Department of Chemical

Engineering
University of the Philippines Diliman

Convective Heat Transfer

ChE 131 – Transport Processes

Reference:
§ 4.1B, Geankoplis, C.J. (1993). Transport Processes and Unit Operations,
3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Tosun, I. (2007). Modeling Transport Phenomena, 2nd ed. Elsevier.
 Outline
 Convective Heat Transfer
 Convection Heat Transfer Coefficient

 Combined Heat Transfer

 Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient
 Log-Mean Temperature Difference
 Convective Heat Transfer
Convective Heat
Transfer
Transport of property (momentum / energy /
mass) due to the bulk flow of a fluid
Combined Heat
Transfer
 When applied to energy, this means “energy
flowing into/out of the control volume”
 rate of energy flowing into / out of the control
surface:
𝐸 = 𝐸𝑣𝐴 = 𝜌𝐶𝑝 𝑇 𝑣𝐴
 TOTAL FLUX =
molecular flux (due to gradients/molecular motion) +
convective flux (due to bulk motion)

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 Convective Heat Transfer
Convective Heat  How do we calculate
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the total rate of heat
Combined Heat transfer from the
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plate to the flowing
stream?
No slip condition:
 Total energy flux at the wall: Stagnant fluid

Molecular Convective
energy flux energy flux

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 Convective Heat Transfer
Convective Heat  Therefore,
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Combined Heat
Transfer
 The rate of heat transfer from one side of the
plate to the flowing stream is

 What is the temperature gradient at the wall?

Difficult if not impossible…
 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
Convective Heat  We resort to experimentally determined values of
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the energy flux at the solid-fluid interface in terms
Combined Heat of the convective heat transfer coefficient, h.
Transfer

Newton’s Law of Cooling

 where:

qw= heat flux (𝑄/𝐴) at the wall

h = heat transfer coefficient

Tw = temperature at solid wall

T∞ = temperature of bulk fluid

 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
Convective Heat  The heat flow rate then becomes
Transfer

Combined Heat
Transfer
𝑄 = ℎ𝐴 𝑇𝑤 − 𝑇∞
 In difference form,

𝑇𝑤 − 𝑇∞ Driving force
𝑄=
1 Thermal
ℎ𝐴 Resistance

 What is the unit of h? Ans: W/m2 - K

 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
Convective Heat  The heat transfer coefficient depends on the fluid
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flow mechanism, fluid properties (density,
Combined Heat viscosity, thermal conductivity, heat capacity) and
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flow geometry.
 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
Convective Heat
Transfer

Combined Heat
Transfer
 From the equations above, we can see that

 The entire resistance to heat transfer is assumed

to be due to a stagnant film in the fluid next to the
wall.
 Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient
Convective Heat
Transfer

Combined Heat
Transfer
 The above equation indicates that the thickness
of the film, δt , determines the value of h.

 For this reason the term h is frequently referred to

as the film heat transfer coefficient.
 Exercise
Convective Heat  Air at 20°C flows over a flat plate of dimensions
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50 cm × 25 cm. If the average heat transfer
Combined Heat coefficient is 250 W/m2·K, determine the steady
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rate of heat transfer from one side of the plate to
air when the plate is maintained at 40°C.
 Exercise
Convective Heat  Air at 15°C flows over a spherical LPG tank of
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radius 4 m. The outside surface temperature of
Combined Heat the tank is 4°C. If the steady rate of heat transfer
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from the air to the storage tank is 62,000 W,
determine the average heat transfer coefficient.
 Combined Heat Transfer
Convective Heat Conduction Convection
Transfer

Combined Heat −∆𝑇 −∆𝑇

Transfer 𝑄= 𝑄=
∆𝑥 1
𝑘𝐴 ℎ𝐴
Combined heat transfer (in a flat slab):
−∆𝑇
𝑄 = 1 ∆𝑥 1
+ +
ℎ1 𝐴 𝑘𝐴 ℎ2 𝐴

−∆𝑇
𝑄=
1
𝑈𝐴
 Combined Heat Transfer
Convective Heat  We define the overall heat transfer coefficient, U
Transfer

Combined Heat 1 1 ∆𝑥 1 Inside overall heat transfer

Transfer = + + coefficient, Ui
𝑈𝐴 ℎ1 𝐴 𝑘𝐴 ℎ2 𝐴
1 1 ∆𝑥 1
= + +
𝑈𝑖 𝐴𝑖 ℎ𝑖 𝐴𝑖 𝑘𝐴𝐿𝑀 ℎ𝑜 𝐴𝑜

Outside overall heat

transfer coefficient, Uo
1 1 ∆𝑥 1
= + +
𝑈𝑜 𝐴𝑜 ℎ𝑖 𝐴𝑖 𝑘𝐴𝐿𝑀 ℎ𝑜 𝐴𝑜
 Combined Heat Transfer
Convective Heat  We define the overall heat transfer coefficient, U
Transfer

Combined Heat 1 1
Transfer =
𝑈𝑖 𝐴𝑖 𝑈𝑜 𝐴𝑜

 The heat flow rate equation then becomes

𝑄 = 𝑈𝑖 𝐴𝑖 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑜 = 𝑈𝑜 𝐴𝑜 𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑜
 Exercise
Convective Heat  Saturated steam at 267°F is flowing inside a
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steel pipe with an ID of 0.824 in. and an OD of
Combined Heat 1.05 in. The pipe is insulated with 1.5 in. of
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insulation on the outside. The convective heat
transfer coefficient inside and outside the pipe is
hi = 1000 Btu/hr/ft2/°F and ho = 2 Btu/hr/ft2/°F,
respectively. The mean thermal conductivity of the
metal is 26 Btu/hr/ft/°F, while that of the
insulation material is 0.037 Btu/hr/ft/°F.
Calculate the heat loss for 1 ft of pipe using
resistances if the surrounding air is at 80°F.