INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SPACE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
B.Tech. Aerospace Engineering

AE222 HEAT TRANSFER : Home Work – 1

1. Steel balls 10 mm in diameter are annealed by heating to 1150 K and then slowly cooling to 450 K
in an air environment for which T∞ = 325 K and h = 25 W/(m2 K). Assuming the properties of
the steel to be k = 40 W/(m·K), ρ = 7800 kg/m3 , and c = 600 J/(kg·K), estimate the time
required for the cooling process.

2. A flaked cereal is of thickness 2L = 1.2 mm. The density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity
of the flake are ρ = 700 kg/m3 , c p = 2400 J/(kg·K), and k = 0.34 W/(m·K), respectively. The
product is to be baked by increasing its temperature from Ti = 20◦ C to T f = 220◦ C in a
convection oven, through which the product is carried on a conveyor. If the oven is Lo = 3 m
long and the convection heat transfer coefficient at the product surface and oven air temperature
are h = 55 W/(m2 K) and T∞ = 300◦ C, respectively, determine the required conveyor velocity,
V . An engineer suggests that if the flake thickness is reduced to 2L = 1.0 mm the conveyor
velocity can be increased, resulting in higher productivity. Determine the required conveyor
velocity for the thinner flake.

3. Thermal energy storage systems commonly involve a packed bed of solid spheres, through which
a hot gas flows if the system is being charged, or a cold gas if it is being discharged. In a
charging process, heat transfer from the hot gas increases thermal energy stored within the
colder spheres; during discharge, the stored energy decreases as heat is transferred from the
warmer spheres to the cooler gas.

Consider a packed bed of 75-mm–diameter aluminum spheres (ρ = 2700 kg/m3 , c = 950 J/(kg·K),
k = 240 W/(m·K)) and a charging process for which gas enters the storage unit at a tempera-
ture of Tg,i = 300◦ C. If the initial temperature of the spheres is Ti = 25◦ C and the convection

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 coefficient is h = 75 W/(m2 K), how long does it take a sphere near the inlet of the system
to accumulate 90% of the maximum possible thermal energy? What is the corresponding
temperature at the center of the sphere? Is there any advantage to using copper instead of
aluminum?

4. A long wire of diameter D = 1 mm is submerged in an oil bath of temperature T∞ = 25◦ C. The

wire has an electrical resistance per unit length of R0e = 0.01 Ω/m. If a current of I = 100 A
flows through the wire and the convection coefficient is h = 500 W/(m2 K), what is the steady-
state temperature of the wire? From the time the current is applied, how long does it take for
the wire to reach a temperature that is within 1◦ C of the steady-state value? The properties
of the wire are ρ = 8000 kg/m3 , c = 500 J/(kg·K), and k = 20 W/(m·K).