TRANSPORT PROCESSES

Extended Surface
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Nadia Adrus
UNIVERSITI
TEKNOLOGI
LOGOMALAYSIA
www.utm.my
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TOPIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be able to:

1) Explain the types and applications of fin in chemical

industry.
2) Apply the concepts of fin effectiveness and efficiency in
solving numerical problems on fin.
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface

 Extended surfaces (fins) give additional surface area for

convection/radiation heat transfer
 Heat conducts out to the extended surface Q = Ah(Ts - T∞)
 Convects or radiates to the surroundings Q = Aεσ(Ts4 - T∞4)
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface

 Example usage of extended surface in industry or daily life.

 Heat Exchangers - gas industry
 Car radiators
 Fins very thin Q = A h (Ts - T∞)

Tube Fin
Heat Exchangers Car radiators
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface

Type of fin:
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface

There are two type of tube fin which normally used in gas heat
exchanger:

 Longitudinal or straight fins

 Circular or transverse fins

Longitudinal Circular
Fins Fins

When to add fins at the outer tube surface?

When to add fins at the inner tube surface?
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Derivation of Governing Equation

.
T∞

x
w
Dx
L

Energy balance for element x

P = Perimeter of the
fin’s cross section

To proceed,
assume A and k
constant along x
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface

Dx approach to 0

Define,

Solving this equation based on the following boundary conditions:

x=0
Boundary conditions:
x=L
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface
Assume that no heat loss from the tip i.e. fin tip is insulated,
The equation can be solved and the following is obtained:

Where;
(Eqn. 1)

Heat lost by the fin is then be expressed as:

Fourier’s law:
(Eqn. 2)

Differentiate eqn. 1 with respect to x and combine with eqn. 2, we get:

Amount of heat
released from the fin
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Test Your Understanding

The derived equation can be used to calculate heat transfer rate for
which of the following fins?

(e) (f)

(a) (b) (c) (d)

(g)
Answer: (a), (e) & (g)
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface

Amount of heat
released from the fin

Important:
This equation is derived based on this assumption:
Fin tip is insulated

However, in actual condition,

Fin tip (mostly) is not insulated

Therefore, we need to do
CORRECTION
based on the assumption made
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Correction : In responding to Assumption
Original Fin Modified fin - Adiabatic at the tip
No Insulation
Insulation

t
t

L t/2
Original fin length L LC=L+t/2
Corrected fin length LC

If the fin is not insulated (most cases), the fin length, L in the
equation below will be equal to (L+t/2) or LC  LC = L+t/2

   
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Fin Efficiency & Fin Effectiveness

Fin Effectiveness, 𝛆

𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞
𝛆=
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐀 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞

Fin Efficiency, 𝛈

𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 (𝐪)

𝛈=
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨(𝐪𝐦𝐚𝐱)
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Extended Surface : Fin Effectiveness

Fin Effectiveness, 𝛆

= 𝑸 𝒇𝒊𝒏
𝑸 𝑵𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏
𝟏
[ 𝒉𝑷𝒌𝑨 ] ( 𝑻 𝒐 − 𝑻 ∞ ) 𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒉 𝒎𝑳
𝟐
𝒌𝒎𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒉 (𝒎𝑳)
¿ =
𝑨 𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒉 (𝑻𝒐 − 𝑻 ∞ ) 𝒉

Abase = Fin cross sectional area at the base

As a rule of thumb,
if 𝛆 < 2,
vs the fin is not effective
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Extended Surface : Fin Effectiveness

Fin Effectiveness, 𝛆

[ ]
𝟏
𝒌𝑷 𝟐
𝛆=
𝒌𝒎 𝑻𝒂𝒏𝒉(𝒎𝑳) 𝛆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒏=
𝒉 𝒉𝑨
What are the important factors to be considered in the design of fin, based on
the above equation?
1) Fin material
2) Fin dimensions
3) Fin Placement

Which one is better?

Scenario:
Fluid inside a tube: Air
Fluid outside a tube: Water
Where to put the fins? Inside or outside of the tube?
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Overall Effectiveness
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Fin Efficiency
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface
Temperature is not constant along the fin length:

Example of temperature
distribution along the long fin with
constant cross section area.
Temperature at the tip is
constant at TL

Boundary condition;
x=xo T=Tb
x=L T=TL
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Extended Surface : Fin Efficiency

𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 (𝐪)

𝛈=
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨(𝐪𝐦𝐚𝐱)
If the fin is not insulated,
Efficiency L = Lc

𝑚= ¿

1) What happen to the fin efficiency

when L is increased?
2) η < 0.6 is not acceptable; η > 0.9 in
normal practice
3) mL = 1 is a good compromise
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Extended Surface : Fin Efficiency

What is the benefit of triangular &

parabolic fins over rectangular fins?
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Fin Efficiency: Circular fins of rectangular profile
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Fin Efficiency, η
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Sample Problem: Extended Surface

An aluminium pin fin of uniform diameter of 2mm, length 10mm is

attached to a hot surface with a temperature 200 ˚C. If the fin is cooled
by passing air across them at 15 ˚C resulting in a heat transfer co-
efficient of 100 W/m2.K. Given: kAl = 250 W/m.K and assume the fin tip
to be insulated, determine the followings:
(a) Fin efficiency, η
(b) Fin effectiveness, ε
(c) Rate of heat transfer from the fin, q
(d) If 1000 fins were added to a (100mm x 100mm) area with the same
surface temperature, what is the overall effectiveness?
(e) If the length of the fin is increased to 50mm, what is the new fin
efficiency, η and new overall effectiveness?

Ans: (a) 0.97 (b) 19.5 (c) 1.1322 W (d) 6.8 (e) 0.63,
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CONDUCTION: Work Example
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CONDUCTION: Work Example

A 2-in.-OD stainless-steel tube has 16 longitudinal fins spaced

around its outside surface as shown. The fins are 1/16 in. thick and
extend 1 in. from the outside surface of the tube.
.
(a) If the outside surface of the tube wall is at 250°F, the surrounding
air is at 80°F, and the convective heat-transfer co-efficient is 8
Btu/hr ft2 °F, determine the percent increase in heat transfer for
the finned pipe over that for the un-finned pipe.

(b) Determine the same information as in part (a) for values of h of

2, 5, 15, 50, and 100 Btu/hr ft2°F. Plot the percent increase in q
versus h. What; ; conclusions can be reached concerning this
plot?
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CONDUCTION: Extended Surface