Heat Transfer in Pipes

Nomenclature
See Also
The heat transfer in a pipe for the Convective Heat Transfer model was developed in Equations 8.31
to 8.36, where the overall heat transfer coefficient, U, was assumed known. U is made up of several
pieces, which are described here.
For heat transfer coefficients inside the pipe, the popular Dittus-Boelter equation is used:

hD
Nu D = = 0.023ReD 0.8 Pr n
k (8.54)

where:
NuD = Nusselt Number (i.e., hD/k, dimensionless)
ReD = Reynolds Number (Dimensionless)
Pr = Prandtl Number (Dimensionless)
n = 0.4 for heating and 0.3 for cooling
h = heat transfer coefficient
k = thermal conductivity
D = pipe diameter

Thermal resistance
AFT Arrow models two general types of thermal resistance: convective and conductive. Conductive
resistances break down further into either radial or linear resistance.
The basic equation of linear conduction heat transfer is as follows:

kA
q= ∆T
∆x (8.55)

where k can be a function of temperature. A thermal resistance can is defined:

∆x
Rcond =
kA (8.56)

Therefore Equation 8.55 can be expressed:

1
q= ∆T
Rcond

A higher resistance thus means that less heat is transferred for a given temperature difference, ∆T.
In pipes the heat flow is not linear, but radially outwards from or inwards towards the pipe centerline.
The thermal resistance through a pipe wall with inner radius, ri and outer radius, ro, is given by
(Incropera and DeWitt, 1981, pp. 81):
 r  1
Rcond = ln o 
 ri  2πLk (8.57)

A convective heat transfer thermal resistance, as based on Equation 8.54, is given by:

1
Rconv =
hA (8.58)

As discussed in Incropera and DeWitt, pp. 69, the overall thermal resistance is given by:

RTotal = ∑ Ri

and the total heat transfer from the fluid to ambient is thus (Incropera and DeWitt, pp. 69),

T f − Tamb
q=
RTotal

See Also
Heat Transfer Options in Pipe Specifications

Viewing Calculated Thermal Results in Output