HJD INSTITUTE OF TECH EDU & RESEARCH

MECHANICAL ENGG DEPT

Experiment No 4: NATURAL CONVECTION APPARATUS

Aim:
To determine the natural convection heat transfer coefficient for the vertical tube exposed to
atmospheric air.
Introduction
Convection is the mode of heat transfer which generally takes place in liquid and gases.
Consider a fluid flow over a heated surface, the molecules of fluid adjacent to the surface,
absorb heat and become hot, on heating the molecules become lighter due to decrease in
density, they rise up and the cold molecules of higher density come down in contact of heated
surface, in this way, motion of molecules sets up in fluid due to developed density gradient.
Experimental Setup:
The experimental setup consists of a brass tube fitted in a rectangular duct, vertically. The duct
is open at top and bottom, an electric heating element is kept in the center of the vertical tube,
which in turn heats the tube surface longitudinally. The heat is lost from the tube to the
surrounding air by natural convection. The temperature of the vertical tube is measured by
seven thermocouples at different locations and thermocouple T8 measures the duct
temperature. The heat energy is measured by ammeter and voltmeter.
When a hot body is kept in still air, the heat is transferred to surrounding fluid adjacent to the
hot body. The adjacent fluid gets heated, it rises up due to decrease in its density and cold fluid
rushes in to take place, and thus the fluid motion is setup and heat transfer takes place from
the surface. The heat transfer rate from the surface by natural convection is expressed
by Newton's law as:Q = As h (Ts - Ta)
Where As = Surface area of Brass tube = d L
h = heat transfer coefficient
Ts = Average Surface Temperature
Ta = Ambient Temperature.
Thus the convection coefficient can be evaluated as
h = Q / As . h. (Ts Ta)

Heat & Mass Transfer

Semester 6

161906

HJD INSTITUTE OF TECH EDU & RESEARCH

MECHANICAL ENGG DEPT

Control Panel and Instrumentation Specifications:

Digital Temperature Scanner: Micro-Controller based 10 Channel Scanner for RTD type
Sensor with Thumbwheel Switch. Make: Nutronics, India
Digital Voltmeter: Single Phase Range 0-300 V AC. Size: 48(H)x 96(W) x 130mm(D) Make
Nutronics, India
Digital Ammeter: Single Phase Range 0-2 Amp AC. Size: 48(H)x 96(W) x 130mm(D) Make
Nutronics, India
Cam Operated Rotary Switch with ON/OFF Switching Position For Heater Operation and
Mains Supply
LED Main Supply Indicator
Continuously Variable Autotransformer : Single Phase - 2 Amp, Open Type Air Cooled
Heater: 300 Watt Band Type Heater
Thermocouple: RTD Type 7 Nos.
Experimental Procedure:
1. Put on the heater switch and adjust the heater input through Dimmerstat.
2. Wait till the steady state condition is reached.
3. Note down the reading of all thermocouples through selector switch and Wattmeter.
4. Repeat above procedure for next reading.

Fig. Natural Convection

Heat & Mass Transfer

Semester 6

161906

HJD INSTITUTE OF TECH EDU & RESEARCH

MECHANICAL ENGG DEPT

Specifications:
Diameter of tube, d= 38mm
Total length of tube, l = 500mm
Capacity of heater = 300W
No. of Thermocouples = 7
Duct Size = 200 mm x 200mm x 760 mm

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Observation table:
Sr No

Heat Input
V
I

T1

T2

Thermocouple Reading
T3
T4
T5

T6

T7

Ta

1
2
3
4
5
Calculations:
1. Heat Transfer Coefficient , h = Q / As (Ts Ta)
Where, Q =W, watts
As = Surface area of Brass tube = d L
h = Heat transfer coefficient
Ts = Average Surface Temperature
Ambient Temperature.

The average surface temperature of brass rod,

Ts = (T1+T2 + T3 + T4 +T5 + T6 +T7) / 7 = _____ C
Ta (Ambient temperature) =.... C
Thus the convention coefficients can be evaluated as =.W/m2.K

2. Theoretical Method (Correct Method)

Ts + Ta
Film Temperature Tf =
= ..........C
2
Volumetric Coefficient,
= 1 / (Tf + 273) = K-1
Properties of air at the film temperature (Tf) from data book, Say at 350 K
= 0.9980 kg/m3 ; Cp = 1.0090 kJ/kg K ; U = 2.075 kg/ms x 10-5 ;

