THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO

MENG 4606-82 UT: Heat Transfer

Lab Report #4: Forced convection

Submitted by: Cherif Youssef Chokeir

SID: 900140712

Date of Submission: 21/7/2017

Dr. Amr Serag Eldin

Ta: Eng. Mohamed Fayed

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to study the heat transfer by forced convection and to determine

experimentally and empirically the heat transfer coefficient by forced convection. Temperature

measurements helped to obtain heat transfer by convection and to conclude form it the experimental

value of the forced convection heat transfer coefficient. The heat transfer coefficient could then be

obtained empirically through empirical equation based on Reynolds number and the effect of varying

the fluid velocity could be seen by varying the pressure inside the tube. The obtained result showed an

increase of heat transfer coefficient with an increase in velocity.

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Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................... 2
List of figures ...................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Theory: ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Apparatus ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Results and Discussion: .................................................................................................................... 11
Conclusion and Recommendations ................................................................................................... 12
References: ...................................................................................................................................... 13

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List of figures

Figure 1 Forced Convection apparatus ............................................................................................. 10

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List of Tables

Table 1 Empirical Constants for determination of heat transfer coefficient .......................................... 9

Table 2 Experimental Readings ........................................................................................................ 11

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Introduction

Heat transfer is the transition of thermal energy from a heated item to a cooler item. When an object

or fluid is at a different temperature than its surroundings or another object, transfer of thermal energy,

also known as heat transfer, or heat exchange, occurs in such a way that the body and the surroundings

reach thermal equilibrium. Heat transfer always occurs from a hot body to a cold one, a result of the

second law of thermodynamics. Where there is a temperature difference between objects in proximity,

heat transfer between them can never be stopped; it can only be slowed down. Classical transfer of

thermal energy occurs only through conduction, convection, radiation or any combination of these.

Heat transfer associated with carriage of the heat of phase change by a substance (such as steam which

carries the heat of boiling) can be fundamentally treated as a variation of convection heat transfer. In

each case, the driving force for heat transfer is a difference of temperature. [4]

Convection is a type of heat transfer via moving fluids that can be utilized in process equipment.

Depending on how the flow begins, the convection can be natural or forced. Natural convection is any

fluid movement by natural means such as warmer fluid moving upward and cooler fluid moving

downward. A type of driving force would also be a difference in density between two locations,

resulting in the heat of one fluid being absorbed by another fluid. Natural convection can be found

throughout nature, such as in earths oceans and atmosphere, which are heated by this force.

Forced convection occurs when a fluid flows over a surface by induced external forces, like a pump,

fan, or mixer. The motion of the fluid increases heat transfer; there is a direct relationship between

velocity and heat transfer- higher velocity equals more heat transfer. A practical example of this type

of heat transfer would be home heating systems which heat the air by force. Air in this equipment is

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heated by a type of furnace and blown by fans into a room. The fan acts as the driving force for the

fluid to move into the room and transfer the heat gained by the furnace into the room

The heat transfer by convection depends mainly on the heat transfer coefficient between the fluid and

the surface and the surface area and the temperature difference between the fluid stream and the

surface that is exposed to the fluid.

In forced convection, the heat transfer coefficient depends mainly on the ratio between inertia forces
and viscous forces which is the Reynolds number and the ratio between momentum diffusivity and
thermal diffusivity called the Prandtl number.

The Reynolds number increases with an increase in velocity which could be checked experimentally
by varying the pressure inside a pipe.

The dimensionless form of the heat transfer coefficient called Nusselt number and defined by

= for a pipe is highly dependent on Reynolds number. Physically this means that the higher

the fluid velocity the more rapid is the heat lost by convection.

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Theory:
In this experiment, the mode of heat transfer to be studied is forced convection through a tube pipe.

