UNIT OPERATIONS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING I (CHC431)

ASSIGNMENT I
LAST DATE TO SUBMIT: 13.02.2024
1. The walls of a house in a cold region consist of three layers- an outer brick work of 15 cm thickness and an inner
wooden panel of 1.2 cm thickness. The intermediate layer is made of an insulating material 7 cm thick. The thermal
conductivities of brick and wood are 0.70 W/m 0C and 0.18 W/m. 0C respectively. The inside and outside
temperatures of composite wall are 21 0C and -15 0C. If the layer of insulation offers twice the thermal resistance
of brick wall, calculate
I. Rate of heat loss per unit area of wall.
II. Thermal conductivity of insulating material.

2. An electrical cable of 10 mm diameter and exposed to atmosphere which is 20 0C. The estimated surface
temperature of the cable due to heat generation is 650C. Find the maximum percentage increase in heat dissipation
when the wire is insulated with rubber having K=0.155 W/m K value of h= 8.5 W/m 2K. The maximum heat
dissipation occurs when it is insulated up to critical thickness of insulation.

3. The inner and outer surfaces of a hollow cylinder (inside radius r 1, outside r2 and length L) are maintained at
uniform temperature T1 and T2 respectively. The variation of k with temperatures T1 and T2 respectively. The
variation of k with temperature is given by
k=k0(a + bT).
Show that the rate of heat flow through the cylinder is given by
Q=2ΠkmL (T1 – T2) / ln (r2/r1)
km=k0 (a + bT), km is the mean thermal conductivity and Tm is the mean temperature of the cylinder.

4. The variation of thermal conductivity of a wall material is given by

k = k0 (1 + at +bt2)
If the thickness of the wall is L and its two surfaces are maintained at temperature t 1 and t2, find an expression for
the steady state one dimensional heat flow through the wall.

5. Two slabs, each 120 mm thick, have thermal conductivities of 14.5 W/m°C
and 210 W/m C. These are placed in contact, but due to roughness, only 30
percent of area is in contact and the gap in the remaining area is 0.025 mm thick
and is filled with air. If the temperature of the face of the hot surface is at 220
°C and the outside side surface of other slab is at 30°C, determine: Heat flow
through the composite system.

Assume that the conductivity of air is 0.032 W/m°C and that half of the contact
(of the contact area) is due to either metal.

6. The inner wall of a furnace is at a temperature of 7000C. The composite wall is made of two substances,
10 and 20 cm thick with thermal conductivities of 0.05 and 0.1 W m-10C-1respectively. The ambient air is at 300C
and the heat transfer coefficient between the outer surface of wall and air is 20 W m -2C-1. Find out the
rate of heat loss from the outer surface.

7. The left face of a one dimensional slab of thickness 0.2 m is maintained at 80 0C and the right face is exposed
to air at 300C.The thermal conductivity of the slab is 1.2 W/(m K) and the heat transfer coefficient from the right
face is 10 W/(m2K). At steady state, what will be the temperature of the right face?

8. Calculate the rate at which heat is being lost to the surrounding per unit length of an insulated steam pipe having
the following dimensions and specifications.
Inner dia of pipe =35 mm
Thickness of pipe =1 mm
Thickness of insulation=15 mm
Heat transfer coefficient on the inside surface=13.63 W /m2.K
Temp of steam= 303K
Temperature of surroundings=298 K
Kpipemetal= 12.44 W/m. K
K insulation= 0.38 W/m K.

9. A surface having an area of 1.5 m2 and maintained at 300°C exchanges heat by radiation with another surface at
40°C. The value of factor due to the geometric location and emissivity is 0.52. Determine:
I. Heat lost by radiation
II. The value of thermal resistance

10. A 10 mm cable is to be laid in atmosphere of 20° C with outside heat transfer coefficient 8.5 W/m 20 C. The
surface temperature of cable is likely to be 65 ° C due to heat generation within. Will the rubber insulation, k =
0.155 W/m 0 C, be effective? If yes how much?