Convection Heat Transfer: Tutorial Problems

Note: Use textbook correlations wherever relevant. For the final exam, necessary
correlations will be provided in the question paper

External Flow:

u y
1. Using the linear-velocity profile = and a cubic-parabola temperature
u∞ δ
3
θ T − Tw 3 y 1 ⎛ y ⎞
distribution = = − , obtain an expression for heat
θ ∞ T∞ − Tw 2 δ t 2 ⎜⎝ δ t ⎟⎠

transfer coefficient as a function of the Reynolds number for a laminar

boundary layer on a flat plate.

2. Using the integral energy equation of the boundary layer given by

⎤ µ ⎡ H ⎛ du ⎞ ⎤
2
d ⎡
H
∂T ⎤
⎢ ∫ (T∞ − T ) u dy ⎥ + ⎢ ∫ ⎜ ⎟ dy ⎥ = α , determine an expression for
dx ⎢⎣ 0 ⎥⎦ ρ c p ⎢⎣ 0 ⎝ dy ⎠ ⎥⎦ ∂ y ⎥⎦ w

T − Tw y
heat-transfer coefficient under the conditions u = u∞ = const; =
T∞ − Tw δ t

where δt is the thermal-boundary-layer thickness.

3. For water flowing over a flat plate at 15◦C and 3m/s, calculate the mass flow
through the boundary layer at a distance of 5 cm from the leading edge of the
plate.
4. Air flows over a flat plate at a constant velocity of 20 m/s and ambient

conditions of 20 kPa and 20◦C. The plate is heated to a constant temperature

of 75◦C, starting at a distance of 7.5 cm from the leading edge. What is the
total heat transfer from the leading edge to a point 35 cm from the leading
edge?
5. A blackened plate is exposed to the sun so that a constant heat flux of 800

W/m2 is absorbed. The backside of the plate is insulated so that all the energy
absorbed is dissipated to an airstream that blows across the plate at conditions

of 25◦C, 1 atm, and 3 m/s. The plate is 25 cm square. Estimate the average

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 temperature of the plate. What is the plate temperature at the trailing edge?
6. Water flows in a 3.0-cm-diameter tube having a relative roughness of 0.002

with a constant wall temperature of 80◦C. If the water enters at 20◦C, estimate

the convection coefficient for a Reynolds number of 105.

7. In a particular application involving airflow over a heated surface, the
boundary layer temperature distribution may be approximated as

T − Tw ⎛ u y⎞
= 1− exp ⎜ − Pr ∞ ⎟
T∞ − Tw ⎝ υ ⎠

where y is the distance normal to the surface and the Prandtl number, Pr =
u
0.7, is a dimensionless fluid property. If T∞ = 400 K, Ts = 300 K, and ∞ =
υ

5000 m -1, what is the surface heat flux?

8. For laminar boundary layer flow over a flat plate with air at 20°C and 1 atm,
the thermal boundary layer thickness is approximately 13% larger than the
velocity boundary layer thickness. Determine the ratio of velocity to thermal
boundary layer thickness if the fluid is ethylene glycol under the same flow
conditions.
9. Water flows over a flat heater, 0.06 m in length, at 15 atm pressure and 440 K.
The free stream velocity is 2 m/s and the heater is held at 460 K. What is the
average heat flux?
10. A thin, flat plate that is 0.2mx0.2m is oriented parallel to an atmospheric
airstream having a velocity of 40 m/s. The air is at a temperature of T =20°C,
while the plate is maintained at Ts =120°C. The air flows over the top and
bottom surfaces of the plate, and measurement of the drag force reveals a
value of 0.075 N. What is the rate of heat transfer from both sides of the plate
to the air?

Internal Flow:
1. Consider laminar flow between two parallel plates. They are separated by a
distance 2b. Assume fully developed velocity profile exists. Derive an

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 expression for temperature profile when a constant heat flux is supplied to
both plates. Show local Nusselt number is 8.235.
2. Consider laminar flow between two parallel plates. They are separated by a
distance 2b. Assume fully developed velocity and temperature profiles and
that a constant heat flux is supplied to one plate while the other is insulated.
Calculate the value of the local Nusselt number.
3. Velocity and temperature profiles for laminar flow in a tube of radius ro of 10
mm have the form give below with units of m/s and K, respectively.
Determine the corresponding value of the mean (or bulk) temperature, Tm, at
this axial position.
⎡ ⎛ r ⎞2⎤
u(r) = 0.1 ⎢1− ⎜ ⎟ ⎥
⎢ ⎝ ro ⎠ ⎥
⎣ ⎦
2 4
⎛r⎞ ⎛r⎞
T (r) = 344.8 + 75.0 ⎜ ⎟ − 18.8 ⎜ ⎟
⎝r ⎠ o ⎝r ⎠ o

4. Water enters a tube at 27°C with a flow rate of 450 kg/h. The heat transfer
from the tube wall to the fluid is given as q’s (W/m) = ax, where the coefficient

a is 20 W/m2 and x (m) is the axial distance from the tube entrance.
a) Beginning with a properly defined differential control volume in the tube,
derive an expression for the temperature distribution Tm(x) of the water.
b) What is the outlet temperature of the water for a heated section 30 m
long?
c) Sketch the mean fluid temperature, Tm(x), and the tube wall temperature,
Ts(x), as a function of distance along the tube for fully developed and
developing flow conditions.
d) What value of a uniform wall heat flux, q”s (instead of q’s =ax), would
provide the same fluid outlet temperature as that determined in part (b)?
For this type of heating, sketch the temperature distributions requested in
part (c).

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 Natural Convection:

1. Consider a large vertical plate with a uniform surface temperature of 130°C

suspended in quiescent air at 25°C and atmospheric pressure.

a) Estimate the boundary layer thickness at a location 0.25 m measured from

the lower edge.

b) Using the integral solution result, determine the heat transfer coefficient
0.25 m from the lower edge.

2. A thin-walled metal tank containing fluid at 40◦C cools in air at 14◦C; h is very
large inside the tank. If the sides are 0.4 m high, compute h, q, and δ at the top.

Turbulence:

1. Air at a pressure of 1 atm and a temperature of 50°C is in parallel flow over

the top surface of a flat plate that is heated to a uniform temperature of 100°C.
The plate has a length of 0.20 m (in the flow direction) and a width of 0.10 m.
The Reynolds number based on the plate length is 40,000. What is the rate of
heat transfer from the plate to the air? If the free stream velocity of the air is
doubled and the pressure is increased to 10 atm, what is the rate of heat
transfer?
2. Forced air at 25°C and 10 m/s is used to cool electronic elements mounted on
a circuit board. Consider a chip of length 4 mm and width 4 mm located 120
mm from the leading edge. Because the board surface is irregular, the flow is
disturbed and the appropriate convection correlation is of the form Nux

0.04Re0x.85 Pr0.33 Estimate the surface temperature of the chip, Ts, if its
heat dissipation rate is 30 mW.

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