The rate of heat transfer obtained from the electric heater could be obtained using the relationship

=
(1)

This heat input rate is equal to the heat lost by convection on the inside walls of the tube
= ( ) (2)

The area of surface exposed to convection is given by

A = *d*L (3)

with d = 12.7 mm, L=142 mm

The pressure difference as read from the manometer could be related to the velocity by the relationship

= 1.291 (4)

where P is the pressure difference in Pa

In order to obtain the value of the heat transfer coefficient empirically, it is important to calculate
Reynolds number

= (5)

where is the air density at free stream conditions, v is the air velocity, d is the pipe
diameter, and is the viscosity of the air calculated at the film temperature given by
+
= 2 (6)
Where is air temperature at free stream conditions,

To obtain the empirical value of the heat transfer coefficient, we use the relationship

= = (7)

where B and n are emperical constants determined from table 1

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Re B n
0.4-4 0.891 0.33
4-40 0.821 0.385
40-4000 0.615 0.466
4000-40000 0.174 0.618
40000-400000 0.0239 0.805
Table 1 Empirical Constants for determination of heat transfer coefficient

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Apparatus
The apparatus used in this experiment is presented in figure 1. It has multiple measuring devices for
temperature, voltage and current. It has a pressure controller section to be able to vary pressure
levels and therefore velocity of the flowing air

Figure 1 Forced Convection apparatus

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 Results and Discussion:

At first, the experimental reading values are tabulated in table 1 presenting values of the pressure

readings, fluid and duct temperatures as well as corresponding values for voltage and current

measurements. The equations for calculating heat transfer rates and the heat transfer coefficients were

presented in the theory section.

p T TH Tf V I vel Re B N hemp q hexp % error

(kPa) (C) (C) (C) (volts) (A) (m/s) W/m2.K W W/m2.K
0.01 23 131 77 19.76 2.5 4.0825 2979.53 0.615 0.466 60.47551 49.4 80.73489 33.50014
0.65 23 63 43 19.66 2.506 32.914 25968.9 0.174 0.618 201.1242 49.26796 217.4016 8.093185
1.35 23 58 40.5 19.62 2.503 47.434 37649.5 0.174 0.618 251.2716 49.10886 247.6566 1.438706

Table 2 Experimental Readings

The first observation from table 2 is that the increase in pressure difference across the manometer
which reflected the increase in the flow velocity resulted in an increase in the Reynolds number which
was accompanied by an increase in the value of the heat transfer coefficient for both empirical
calculation and experimental determination.

The variation of the heat transfer coefficient in the case of forced convection is thus mainly dependent
on the velocity of the flowing fluid, as presented by the Reynolds number. It also depends on other
parameters, like the material of the duct (k) and its size (characteristic dimension or diameter) and
properties of the fluid (like density and viscosity )

Furthermore, it appears that the error decreases with increase in velocity reflecting that the accuracy of
the prediction of the heat transfer coefficient experimentally is higher at higher Reynolds number, the
error decreased from 33.5% to 1.43%. This shows that the experiments match the empirical
relationship rather in the case of turbulent flow than in the case of laminar flow.

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Conclusion and Recommendations

To sum up, the main objective of this study was to examine the effect of the variation in fluid

velocity on the value of the heat transfer coefficient in forced convection

At first, the experimental readings taken through measurements of the temperatures of the fluid

and the tube wall temperatures helped to obtain Reynolds number from which it had been possible to

determine through empirical relation the value of the heat transfer coefficient. This value was then

compared with the experimental value obtained by measuring current and voltage values.

Further measurements at different pressures were obtained which helped to study the effect of

variation in the velocity on the heat transfer coefficient. Results showed that the increase in velocity as

presented by the increase in the Reynolds number was reflected by and increase in the Nusselt number

and therefore also in the heat transfer coefficient for both experimental relations and empirical ones.

This showed that the more rapid is the flow, the higher convection rate. Furthermore, the error

between empirical and experimental values decreased showing that experiments are close to empirical

relationship more for turbulent flow as the fluid surpass the transition region between regimes.

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References:

[1] Csongradi et al. Convective and Radiant Heat Transfer CHE 0201 Retrieved 9 July 2017 from
http://www.pitt.edu/~ges39/webpage/ConvectiveandRadiantHeatTransfer.pdf

[2] Thermal Conductivity: Stainless Steel Retrieved 21 June 2017 from

http://www-ferp.ucsd.edu/LIB/PROPS/PANOS/ss.html

[3] Natural Convection Theory Retreived 9 July 2017 from

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1274163

[4] Thermal conductivity of metals Retrieved 22 June 2017 from

http://www.fizica.unibuc.ro/Fizica/Studenti/Cursuri/doc/VFilip/IntThPh/Lucrari_practice/Thermal_co
nductivity_of_metals.pdf

[5] Holman, J.P. Heat Transfer, 2010

[6] Gabra, Samuel. G, MENG 466 Lab Report # 3 (2014)

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