HEAT LOSS / GAIN FROM PIPE

By Stephen Hall

The heat loss from a pipe is calculated in two parts: inside the pipe and outside the pipe
User inputs are in RED
Formulas in Column F are from the reference listed at the bottom of the worksheet
Cell names (preceded by underscore_) are listed in Column B

Data Inputs
Fluid flowing inside the pipe
G Flow rate 56,738 m3/h
ro Density 3 kg/m3
mu Viscosity 0.000 Pa-s
k Thermal conductivity 0.07 W/m-K
c Heat capacity 2,169 J/kg-K
T1 Temperature of fluid entering pipe 500 C

Pipe parameters
di inside diameter 257.0 mm
do outside diameter 277.0 mm
L pipe length 25 m
kp pipe thermal conductivity 38 W/m2-K
e emittance of pipe or insulation cover 0.80

Insulation parameters
it insulation thickness - mm
ki insulation thermal conductivity 0.040 W/m2-K

Environmental conditions (pipe is outdoors)

T4 Temperature of the air 20 C
w Wind velocity 0.5 m/s

Calculate radial distances from center-line to:

R1 inside pipe wall 0.1285 m
R2 outside pipe wall 0.1385 m
R3 outside insulation 0.1385 m

Calculate the Reynolds number inside the pipe

Ap Pipe cross sectional area 0.0519 m2
v Velocity 303.82 m/s
Re Reynolds number 7,693,572

Calculate the Prandtl number

Pr Prandtl number 0.9
Calculate the Inside heat transfer coefficient
The formula depends on the flow region
For Laminar flow (Re < 2100) use Sieder and Tate
For this illustration, assume viscosity at wall = bulk viscosity
Laminar flow calculation N/A

For Transition flow (2100 <= Re <= 10000), use Hilpert correlation
For this illustration, assume viscosity at wall = bulk viscosity
It is NOT RECOMMENDED to be in the transitional region, and the correlation is iffy
Transitional flow calculation N/A

For Turbulent flow (Re>10000) use Sieder and Tate (same as Dittus-Boettler, but with viscosity correction)
For this illustration, assume viscosity at wall = bulk viscosity
Turbulent flow calculation 1,900

Note: alternative turbulent flow correlation from Gnielinski

Said to be valid from 3000 < Re < 5,000,000

Because the outside heat transfer coefficient will be so much less than the inside coefficient, it really
doesn't make a practical difference if the calculation for inside coefficient is off

hi inside heat transfer coefficient 1,900 W/m2-K

Calculate the outside heat transfer coefficient

The outside coefficient is calculated differently for the cases of wind or no wind
No wind = natural convection
Three temperatures to be concerned with, ambient (T4), surface (T3), and average T5 = (T4 + T3)/2
Since T3 is a function of the heat transfer, this is an interative calculation

First, assume a value for T3, the surface temperature

T3_assume (cell is highlighted if iteration required) 495.8 C <---- Initial guess between am

Calculate T5
T5 Average between surface and ambient 257.9 C

Get the properties of air for temperature T5

I did a simple linear regression of thermal conductivity for air at atmospheric pressure
MW Molecular weight of air 29
P Pressure of air 100 kPa
kair Thermal conductivity of air 0.0426 W/m2-K
cair Heat capacity of air (treat as constant) 1,006 J/kg-K
dair Density of air (treat as perfect gas) 0.67 kg/m3
muair Dynamic viscosity of air 2.78E-05 Pa-s estimated with the Sutherlan
' kinematic viscosity = dynam
For no wind condition,
Coefficient of expansion = 1/T for perfect gas assumption
Beta Coefficent of expansion 0.00188 K^-1
Gr Grasoff number (L = pipe OD), abs value 1.07E+08
Prair Prandtl number 0.66
Gr x Pr 7.04E+07
Nuair Nusselt number 48.55

Outside heat transfer coef, no wind 7.46 W/m2-K

Calculation for the case where wind is present

Note that for very low wind velocity (<0.5 m/s), use the greater of this calc or the no-wind calc

Rewind Reynolds number 3,316

B Hilpert equation factor B 0.6150
n Hilpert equation factor n 0.466
Nuwind Nusselt number, wind condition (Hilpert) 27

Outside heat transfer coef, no wind 4.13 W/m2-K

Next, calculate the radiation loss

Let's use radiation only when pipe is warmer than environment
hrad Radiation heat transfer coefficient 32.63 W/m2-K

Add the convection and radiation heat transfer coefficients together

ho Outside heat transfer coefficient 40.08 W/m2-K

Calculate surface temperatures and iterate until calculation = assumed

Calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient

U 38.8 W/m2-K

Next, the heat loss through the wall

Q 18,615.3 W/m2

Calculate the inside wall and surface temperatures based on the estimated surface temperature from above
Calculated inside surface temperature 490.20 C
T3calculated Calculated outside surface temperature 484.40 C
Calculate the fluid temperature as it exits the pipe segment
Assumes constant properties and constant heat flux along pipe length
For significant temperature changes, divide pipe into segments and calculate sequentially

Heat loss per meter 16,199.4 W/m

Downstream temperature 495.8 C

Reference: Cao, Eduardo, Heat Transfer in Process Engineering, McGraw-Hill, 2010

Spreadsheet prepared by Stephen Hall 4/9/2013

This is the calculation method included in PIPESIZE. See www.pipesizingsoftware.com

y correction)

<---- Initial guess between ambient and fluid temperatures, then substitute value from below (_T3calculated)
 estimated with the Sutherland equation
' kinematic viscosity = dynamic viscosity / density

Factors for Hilpert Equation

Re B n
0.4 0.891 0.33
4 0.821 0.385
40 0.615 0.466
4000 0.174 0.615
40000 0.0239 0.805

ure from above

 Sp Ht Therm C
1.012 -150 2.793 1.026 0.0116 3.08 8.21 0.76
1.010 -100 1.98 1.009 0.016 5.95 5.82 0.74
1.008 -50 1.534 1.005 0.0204 9.55 4.51 0.725
1.006 0 1.293 1.005 0.0243 13.3 3.67 0.715
1.007 20 1.205 1.005 0.0257 15.11 3.43 0.713
1.008 40 1.127 1.005 0.0271 16.97 3.2 0.711
1.008 60 1.067 1.009 0.0285 18.9 3 0.709
1.009 80 1 1.009 0.0299 20.94 2.83 0.708
1.010 100 0.946 1.009 0.0314 23.06 2.68 0.703
1.011 120 0.898 1.013 0.0328 25.23 2.55 0.7
1.012 140 0.854 1.013 0.0343 27.55 2.43 0.695
1.012 160 0.815 1.017 0.0358 29.85 2.32 0.69
1.013 180 0.779 1.022 0.0372 32.29 2.21 0.69
1.014 200 0.746 1.026 0.0386 34.63 2.11 0.685
1.016 250 0.675 1.034 0.0421 41.17 1.91 0.68
1.018 300 0.616 1.047 0.0454 47.85 1.75 0.68
1.020 350 0.566 1.055 0.0485 55.05 1.61 0.68
1.022 400 0.524 1.068 0.0515 62.53 1.49 0.68

7.237137E-05
0.023883641

0.036910488

cs = 1.005 + 1.82H where 1.005 kJ/kg°C is the heat capacity of dry air, 1.82 kJ/kg°C the heat capacity of water vapor, and H is th
 0.06

0.05

0.04

Column E
0.03 Linear (Column
E)
0.02

0.01

0
-200 -100 0 100 200 300 400 500

apacity of water vapor, and H is the specific humidity in kg water vapor per kg dry air in the mixture
below 0