the flow properties
such as velocity, viscosity and other flow and temperature dependent properties.
In general the convective heat transfer coefficient for some common fluids is within the ranges:
Free Convection - Air : 5 - 25 (W/(m
2
K))
Free Convection - Water: 20 - 100 (W/(m
2
K))
Forced Convection - Air: 10 - 200 (W/(m
2
K))
Forced Convection - Water: 50 - 10.000 (W/(m
2
K))
Boiling Water : 3.000 - 100.000 (W/(m
2
K))
Condensing Water Vapor: 5.000 - 100.000 (W/(m
2
K))
The convective heat transfer coefficient of air is approximately equal to
hc = 10.45 - v + 10 v
1/2
(2)
where
v = the relative speed of the object through the air (m/s)
Note! - this is an empirical equation and can be used for velocities - v - from 2 to 20 m/s.
Example - Convective Heat Transfer
A fluid flows over a plane surface 1 m by 1 m with a bulk temperature of 50
o
C. The temperature of the surface is
20
o
C. The convective heat transfer coefficient is 2,000 W/m
2o
C.
q = (2,000 W/(m
2o
C)) ((1 m) (1 m)) ((50
o
C) - (20
o
C))
= 60,000 (W)
= 60 (kW)
Convective Heat Transfer Calculator
1 A - surface area (m
2
)
50 tsurface - surface temperature (
o
C)
20 tair - air temperature (
o
C)
2000 hc - convective heat transfer coefficient (W/(m
2
K))
Convective Heat Transfer Page 2
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Calculate!
Heat Transfer = 60000 (W)
Convective Heat Transfer Chart
Convective Heat Transfer Chart (pdf)
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