1st Semester, A.Y.
2018 – 2019 closed, will the room that contains the refrigerator be cooler
ME 452 – Heat Transfer
Lecture 01 – Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer
Notes and Instructions. This document is divided into parts
containing of conceptual and analytical problems. Conceptual
applications will be discussed during the lecture hours wherein
students will be randomly selected to explain their answers. While
the latter part will be submitted on August 17 until 3 p.m., and
solutions must be presented in an A4-sized paper (1 problem per
page). No specific format is required, just present the solutions
neatly.
1. How does the science of heat transfer differ from the science
of thermodynamics?
2. What is the driving force for (a) heat transfer, (b) electric
current flow, and (c) fluid flow?
3. How do rating problems in heat transfer differ from the
sizing problems?
4. What is the difference between the analytical and
experimental approach to heat transfer? Discuss the
advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
5. How do differential equations in the study of a physical
problem arise?
6. On a hot summer day, a student turns his fan on when he
leaves his room in the morning. When he returns in the
evening, will his room be warmer or cooler than the
neighboring rooms? Why? Assume all the doors and
windows are kept closed.
7. Consider two identical rooms, one with a refrigerator in it
and the other without one. If all the doors and windows are
or warmer than the other room? Why?
8. An ideal gas is heated from 50℃ to 80℃ (a) at constant
volume and (b) at constant pressure. For which case do you
think the energy required will be greater? Why?
9. How are heat, internal energy, and thermal energy related
to each other?
10. What are the mechanisms of energy transfer to a closed
system? How is heat transfer distinguished from the other
forms of energy transfer?
11. Consider a house with a floor space of 200 m2 and an
average height of 3 m at sea level, where the standard
atmospheric pressure is 101.3 kPa. Initially the house is at
a uniform temperature of 10℃. Now the electric heater is
turned on, and the heater runs until the air temperature in
the house rises to an average value of 22℃. Determine how
much heat is absorbed by the air assuming some air
escapes through the cracks as the heated air in the house
expands at constant pressure. Also, determine the cost of
this heat if the unit cost of electricity in that area is
$0.075/kWh.
12. Liquid ethanol is a flammable fluid and can release vapors
that form explosive mixtures at temperatures above its
flashpoint at 16.6℃. In a chemical plant, liquid ethanol (cp
= 2.44 kJ/kg-K, 𝜌 = 789 kg/m3) is being transported in a
pipe with an inside diameter of 5 cm. The pipe is in a hot
area with the presence of ignition source, where an
estimated 20 kW of heat is added to the ethanol. Your task,
as an engineer, is to design a pumping system to transport
the ethanol safely and to prevent fire hazard. If the inlet
temperature of the ethanol is 10℃, determine the volume
flow rate that is necessary to keep the temperature of the
ethanol in the pipe below its flashpoint.
13. In many manufacturing plants, individuals are often
working around high temperature surfaces. Exposed hot
surfaces that are potential for thermal burns on human
skin tissue are hazards in the workplace. Metallic surface
of temperature above 70℃ is considered extremely high
temperature in the context of thermal burn, where skin
tissue damage can occur instantaneously upon contact
with the hot surface. Consider an AISI 1010 carbon steel
strip (𝜌 = 7832 kg/m3) of 2 mm thick and 3 cm wide that is
conveyed into a chamber to be cooled at a constant speed
of 1 m/s. The steel strip enters the cooling chamber at
597℃. Determine the amount of heat rate that needed to be
removed so that the steel strip exits the chamber at 47℃ to
avoid instantaneous thermal burn upon accidental contact
with skin tissue. Discuss how the conveyance speed can
affect the heat rate needed to be removed from the steel
strip in the cooling chamber.
reach an average temperature of 25℃, find (a) the power
rating of the electric heater and (b) the temperature rise that
the air experiences each time it passes through the heater.
15. A hair dryer is basically a duct in which a few layers of
electric resistors are placed. A small fan pulls the air in and
forces it to flow over the resistors where it is heated. Air
enters a 900-W hair dryer at 100 kPa and 25℃, and leaves
at 50℃. The cross-sectional area of the hair dryer at the exit
is 60 cm2. Neglecting the power consumed by the fan and
the heat losses through the walls of the hair dryer,
determine (a) the volume flow rate of air at the inlet and (b)
the velocity of the air at the exit.

14. A 5-m × 6-m × 8-m room is to be heated by an electrical

resistance heater placed in a short duct in the room.
Initially, the room is at 15℃, and the local atmospheric
pressure is 98 kPa. The room is losing heat steadily to the
outside at a rate of 200 kJ/min. A 300-W fan circulates the
air steadily through the duct and the electric heater at an
average mass flow rate of 50 kg/min. The duct can be
assumed to be adiabatic, and there is no air leaking in or
out of the room. If it takes 18 minutes for the room air to