CH2035 FOOD ENGINEERING 2 SEMESTER 1, 2024/2025

TUTORIAL 4: Overall Heat Transfer

Q1: The rate of heat loss through a unit surface area of a window per unit temperature difference between the indoors
and the outdoors is called the U-factor (or the overall heat transfer coefficient). The value of the U-factor ranges
from about 1.25 W/m2·°C for low-e (low emissivity) coated, argon-filled, quadruple-pane windows to 6.25
W/m2·°C for a single-pane window with aluminium frames. Determine the range for the rate of heat loss
through a 1.2-m x 1.8-m window of a house that is maintained at 20°C when the outdoor air temperature is -
8°C.

Q2: The wall of a bakery oven is built of insulating brick 10 cm thick and of thermal conductivity 0.22 Jm-1s-1.oC-1.
Steel reinforcing members penetrate the brick, and their total area of cross-section represents 1% of the inside
wall area of the oven.
If the thermal conductivity of the steel is 45 Jm-1s-1oC-1, calculate:
(a) the relative proportions of the total heat transferred through the wall by the brick and by the steel
(b) the heat loss for each m2 of oven wall if the inner side of the wall is at 230oC and the outer side is at 25oC.

Q3: A refrigerator door of area 0.6 m2 consists of 25 mm of lagging on top of a thin metal sheet. The film heat transfer
coefficients inside and outside the refrigerator are 10.0 and 15.0 W m−2 K−1, respectively, and the thermal
conductivity of the lagging is 0.25 W m−1 K−1. If the working temperature of the refrigerator is 0◦C and ambient
temperature is 20◦C, determine the heat flow through the refrigerator door and the temperature of the inside
surface of the door.

Q4: Air at 2 atm and 200◦C flows inside a 1-in schedule 80 steel pipe [inner diameter (di) = 1.135 in; outer diameter
(do) = 0.975 in] with h = 65 W/m2 · ◦C. A hot gas with h = 180 W/m2 · ◦C flows across the outside of the pipe at
400◦C. The thermal conductivity of the steel pipe, k = 43 W/m2 · ◦C. Calculate the overall heat-transfer coefficient.

Q5: An engineer was assigned to design an air to air plate heat exchanger for heat treatment of a food product. During
the heat treatment, the inside temperature in the heat exchanger is 100 oC and outside temperature is 20oC.
The plate heat exchanger with area 2 m2 and wall thickness 0.1 mm is needed, it can be made in polypropylene
PP, aluminium or stainless steel. The thermal conductivity for polypropylene is 0.1 W/mK, aluminium is 205
W/mK, and stainless steel is 16 W/mK, respectively. Assume the convective heat transfer coefficient for air at
inside and outside of the heat exchanger is 50 W/m2K. Suggest the best material to be used to construct the
heat exchanger.

Q6: Heat is generated by an industrial furnace in a chemical plant. The furnace wall is of three layers, first layer of
insulation brick of 12 cm thickness of conductivity 0.6 W/mK. The face (1m2) is exposed to gases at 870°C with
a convection coefficient of 110 W/m2K. This layer is backed by a 10 cm layer of firebrick of conductivity 0.8
W/mK. There is a contact resistance between the layers of 2.6 × 10–4 m2 °C/W. The third layer is the plate
backing of 10 mm thickness of conductivity 49 W/mK. The contact resistance between the second and third
layers is 1.5 × 10–4 m2 °C/W. The plate is exposed to air at 30°C with a convection coefficient of 15 W/m2K.
Determine the heat flow, the surface temperatures and the overall heat transfer coefficient.
CH2035 FOOD ENGINEERING 2 SEMESTER 1, 2024/2025

Q7: Hot water at 90◦C flows on the inside of a 2.5-cm-ID steel tube [k = 36 W/m.oC] with 0.8-mm wall thickness at a
velocity of 4 m/s. Palm oil at 20◦C is forced across the tube at a velocity of 7 m/s.
The convective heat transfer coefficient of the fluid in the inner and outer of the pipe is respectively 20 000
W/m2.oC and 1167 W/m2.oC.
Calculate the overall heat-transfer coefficient for this arrangement.

Q8: Water at an average temperature of 110OC and an average velocity of 3.5 m/s flows through a 5-m-long stainless
steel tube (k = 14.2 W/m.OC) in a boiler. The inner and outer diameters of the tube are Di = 1.0 cm and Do = 1.4
cm, respectively. If the convection heat transfer coefficient at the outer surface of the tube where boiling is
taking place is ho = 8400 W/m2.OC. The thermal conductivity and convection heat transfer coefficient of water
at 110OC is respectively 0.682 W/m2.OC and 23 324 W/m2.OC.
(a) Determine the overall heat transfer coefficient Ui of this boiler based on the inner surface area of the tube.
(b) Repeat part (a) by assuming a fouling factor Rf, i = 0.0005 m2. OC/W on the inner surface of the tube.

Q9: In a condenser steam flows outside the tubes of radii 59 mm and 54 mm and sea water flows inside the tubes.
The thermal conductivity of the tube material is 60 W/m.K. The steam and water temperatures are below 50°C.
The convection coefficient on the steam side is 12000 W/m2 .K and the value on the water side is 650 W/m2.K.
(a) Calculate the values of overall coefficients based on the outside areas.
(b) Also determine the percentage error involved in neglecting (i) conduction resistance (ii) fouling on the inside
and outside and conduction and (iii) considering only the water side resistance.
Note: The fouling factors are given as following:
• sea water below 52°C = 0.0000877 K.m2/W
• steam = 0.0000877 K.m2/W
(c) Calculate the values of overall coefficients based on the inside areas.