FOOD BIOTECHNOLOGY

(Biochemical Engineering)
CONTENTS:-
• Unsteady State Heat Transfer In Simple Geometry
• Design Of Heat Exchanger
• Insulation And Thickness
Unsteady State Heat Transfer In Simple Geometry

• Unsteady-state (or transient) heat transfer is that phase of the

heating and cooling process when the temperature changes as a
function of both location and time. By contrast, in steady-state heat
transfer, temperature varies only with location.
• The equation for unsteady state heat transfer is given by:
• where T is temperature (°C), t is time (s),
and r is distance from center location (m).
• We can make this equation specific for a
particular geometrical shape using n = 0
for a slab, n = 1 for a cylinder, and n = 2
for a sphere.
• The combination of properties (k/ρ cp) is
defined as thermal diffusivity, α.

(a) An infinite cylinder, (b) an infinite plate, (c) a sphere.

• If the rate of heat transfer at the surface of the object is due to
convection, then

• where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient (W/[m ^2 °C]), T a is

the temperature of heating or cooling medium far away from the
• surface (°C), and Ts is the temperature at the surface (°C).
Design Of Heat Exchanger

• One of the key objectives in designing a heat exchanger is to

determine the required heat transfer area for a given application.
• We use the following assumptions:
1. Heat transfer is under steady-state conditions.
2. The overall heat-transfer coefficient is constant throughout the
length of pipe.
3. There is no axial conduction of heat in the metal pipe.
4. The heat exchanger is well insulated. The heat exchange is between
the two liquid streams flowing in the heat exchanger. There is
negligible heat loss to the surroundings.
• In heat exchanger design the required heat exchanger area A is
determined for a certain heat load Q (W) at a given temperature
gradient ∆ 𝑡 °𝐶 ∶
• The overall heat transfer coefficient is calculated as follows:
• Change in heat energy in a fluid stream, if its temperature changes
from T1 to T2, is expressed as:

• where m is mass flow rate of a fluid (kg/s), cp is specific heat of a fluid

(kJ/[kg °C]), and the temperature change of a fluid is from some inlet
temperature T1 to an exit temperature T2 .
• Considering a tubular heat exchanger, a hot fluid, H, enters the heat
exchanger at location (1) and it flows through the inner pipe, exiting
at location (2). Its temperature decreases from TH,inlet to TH,exit.
• The second fluid, C , is a cold fluid that enters the annular space
between the outer and inner pipes of the tubular heat exchanger at
location (1) and exits at location (2). Its temperature increases from
TC,inlet to TC,exit.
• Because the heat transfer occurs only between fluids H and C, the
decrease in the heat energy of fluid H must equal the increase in the
energy of fluid C.
A concurrent flow heat exchanger and temperature plots.
• Therefore, conducting an energy balance, the rate of heat transfer
between the fluids is:

• where cpH is the specific heat of the hot fluid (kJ/[kg °C]), c pC is the
specific heat of the cold fluid (kJ/[kg °C]), mH is the mass flow rate of
the hot fluid (kg/s), and mC is the mass flow rate of the cold fluid
(kg/s).
• We may use this equation to determine the mass flow rate of either
fluid stream.
• Equation used to design a heat exchanger and determine its area
and the overall resistance to heat transfer:

• ΔTlm is called the log mean temperature difference (LMTD)

• For co-current,
ΔT1 = inlet of primary and secondary fluid
ΔT2 = outlet of primary and secondary fluid
• For counter-current,
ΔT1 = inlet of primary fluid and outlet of secondary fluid
ΔT2 = outlet of primary fluid and inlet of secondary fluid
Insulation And Thickness
•
•
• Thermal insulation is a means of slowing down heat loss or of reducing the
rate of entropy increase.
• Heat passes through solid materials by means of conduction.
• The rate at which this happens depends upon the thermal conductivity of
the material.
• Metals have very high conductivities, but these may vary.
• The thermal conductivity of non-metals are lower.
• The lowest thermal conductivity is shown by materials where the amount
of solid matter is small, where there is considerable proportion of voids,
which are not big enough to carry heat by means of convection.
• Eg. Mineral wood, glass wool, plastics
Concept of Critical Thickness of Insulation
• In a plane wall the area perpendicular to the direction of heat flow
adding more insulation to a wall always decreases heat transfer.
The thicker the insulation, the lower the heat transfer rate. This is
due to the fact the outer surface have always the same area.
• But in cylindrical and spherical coordinates, the addition of
insulation also increases the outer surface, which decreases the
convection resistance at the outer surface. Moreover, in some cases,
a decrease in the convection resistance due to the increase in surface
area can be more important than an increase in conduction
resistance due to thicker insulation. As a result the total resistance
may actually decrease resulting in increased heat flow.
• The thickness upto which heat flow increases and after which heat
flow decreases is termed as critical thickness.
• In the case of cylinders and spheres it is called critical radius.
• It can be derived that the critical radius of insulation depends on the
thermal conductivity of the insulation k and the external convection
heat transfer coefficient h.
• For small pipes or wires, the outer
radius, rl may be less than critical
radius, re and in that case, addition of
insulation to the bare pipe will increase
the heat loss until the critical radius is
reached. Further addition of insulation
will decrease the heat loss rate from
this peak value. The insulation
thickness (r*– rl) must be added to
reduce the heat loss below the
uninsulated rate. If the outer pipe
radius rl is greater than the critical
radius re any insulation added will
decrease the heat loss.
Critical Thickness of Insulation for a Cylindrical Pipe

• Let us consider a pipe, outer radius rl as shown in

Figure.
• An insulation is added such that the outermost
radius is r a variable and the insulation thickness is (r

–rI).
• We assume that the thermal conductivity, k, for the
insulating material is very small in comparison with
the thermal conductivity of the pipe material and as
such the temperature T1, at the inside surface of the
insulation is constant. It is further assumed that both
h and k are constant.
• The rate of heat flow, per unit length of pipe, through the insulation
is then,
Critical Thickness of Insulation for a Spherical Shell

• Let us consider a spherical shell having an outer radius r1 and the

temperature at that surface T1 .
• Insulation is added such that the outermost radius of the shell is r, a
variable.
• The thermal conductivity of the insulating material, k, the convective
heat transfer coefficient at the outer surface, h, and the ambient
temperature Tis constant.
• The rate of heat transfer through the insulation on the spherical shell
is given by
THANK YOU
Reference:
• Heat Exchanger Design Guide: A Practical Guide for Planning,
Selecting and ...By Manfred Nitsche, Raji Olayiwola
Gbadamosi