378 Appendix B: Tube-Side Heat Transfer Coefficients and Pressure Drop

TABLE B.1
Equations for Tube-Side Heat Transfer Coefficient and Velocity
SI Units British Units Metric Units
hc = 0.0278 w (Cp/µ) k /d
0.8 0.4 0.6
i
1.8 hc = 2.44 w (Cp/µ) k /d
0.8 0.4 0.6
i
1.8 hc = 0.0278 (Cp/µ)0.4k0.6w0.8/di1.8
hc = 0.0278 Cw0.8/di1.8 hc = 2.44 Cw0.8/di1.8 hc = 0.0278 Cw0.8/di1.8
hc, W/m2 K hc, Btu/ft2 h °F hc, kcal/m2 h °C
w, kg/s w, lb/h w, kg/h
di, m di, in. di, m
Cp, J/kg K Cp, Btu/lb° F Cp, kcal/kg °C
µ, kg/ms µ, lb/ft h µ, kg/m h
k, W/m K k, Btu/ft h °F k, kcal/m h °C
CSI = (Cp/µ)0.4k0.6 C, multiply CSI by 0.001134 C, multiply CSI by 0.001229
V = 1.246 wv/di2 V = 0.05 wv/di2 V = 3.461 × 10−4 wv/di2
v, m3/kg ft3/lb m3/kg
V, velocity in m/s ft/s m/s
Re = 1.273 w/(diµ) Re = 15.2 w/(diµ) Re = 1.273 w/(diµ)
Note: C is defined in equation B.3.

TABLE B.2
C for Dry Air, Flue Gases from Combustion of Natural Gas, Fuel Oil
Temperature, °C Dry Air Natural Gas (Flue Gas) Fuel Oil (Flue Gas)
30 145.1 148.3 145.2
50 146.3 150.1 147.0
100 149.1 154.5 151.2
200 154.6 162.7 159.3
300 159.9 170.5 166.8
400 165.2 178.0 173.9
500 170.3 185.1 180.8
600 175.4 192.2 187.4
700 180.3 199.0 193.8
800 185.1 205.7 200.0
900 189.9 212.1 205.9
1000 194.5 218.5 211.7
Notes: This table shows C values using SI units. To obtain hc in British units, multiply C by 0.0011343,
and in metric units, multiply by 0.001229; Natural gas products of combustion: % volume
CO2 = 8, H2O = 18, N2 = 71.5, O2 = 2.5. Fuel oil products of Combustion: % volume CO2 = 12,
H2O = 12, N2 = 73.5, O2 = 2.5. Gas pressure is atmospheric. Due to the presence of water
vapor, the specific heat and thermal conductivity increases while the viscosity decreases, and
hence, hc is higher for natural gas products of combustion than air or for flue gas from com-
bustion of oil.
Appendix B: Tube-Side Heat Transfer Coefficients and Pressure Drop 379

TABLE B.3
C for Compressed Water
Temperature, °C C
20 327.9
50 432.5
100 587.6
150 716.5
200 803.2
250 864
300 919.3
Notes: This table shows C values using SI units. To
obtain hc in British units, multiply C by
0.0011343, and in metric units, multiply by
0.001229; The equation C = 250 + 4.023t −
0.0063t2 describes this trend, where T is the
temperature of water in °C.

TABLE B.4
C Values for Saturated and Superheated Steam
Pressure, KPa 1,000 2,000 3,500 5,000 7,000 10,000
C-sat steam 266.5 305.3 354.6 400.1 462.3 571.7
200°C 255.4 — — — — —
250°C 248.0 274.0 337.0 — — —
300°C 250.7 264.5 291.5 328.4 404.9
350°C 256.8 265.6 281.1 300.0 332.0 402.5
400°C 264.5 270.6 281.0 292.7 310.8 344.5
450°C 272.8 277.5 285.0 293.3 305.4 326.3
500°C 281.5 285.3 291.1 297.4 306.3 321.0
Note: This table shows C values using SI units. To obtain hc in British units, multi-
ply C by 0.0011343, and in metric units, multiply by 0.001229.

Heat Transfer at Tube Entrance

Correlation (B.2) gives the heat transfer coefficient after the flow has fully developed inside
the tube. The heat transfer coefficient at entrance to tube has been found by research to be
significantly higher than that for fully developed flow (Figure B.1) [1].
Figure B.1 shows typical variation of local heat transfer coefficient at tube entrance com-
pared to that obtained after the flow has stabilized. This is due to the formation of bound-
ary layer as the flow develops. At the tube entrance, the boundary layer is yet to form, and
hence, hc is high. This information is of interest when tube sheet temperature in any fire
tube boiler has to be computed as the heat flux at the tube sheet will be much higher than
that downstream inside the tubes. This is discussed in Chapter 4 on waste heat boilers.