ACCRA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

INDEX NUMBER
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
END OF SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION, 2018/2019 ACADEMIC YEAR
BTECH MECHANICAL I
COURSE CODE: BME 351 COURSE TITLE: HEAT TRANSFER
INSTRUCTIONS: ANSWER ALL QUESTION
TIME ALLOWED: THREE HOURS

QUESTION ONE
a) An aluminium sphere weighing 7 kg and initially at a temperature of 260 oC is suddenly
immersed in a fluid at 10 oC. If h = 50 W/m2K, compute the time required to cool the sphere to
90 oC. r =2707 kg /m3 , c = 9000 J/kgK, k = 204 W/moC.
b) A Copper wire 0.8 mm diameter at 150 °C is suddenly dipped into water at 35°C. If h= 85.5
W/m2K, estimate the time required to cool the wire to 95 °C. If the same wire were placed in
air instead of water what would have been the time required to cool it to 95 °C (hair=11.65
W/m2K). For Copper r = 2707 Kg/m3, c= 9000 j/KgK, k=204 W/m°C
[20 marks]

QUESTION TWO
c) Compare the heat loss from an insulated and an un-insulated copper pipe (k = 400 W/m K) that
has an internal diameter of 10 cm and an external diameter of 12 cm. Saturated steam flows
inside the pipe at 110°C ( hci = 10,000 W/m2 K). The pipe is located in a space at 30°C and the
heat transfer coefficient on its outer surface is estimated to be 15 W/m2 K. The insulation
available to reduce heat losses is 5 cm thick and its thermal conductivity is 0.20 W/m K.
d) A 0.5 m diameter pipe (ε = 0.9) carrying steam has a surface temperature of 500 K. The pipe is
located in a room at 300 K, and the convection heat transfer coefficient between the pipe
surface and the air in the room is 20 W/m2 K. Calculate the combined heat transfer coefficient
and the rate of heat loss per meter of pipe length.

1
 [15 marks]
QUESTION THREE
a) A large vertical plate 4.0 m high is maintained at 60 ◦C and exposed to atmospheric air at
10 ◦C. Calculate the heat transfer if the plate is 10 m wide. The properties of air at film
temperature are k =0.02685 W/mK ν = 16.5×10−6 m2/s2 Pr =0.7. Use

b) Consider a copper pin fin 0.25 cm in diameter k = 396 W/m K that protrudes from a wall
at 95°C into ambient air at 25°C. The heat transfer is mainly by natural convection with a
coefficient equal to 10 W/m2 K. Calculate the heat loss, assuming that :
I. The fin is "infinitely long"
II. The fin is 2.5 cm long and the coefficient at the end is the same as around
the circumference.
III. How long would the fin have to be for the infinitely long solution to be
correct within 5 %?
c) Water heated to 80 ⁰C flows through a 2.54 cm inner diameter and 2.88 cm outer
diameter steel (k= 50 W/mK) tube. The tube is exposed to an environment which is
known to provide an average convection coefficient of ho = 30800 W/m2K on the out
side of the tube. The water velocity is 50 cm/s. Calculate the overall heat transfer
coefficient, based on the outer area of the pipe. Take: NuD = 0.023 ReD4/5 Pr0.4, and (ρ =
974 kg/m3, v = 0.364 × 10-6 m2/s, k = 668.7 ×10-3 W/mK, Pr = 2.20)

[25 marks]