Heat & Mass Transfer

Semester 6

161906

HJD INSTITUTE OF TECH EDU & RESEARCH

MECHANICAL ENGG DEPT

kair = 0.03003 W / mK ;v = 20.76 m2/s X 10-6

g L3 T
V2
4. Pr = Praudtl Number = Cp / kair
L
= length of The Brass Tube, m
Nu = C (Gr Pr)n
Where, C = 0.56 and n = 0.25 for 104 < Gr Pr < 108
C = 0.13 and n = 1/3 for 108 < GrPr < 1012

3. Gr = Grashof Number

Kair =Thermal conductivity of air, W/m.K

v
= Kinematics viscosity of air, m2/s

= Dynamic viscosity of air, kg/m.s

Cp = Specific heat of air, J/kg.K

= Coefficient of volumetric expansion of air, K-1

T = Ts - Ta in 0C
Also
Nu = h. L / Kair
Or
h
= (Nu. Kair) /L

Results:
Value of h in Natural Convection is = ___________ W/ m2. K
Conclusion:
The heat transfer coefficient in natural convection is much lower, because, the heat is
transferred due to density gradient only, thus the value of heat transfer coefficient as also
small. The phenomenon of natural convection also depends upon viscosity, thermal
conductivity, volumetric expansion coefficient, 8 etc.
Result and Discussions
Practical readings are based on the assumption that current supplied to heater is converted
totally into heat energy. This is not possible and generally the losses are as high as 50%.
Commonly used heaters also have a band of insulation over the heating element which further
reduces the amount of heat transfer to the test section.

Heat & Mass Transfer

Semester 6

161906

HJD INSTITUTE OF TECH EDU & RESEARCH

MECHANICAL ENGG DEPT

Also the heat generated in heating element is lost in radiation and convection losses due to
surrounding air breeze. Due to this cumulative effect there is big difference in heat transfer
coefficient values calculated using different methods.
Hence theoretical reading based on temperature values should be considered the correct
values

Heat & Mass Transfer

Semester 6

161906

HJD INSTITUTE OF TECH EDU & RESEARCH

MECHANICAL ENGG DEPT

Properties Of Air
Temp
0
C

-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
120
140
160
180
200
250
300
350
400
500
600
700
800

Density
Kg/m3

Kinematic
Viscosity

Prandil
Number

Thermal
Diffusivity

Specific
Heat Cp

Pr

m 2 /nr

1.584
1.515
1.453
1.395
1.342
1.293
1.247
1.205
1.165
1.128
1.093
1.060
1.029
1.000
0.972
0.946
0.898
0.854
0.815
0.779
0.746
0.674
0.615
0.566
0.524
0.456
0.404
0.362
0.329

V x 106
m2
/s
9.23
10.04
10.80
11.61
12.43
13.28
14.16
15.06
16.00
16.69
17.95
18.97
20.02
21.09
22.10
23.13
25.45
27.80
30.09
32.49
34.85
40.61
48.20
55.46
63.09
79.38
96.99
115.40
1347.80

Heat & Mass Transfer

0.728
0.728
0.723
0.716
0.712
0.707
0.705
0.703
0.701
0.699
0.698
0.696
0.694
0.692
0.690
0.688
0.686
0.684
0.682
0.681
0.680
0.677
0.674
0.676
0.678
0.687
0.699
0.706
0.713

45.7
49.6
53.7
68.3
52.8
67.7
72.2
77.1
82.3
87.5
92.6
97.9
102.8
108.7
114.8
121.1
132.6
145.2
158.0
171.0
184.9
210.6
257.6
294.7
335.2
415.1
499.0
588.2
682.0

Semester 6

J/Kg K

Thermal
Conduct
i
vity K x

Coefficient
of Viscosity
x 106 Ns/m2

1013
1013
1013
1009
1009
1005
1005
1005
1005
1005
1005
1005
1009
1009
1009
1009
1009
1013
1017
1022
1026
1038
1047
1059
1067
1093
1114
1135
1156

103
20.35
21.17
21.98
22.79
23.61
24.42
25.12
25.93
26.75
27.56
28.26
28.96
29.66
30.47
31.28
32.10
33.38
34.89
36.40
37.80
39.31
42.68
46.05
49.08
52.10
57.45
62.22
66.87
71.76

or Kg/m
14.61
15.20
15.69
16.18
16.67
17.16
17.65
18.14
18.63
19.12
19.61
20.10
20.59
21.08
21.48
21.87
22.85
23.73
24.52
25.30
25.99
27.36
29.71
31.38
33.05
36.19
39.13
41.78
44.33

161906