Convection and Heat Transfer With Laminar Flow Process Over Wall and Pipes

By Himabindu

What is convection?
Convection is the process in which heat
is carried from place to place by the bulk movement of a fluid.

Examples:
Cooking of foods in a vessel being stirred Cooling of a hot cup of coffee by blowing over the surface

TYPES OF CONVECTION
a)Natural Convection

b)Forced Convection

 Natural Convection occurs due to

temperature differences which affect the density and thus relative buoyancy of the fluid A common example of natural convection is the rise of smoke from a fire

 Forced Convection,where fluid

movement results from external surface forces such as a fan ,pump,an agitator in a reactor vessel
A simple example of forced convection would be melting an ice cube with warm water

The rate of heat transfer from the solid to the fluid or vice versa by following equation:

Q=h A (Tw-Tf)
where Q is heat transfer rate in W A is the area in m2 Tw is temperature of solid surface Tf is bulk temperature of fluid

Heat transfer coefficient(h) is the quantity of heat transferred in unit time through unit area at a temperature difference of one degree between surface and surroundings and units of W/m2.k

Heat transfer for laminar flow over a flat plate:

Assumptions: fluid is incompressible flow is steady
Equation is: NNu =0.664(NPr)1/3 (NRe,L)1/2

Heat transfer for laminar flow through a pipe: The following equation of sieder and tate can be used for NRe<2100 is NNu=1.86(NReNPr (D/L))1/3(b/ w)0.14

BOILING AND CONDENSATION

BOILING
Boiling is a convection process that involves a
change in phase from liquid to vapour. Boiling may occur when a liquid is exposed to a solid surface maintained at a temperature higher than

the saturation temperature of the liquid.

In this case ,the heat flux will depend upon the difference in temperature between surface and the saturation temperature of the liquid.

The rate of heat transfer from solid surface to the liquid is given by Q=h(Tw -Ts) where Tw is temperature of surface ,Ts is the saturation temperature of liquid and the difference Tw-Ts is known as excess temperature.

Types of boiling:

pool boiling subcooled boiling saturated boiling

 In pool boiling, the fluid is stationary,and any motion of the fluid is due to natural convection currents and the motion of the bubbles under the influence of buoyancy. If the liquid temperature is less than the saturation temperature,the process is called as subcooled

or local boiling
If the liquid temperature is equal to the saturation temperature,the process is called as saturated

pool boiling

There are four different boiling regimes

i)Natural convection boiling ii)Nucleate boiling iii)Transition boiling iv)Film boiling

When we plot (Q/A) v/s (Tw-Ts) on the logarthemic coordinates,we will get a curve as shown in above Bubbles form on the surface,release from it,rise to the surface of the liquid and then disengaged in to vapour space and they are very few to disturb the natural convection.this occurs over the segment AB. The segment BC of the curve is also a striaght line with a slope greater than that for the segment AB.As the temperature of the surface is further increased ,the rate of bubble production increases. The temperature drop corresponding to point C is called critical temperature drop and corresponding heat flux is called citical peak flux

The action occuring below the critical temperature drop over the segment BC is called nucleate boiling where vapourisation takes place directly from the surface. Over the segment CD, as the temperature drop increases,the flux decreases and reaches a minimum at point D.point D is known as leidenfrost point.the boiling action over segment CD is known as transition boiling. Over the segment DE ,vapourisation takes place through a blanketing film of gas and is known as film boiling,where bubbles form more rapidly.

CONDENSATION
The process of condensation is the reverse of boiling. Condensation is a convection process that involves a change of phase from vapour to liquid and it occurs whenever a saturated vapour comes in contact with a solid surface at a lower temperature.

 Types of Condensation: i)Dropwise condensation and ii)Film wise condensation

Dropwise Condensation
when a saturated vapour comes in to contact with a
cold surface,it condenses and if the condensate does

not wet the surface,the droplets are formed on the

surface.these droplets grow and ultimately fall from the surface under the influence of gravity leaving the metal surface on which further condensation takes place.the condensation occuring by this mechanism is known as drop wise condensation

Film wise condensation

when a saturated vapour comes in to contact with a cold surface,it condenses and if the condensate wet the surface,it forms a continous film of the condensate through which heat must be transferred.the additional vapour is then required to condense in to liquid film rather than directly on the surface.the condensate ultimately flows down the surface under the influence of gravity.when condensation occurs by this mechanism,it is called as film wise condensation

Applications of condensation:
i)Used in separation of various constituents of a liquid mixture by distillation ii)Used in air conditioning equipments for liquiefaction of refrigerants iii)Used in power plants to condense the staem produced from turbine exhaust in to liquid