Enhancement of Heat Transfer

P M V Subbarao
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
IIT Delhi

Invention of Compact Heat Transfer Devices

 Heat transfer enhancement
• Enhancement
• Increase the convection coefficient
Introduce surface roughness to enhance turbulence.
Induce swirl.
• Increase the convection surface area
Longitudinal fins, spiral fins or ribs.
Heat Transfer Enhancement using Inserts
Heat Transfer Enhancement using Inserts
 Heat transfer enhancement :Coiling

• Helically coiled tube

• Without inducing turbulence or additional heat transfer
surface area.
• Secondary flow
 FREE CONVECTION

P M V Subbarao
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
IIT Delhi

Its free, No operating cost!……..

Its Natural …..
 Natural Convection

Where we’ve been ……

• Up to now, have considered forced convection, that is
an external driving force causes the flow.
Where we’re going:
• Consider the case where fluid movement is by
buoyancy effects caused by temperature differential
 Events due to natural convection
• Weather events such as a thunderstorm
• Glider planes
• Radiator heaters
• Hot air balloon

• Heat flow through and on outside of a double pane

window
• Oceanic and atmospheric motions
• Coffee cup example ….

Small velocity
 Natural Convection

• New terms
– Volumetric thermal expansion coefficient
– Grashof number
– Rayleigh number
• Buoyancy is the driving force
– Stable versus unstable conditions
• Nusselt number relationship for laminar free
convection on hot or cold surface
• Boundary layer impacts: laminar  turbulent
 Buoyancy is the driving force
• Buoyancy is due to combination of
– Differences in fluid density
– Body force proportional to density
– Body forces namely, gravity, also Coriolis force in
atmosphere and oceans
• Convection flow is driven by buoyancy in unstable conditions
• Fluid motion may be
(no constraining surface) or along a surface
 Buoyancy is the driving force
• Free boundary layer flow

Heated wire or hot pipe

 A heated vertical plate

• We focus on free convection flows bounded by a surface.

• The classic example is

Ts  T
Extensive, quiescent
u(x,y) fluid

Ts
T

g
x
y
u
v
 Governing Equations

• The difference between the two flows (forced flow and free
flow) is that, in free convection, a major role is played by
buoyancy forces.
X   g Very important

•Consider the x-momentum equation.

u u 1 P u 2
u v   g  2
x y  x y

•As we know, p / y  0 , hence the x-pressure gradient in the

boundary layer must equal that in the quiescent region outside the
boundary layer.
 P
Pascal Law :
 -  g
x
u u u 2
u  v     g   g   2
1
x y  y

u u    u 2
u v  g    2
x y    y

Buoyancy force     
 Governing Equations

• Define , the volumetric thermal

expansion coefficient.
1   
   
  T  P
RT P
For an ideal gas : P   
 RT
1
Thus :   Not for liquids and non-ideal gases
T
1  1   
  
 T  T  T

     (T  T )
Density gradient is due to the temperature gradient
 Governing Equations (cont’d)
• Now, we can see buoyancy effects replace pressure gradient in the
momentum equation.

u u  2u
u  v  g (T  T )  v 2
x y y
•The buoyancy effects are confined to the momentum equation, so
the mass and energy equations are the same.

u v
 0
x y
2
T T  T   u 
2
u v   2   
x y y c p  y 
Strongly coupled and must be solved simultaneously
 Dimensionless Similarity Parameter

 x  y
x  and y 
L L
 u  v T  T
u  and v  T 
*

u0 u0 Ts  T
where L is a characteri stic length, and
u 0 is an arbitrary reference velocity

• The x-momentum and energy equations are

u *
u *
g (T  T ) L 1  2 *
u
u *
v *
 s 
T 
*

x *
y * 2
u0 Re L y*2

T *
T *
1  2 *
T
u * *  v* * 
x y Re L Pr y*2
 Dimensionless Similarity Parameter (cont’d)

• Define new dimensionless parameter,

g (Ts  T ) L  u0 L  g (Ts  T ) L
2 3
GrL    
   
2 2
u0
•Grashof number in natural convection is analogous to the Reynolds
number in forced convection.
•Grashof number indicates the ratio of the buoyancy force to the
viscous force.
•Higher Gr number means increased natural convection flow

GrL GrL
2
 1 forced  1 natural
Re L 2
Re L
 Laminar Free Convection on Vertical Surface
• As y   : u = 0, T = T
• As y  0 : u = 0, T = Ts
Ts  T
u(x,y) • With little or no external driving flow,
Re  0 and forced convection effects
Ts can be safely neglects
T

GrL
g
2
 1
x Re L
y
Nu L  f (GrL , Pr)
u
v
Analytical similarity solution for the local Nusselt number in
laminar free convection
1/ 4
hx  GrL 
Nu x     f (Pr)
k  4 

Where

f Pr  
0.75 Pr
0.609  1.221 Pr  1.238 Pr 
1/ 4

1/ 4
Average Nusselt # = h L 4  GrL 
NuL      f (Pr)
k 3 4 
 Effects of Turbulence

• Just like in forced convection flow, hydrodynamic instabilities

may result in the flow.
• For example, illustrated for a heated vertical surface:
• Define the Rayleigh number for relativemagnitude of
buoyancy and viscous forces

Ra x ,c  Grx ,c Pr
g (Ts  T ) x 3


Ts  T
 Effects of Turbulence

• Transition to turbulent flow greatly effects heat transfer rate.

 Empirical Correlations

Typical correlations for heat transfer coefficient developed from

experimental data are expressed as:

hL
NuL   CRa Ln
k
g Ts  T  L3
Ra L  GrL  Pr 


n  1 / 4 For Turbulent

n  1 / 3 For Laminar
 Vertical Plate at constant Ts

Log10 Nu L

Log10 RaL
•Alternative applicable to entire Rayleigh number range (for constant Ts)

2
 0.387 Ra1L/ 6 
Nu L  0.825  8 / 27 
 
1  (0.492 / Pr) 9 /16  

Vertical Cylinders
•Use same correlations for vertical flat plate if:

D ~ 35
 1/ 4
L GrL
Inclined Plate
 Horizontal Plate

Cold Plate (Ts < T)

Hot Plate (Ts > T)

 Empirical Correlations : Horizontal Plate
•Define the characteristic length, L as As
L
P
•Upper surface of heated plate, or Lower surface of cooled plate :

Nu L  0.54 Ra1L/ 4 104  RaL  107 

Nu L  0.15 Ra1L/ 3 107  RaL  1011 
•Lower surface of heated plate, or Upper surface of cooled plate :

Nu L  0.27 RaL
1/ 4
10
5
 RaL  1010

Ts  T
Note: Use fluid properties at the film temperature Tf 
2
 Empirical Correlations : Long Horizontal Cylinder

•Very common geometry (pipes, wires)

•For isothermal cylinder surface, use general form equation
for computing Nusselt #

hD
NuD   CRa Dn
k
Constants for general Nusselt number Equation

RaD C n

1010 - 10 2 0.675 0.058

10 2 - 10 2 1.02 0.148
102 - 104 0.850 0.188
104 - 107 0.480 0.250
107 - 1012 0.125 0.333