Nomenclature

A Area (m2 , ft2 )

~a Acceleration (m/s2 , ft/s2 )
a Local speed of sound (m/s, ft/s)
c Concentration (mass/volume, moles/volume)
CD Drag coefficient, defined different ways (dimensionless)
cp , cv Heat capacity at constant pressure, volume (J/kg-K, Btu/lbm -◦ F)
d Diameter; dp , Dp , particle diameter (m, ft)
DH Hydraulic diameter (m, ft)
Dij , D Mass diffusion coefficient (m2 /s, ft2 /s)
E Total energy, activation energy (J, kJ, cal, Btu)
f Mixture fraction (dimensionless)
F~ Force vector (N, lbf )
FD Drag force (N, lbf )
~g Gravitational acceleration (m/s2 , ft/s2 ); standard values = 9.80665 m/s2 , 32.1740 ft/s2
Gr Grashof number ≡ ratio of buoyancy forces to viscous forces (dimensionless)
H Total enthalpy (energy/mass, energy/mole)
h Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 -K, Btu/ft2 -h-◦ F)
h Species enthalpy; h0 , standard state enthalpy of formation (energy/mass, en-
ergy/mole)
I Radiation intensity (energy per area of emitting surface per unit solid angle)
J Mass flux; diffusion flux (kg/m2 -s, lbm /ft2 -s)
K Equilibrium constant = forward rate constant/backward rate constant (units vary)
k Kinetic energy per unit mass (J/kg, Btu/lbm )
k Reaction rate constant, e.g., k1 , k−1 ,kf,r , kb,r (units vary)
k Thermal conductivity (W/m-K, Btu/ft-h-◦ F)
kB Boltzmann constant (1.38 × 10−23 J/molecule-K)
k,kc Mass transfer coefficient (units vary); also K, Kc
`, l, L Length scale (m, cm, ft, in)

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Nomenclature

Le Lewis number ≡ ratio of thermal diffusivity to mass diffusivity (dimensionless)

m Mass (g, kg, lbm )
ṁ Mass flow rate (kg/s, lbm /s)
Mw Molecular weight (kg/kgmol, lbm /lbm mol)
M Mach number ≡ ratio of fluid velocity magnitude to local speed of sound (dimen-
sionless)
Nu Nusselt number ≡ dimensionless heat transfer or mass transfer coefficient (dimen-
sionless); usually a function of other dimensionless groups
p Pressure (Pa, atm, mm Hg, lbf /ft2 )
Pe Peclet number ≡ Re × Pr for heat transfer, and ≡ Re × Sc for mass transfer
(dimensionless)
Pr Prandtl number ≡ ratio of momentum diffusivity to thermal diffusivity (dimen-
sionless)
Q Flow rate of enthalpy (W, Btu/h)
q Heat flux (W/m2 , Btu/ft2 -h)
R Gas-law constant (8.31447 × 103 J/kgmol-K, 1.98588 Btu/lbm mol-◦ F)
r Radius (m, ft)
R Reaction rate (units vary)
Ra Rayleigh number ≡ Gr × Pr; measure of the strength of buoyancy-induced flow in
natural (free) convection (dimensionless)
Re Reynolds number ≡ ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces (dimensionless)
S Total entropy (J/K, J/kgmol-K, Btu/lbm mol-◦ F)
s Species entropy; s0 , standard state entropy (J/kgmol-K, Btu/lbm mol-◦ F)
Sc Schmidt number ≡ ratio of momentum diffusivity to mass diffusivity (dimension-
less)
Sij Mean rate-of-strain tensor (s−1 )
T Temperature (K, ◦ C, ◦ R, ◦ F)
t Time (s)
U Free-stream velocity (m/s, ft/s)
u, v, w Velocity magnitude (m/s, ft/s); also written with directional subscripts (e.g., vx ,
vy , vz , vr )
V Volume (m3 , ft3 )
~v Overall velocity vector (m/s, ft/s)
We Weber number ≡ ratio of aerodynamic forces to surface tension forces (dimension-
less)

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 Nomenclature

X Mole fraction (dimensionless)

Y Mass fraction (dimensionless)
α Permeability (m2 , ft2 )
α Thermal diffusivity (m2 /s, ft2 /s)
α Volume fraction (dimensionless)
β Coefficient of thermal expansion (K−1 )
γ Porosity (dimensionless)
γ Ratio of specific heats, cp /cv (dimensionless)
∆ Change in variable, final − initial (e.g., ∆p, ∆t, ∆H, ∆S, ∆T )
δ Delta function (units vary)
 Emissivity (dimensionless)
 Lennard-Jones energy parameter (J/molecule)
 Turbulent dissipation rate (m2 /s3 , ft2 /s3 )
 Void fraction (dimensionless)
η Effectiveness factor (dimensionless)
η 0 , η 00 Rate exponents for reactants, products (dimensionless)
θr Radiation temperature (K)
λ Molecular mean free path (m, nm, ft)
λ Wavelength (m, nm, Å, ft)
µ Dynamic viscosity (cP, Pa-s, lbm /ft-s)
ν Kinematic viscosity (m2 /s, ft2 /s)
ν 0 , ν 00 Stoichiometric coefficients for reactants, products (dimensionless)
ρ Density (kg/m3 , lbm /ft3 )
σ Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.67 ×108 W/m2 -K4 )
σ Surface tension (kg/m, dyn/cm, lbf /ft)
σs Scattering coefficient (m−1 )
τ Stress tensor (Pa, lbf /ft2 )
τ Shear stress (Pa, lbf /ft2 )
τ Time scale, e.g., τc , τp , τc (s)
τ Tortuosity, characteristic of pore structure (dimensionless)
φ Equivalence ratio (dimensionless)
φ Thiele modulus (dimensionless)
Ω Angular velocity; Ωij , Mean rate of rotation tensor (s−1 )

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Nomenclature

ω Specific dissipation rate (s−1 )

Ω, Ω0 Solid angle (degrees, radians, gradians)
ΩD Diffusion collision integral (dimensionless)

Nom-4
c Fluent Inc. January 11, 2005