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mean convective coefficient h is affected by the impressed fluid velocity. Conversely, when heat is exchanged by natural
convection, the Biot number criterion involves a mean convective coefficient h that depends on the temperature difference between
the body and the fluid. Consequently, the above-cited Biot number criterion must be modified to incorporate the variability of the
mean convective coefficient h with the temperature difference. This situation gives rise to a new Bimax = h max V < 0.1 where h max
ks S
is the maximum mean convective coefficient that, in the case of cooling, happens at the initial temperature Ti and time t = 0. In this
paper on engineering education, the exact mean temperature distribution T (t) is deduced for a case study wherein the solid body is a
sphere being cooled by natural convection in quiescent air under the premises of the lumped model. A physics-based equivalence of
Bimax interweaves the solid thermal conductivity, the fluid thermal conductivity and the extended Grashof number embracing the
initialtofluid temperature difference.
Keywords Lumped Model, Unsteady Heat Conduction, Natural Convection, Mean Convective Coefficient, Modified Biot Number
Criterion
NOMENCLATURE
a, b
Bi
Bimax
ks S
h max
Nu D
ks S
cp
cv
diameter of sphere, m
GrD
2
Grashof number for sphere, g ( Ts T ) D3,
2
dimensionless
GrD, i
2
extended Grashof number for sphere, g
2
( Ti T ) D , dimensionless
kf
Pr
radius of sphere, m
RaD
Ra D, i
dimensionless
S
surface area, m2
time, s
mean temperature, C
Ti
initial temperature, C
Antonio Campo. Department of Mechanical Engineering. The University of Texas at San Antonio. One UTSA Boulevard. San Antonio, TX 78249. Email:
campanto@yahoo.com
Note. The manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication August 26, 2011, and accepted for publication on November 5, 2011.
This paper is part of the Latin American and Caribbean Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 1-5, 2011. LACCEI, ISSN 1935-0295
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Vol. 5(2), 20101
Ts
surface temperature, C
fluid temperature, C
volume, m3
heat exchange between the body and the surrounding fluid has
to be ensued by forced convection. Since forced convection is
a linear mode of heat transfer (practically impervious to
temperature changes), the Biot number criterion Bi = h V <
ks S
GREEK LETTERS
temperature excess, T T , C
density, kg/m3
SUBSCRIPTS
f
fluid
solid
ks S
INTRODUCTION
The heat interaction between a solid body immersed in an
infinite fluid at a different temperature normally occurs by
either forced convection or natural convection [1-15]. In a
solid body absent of internal heat generation, the conductive
heat is dependent upon two resistances: (1) the internal
conductive resistance inside the body and (2) the surface
convective resistance between the body surface and the fluid.
Within these possibilities, there are two limiting cases of
importance. The first limiting case deals with negligible
internal conductive resistance and the second limiting case
deals with negligible surface convective resistance. The
former case is associated with a small temperature difference
between the center and the surface of the body and a large
temperature difference between the body surface and the
infinite fluid. Putting this statement in perspective, it connotes
that during a cooling period, the solid body can be considered
as a "lump" with nearly uniform temperature at any instant of
time. In other words, the unsteady heat conduction takes place
in a lumped body whose mean temperature decreases
gradually with time. This rationale sets the groundwork for the
primary assumption underlying the resourceful lumped model.
With regards to the teaching of unsteady heat
conduction in regular or irregular solid bodies exposed to a
neighboring fluid, textbooks on heat transfer explain the
lumped model with various degrees of depth [115].
Conceptually, the lumped model subscribes to the notion that
the surface convective resistance dominates the internal
conductive resistance. This resistance imbalance is responsive
to the socalled Biot number criterion Bi = h V < 0.1. More
ks S
h that remains
constant during the entire cooling period. On the contrary,
when natural convection is the heat exchange mode, the heat
transfer is nonlinear and the corresponding mean convective
0.1 depends on a mean convective coefficient
Nu f (
Ra
primary
independent
var iable
Pr
)
(1)
sec ondary
independent
var iable
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Vol. 5(2), 20101
cv , s V
dT
= h S (T T ),
dt
T (0) = Ti
(2)
1
Pr3 / 4
is introduced for
D dT
= h (T T ), T (0) = Ti
6 dt
hR
R
and since V , the Bi criterion becomes
< 0.3.
ks
3
cv,s
(3)
1/4
h max = 2
1/ 4
Ra D
for RaD < 1011
f (Pr)
where f (Pr) is the socalled universal Prandtl number
function
Nu D = 2.0 + 0.589
9/16
0.469
f (Pr) = 1 +
Pr
(4)
(4a)
2
kf
kf
+ 0.589 1/4 g 2
D
D
g ( Pr ) (Ti T )1/4
(5a)
4/9
h max is represented by
dT
2
kf
kf
= 12 (T T ) 3.53 1/4 g 2
dt
D
D
(6)
1/4
g ( Pr ) (T T )5/4 ,
T (0) Ti
Bimax =
where
h max R
< 0.3
ks
(7)
T T
(8)
d
a b 5/4 = 0,
dt
(0) = i
(9)
h= 2
1/4
kf
kf
+ 0.589 1/4 g 2 g ( Pr ) (T T )1/4
D
D
2
(5)
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Vol. 5(2), 20101
a=
12 1
kf
D 2 cv ,s
and
b=
1/4
3.53 1
2
k f g 2 g( Pr )
5/ 4
D cv ,s
(9a)
Its equivalent abbreviated form is
d
a b n = 0,
dt
n 1
(10)
T (t) T b
a b
= 1 + exp t
4 a
Ti T
a
(11)
(13c)
where a and b are taken from eq. (9a). The reader should
notice that the structure of this exact solution for natural
convection with variable h is quite different from the structure
of the exact solution for forced convection with constant h ,
T (t) T
3h
= exp
c R
Ti T
v, s
(12)
2
kf
kf
+ 0.295 D 3 / 4 g 2
ks
ks
ks
in eq. (13a) results in
kf
1/ 4
ks
2
3.333 1 0.295D 3 / 4 g 2 g (Pr)(Ti T )1 / 4
kf
ks
3.333 0.983 g (Pr) GrD1 /,i4
kf
(13b)
1/ 4
(14)
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Vol. 5(2), 20101
CONCLUSIONS
A practical example has been delineated for a sphere
undergoing natural convection cooling in air and the
corresponding temperature-time distribution has been obtained.
Beginning with the new modified Biot criterion written as Bimax
= h max V < 0.1, and using an appropriate mean Nusselt
ks S
number correlation equation for ambient air at 20C, the Bimax
inequality
translates
into
the
alternate
inequality
1/ 4
where
ks
is
the
thermal
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Vol. 5(2), 20101