Convection

Mechanism of heat transfer through a fluid in the presence of

bulk fluid motion.

Forced convection Free convection

 PHYSICAL MECHANISM OF CONVECTION

Conduction
require the presence of a material medium
Convection

Radiation

convection requires the presence of fluid motion

Heat transfer through a solid is always by conduction.

Heat transfer through a liquid or gas, however, can be by
conduction or convection, depending on the presence
of any bulk fluid motion.
Therefore, conduction in a fluid can be viewed as the limiting case
of convection
 PHYSICAL MECHANISM OF CONVECTION

Convection can be treated as heat conduction with fluid motion.

The fluid motion enhances heat transfer

Heat transfer through a fluid is much higher by convection than it is by
conduction
NEWTON'S LAW OF COOLING
❑ Local heat transfer coefficient
❑Average or Total heat transfer coefficient
 Nusselt Number

it is common practice to combine the variables, which group together

into dimensionless numbers in order to reduce the number of total
variables

Non-dimensionalize the heat transfer coefficient h

 Significance of Nusselt Number

Nusselt number represents the enhancement of heat transfer through

a fluid layer as a result of convection relative to conduction across the
same fluid layer

The larger the Nusselt number,the more effective the convection

Nusselt number of Nu =1 for a fluid layer represents heat transfer

across the layer by pure conduction
 VELOCITY (HYDRODYNAMIC BOUNDRY LAYER)

Flow over flat plate Slows down the

subsequent layer
Uniform velocity

VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER AND

BOUNDARY LAYER THICKNESS

LEADING EDGE Velocity is zero SOLID SURFACE

NO SLIP condition
 The determination of the surface shear stress from this
eqn is not practical since it requires a knowledge of the
flow velocity profile.

The friction coefficient is an important parameter in heat transfer studies since it is directly
related to the heat transfer coefficient and the power requirements of the pump or fan.
THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Tf>Ts

Ts>Tf
Prandtl Number
VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER DEVELOPMENT IN CIRCULAR PIPES IN FORCED
CONVECTION
THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER DEVELOPMENT IN CIRCULAR PIPES
Significance of the Boundary Layers
For flow over any surface, there will always exist a velocity boundary layer and hence surface friction.
Likewise, a thermal boundary layer, and hence convection heat transfer, will always exist if the surface
and free stream temperatures differ. Similarly, a concentration boundary layer and convection mass
transfer will exist if the fluid’s species concentration at the surface differs from its species concentration
in the free stream. The velocity boundary layer is of extent (x) and is characterized by the presence of
velocity gradients and shear stresses. The thermal boundary layer is of extent t(x) and is characterized
by temperature gradients and heat transfer. Finally, the concentration boundary layer is of extent c(x)
and is characterized by concentration gradients and species transfer. Situations can arise in which all
three boundary layers are present. In such cases, the boundary layers rarely grow at the same rate,
and the values of , t, and c at a given location are not the same. For the engineer, the principal
manifestations of the three boundary layers are, respectively, surface friction, convection heat transfer,
and convection mass transfer. The key boundary layer parameters are then the friction coefficient C f
and the heat and mass transfer convection coefficients h and hm, respectively. We now turn our
attention to examining these key parameters, which are central to the analysis of convection heat and
mass transfer problems.
The Problem of Convection

In addition to depending on numerous fluid properties such as density, viscosity, thermal

conductivity, and specific heat, the coefficients depend on the surface geometry and the flow
conditions. This multiplicity of independent variables is attributable to the dependence of convection
transfer on the boundary layers that develop on the surface.