Tranport Phenomena - Heat Transfer Problem :

Forced convection heat transfer for laminar Newtonian

flow in plane slit
- constant wall heat flux in thermally fully developed
flow region

Problem.
A Newtonian fluid is in fully developed laminar incompressible flow in a plane narrow
slit formed by two flat parallel walls a distance 2B apart. The length L and width W of the
slit are such that B << W << L, so end effects can be neglected. For z < 0, the fluid
temperature is uniform at the inlet temperature T1. For z > 0, heat is added at a uniform
constant flux q0 through both the slit walls. The heat conduction in the z-direction and the
viscous dissipation effect may be neglected. The thermal conductivity k and thermal
diffusivity  may be assumed constant.

Figure. Laminar Newtonian flow in plane narrow slit being heated by a uniform heat
flux.

a) Show that the temperature profile T(x, z) far downstream in the thermally fully
developed region (i.e., for large z) is given by the following dimensionless asymptotic
solution:

where

and vz,max is the maximum velocity in the slit.

b) Determine the limiting local Nusselt number far downstream for laminar Newtonian
flow in a plane slit with constant wall heat flux.

Solution.
Click here for stepwise solution

Click here for stepwise solution

Step. Differential equation and boundary conditions

Step. Differential equation and boundary conditions

For forced convection heat transfer, the equation of energy (on neglecting the viscous
dissipation effect) simplifies to

(1)

In Cartesian coordinates for flow in a plane narrow slit, the above equation gives

(2)
or

where is the thermal diffusivity and vz,max is the maximum velocity in the
slit. Note that the velocity profile for laminar Newtonian flow in a narrow slit is
parabolic. Also, the heat conduction in the z-direction is neglected because it is typically
small compared to the heat convection in the z-direction.

The solution of the above partial differential equation gives the temperature profile T(x,
z). The above equation in dimensionless form is

(3)

where the dimensionless quantities are defined as

 (4)

The dimensionless quantities are typically chosen such that the number of parameters in
the problem is minimized. In this problem, the choice of dimensionless x-coordinate 
and the dimensionless z-coordinate  naturally follow from the differential equation,
while the choice of the dimensionless temperature  logically follows from the boundary
conditions given below.

The boundary conditions are given by

(5)

(6)

(7)

The first two boundary conditions state that heat is added at a uniform constant flux
through the two walls, i.e., qx = q0 at x = +B and qx = q0 at x = B with qx in accordance
with Fourier's law.

Step. Temperature profile in thermally fully developed region

Step. Temperature profile in thermally fully developed region

The asymptotic solution far downstream in the thermally fully developed region (i.e.,
large ) is postulated to be of the form:

(8)

where C0 is a constant to be determined. The above form suggests that the constant wall
heat flux will cause the fluid temperature to rise linearly with  once the fluid is far
downstream from the start of the heated section. Furthermore, the shape of the
temperature profile T(x) will eventually remain the same for increasing values of z.
On substituting the above form for  in the partial differential equation (3), the following
ordinary differential equation is obtained.

(9)

On integrating twice, we get

(10)

Thus, the dimensionless temperature profile is of the form:

(11)

On imposing the boundary conditions, BC 1 gives (2/3)C0 + C1 = 1 and BC 2 gives

(2/3)C0 + C1 = 1. Thus, C0 = 3/2 and C1 = 0. However, it is not possible to satisfy BC 3
because the postulated function is the asymptotic solution (and not the complete
solution); therefore, BC 3 is replaced by the following condition:

(12)

The above condition states the heat entering through both the walls over the distance z
equals the heat leaving with the fluid at z (with T1 as the reference temperature at z = 0).
On substituting the temperature profile and integrating, the condition gives

(13)

On substituting C0 = 3/2, C1 = 0 and C2 = 39/280, the asymptotic solution for the

dimensionless temperature profile in the thermally fully developed region is finally
obtained as
 (14)

Step. Calculation of bulk temperature

Step. Calculation of bulk temperature

The bulk temperature is defined as the temperature obtained if the fluid flowing at z were
collected in a vessel and completely mixed. This average temperature is therefore also
called the flow-average temperature or the cup-mixing temperature. Thus, on noting that
the velocity and temperature profiles are symmetric about the mid-plane of the slit, the
bulk temperature is mathematically defined by

(15)

On substituting the temperature and velocity distributions, integration gives the bulk
temperature as
(16)

Step. Expression for Nusselt number

Step. Expression for Nusselt number

The heat flux is the product of the heat transfer coefficient h and the local heat transfer
driving force (which is the difference between the wall temperature and the bulk
temperature at an axial distance z). Thus,

(17)

Thus the Nusselt number for laminar Newtonian flow in a plane slit far downstream for
constant wall heat flux is

(18)
Note that the characteristic length used above for noncircular conduits is the equivalent
diameter = 4 (mean hydraulic radius), where the mean hydraulic radius Rh is the ratio of
the flow cross-sectional area to the wetted perimeter. For the plane slit, Rh = 2BW / (4B +
2W). Since B << W, the hydraulic radius is approximately given by Rh = 2BW / (2W) = B.
Thus, the equivalent diameter for the plane slit is 4B.