Heat transfer TO FLUIDS WITHOUT

PHASE CHANGE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR TUĞBA ERKOÇ
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
In a great many applications of heat exchange, heat is transferred between fluid streams without any
phase change in the fluids. For example;

✓ The transfer of heat from a stream of hot gas to cooling water The two streams are separated by a
metal wall, which constitutes the heat-
✓ The cooling of a hot liquid stream by air
transfer surface.
Most fluid-to-fluid heat transfer is accomplished in steady-state equipment.

Boundary Layers

• A fluid being heated or cooled may be flowing in laminar flow, in turbulent flow, or in the
transition range between laminar and turbulent flow.

• The fluid may be flowing in forced or natural convection.

• The direction of flow of the fluid may be parallel or perpendicular.

• The properties of the fluid- viscosity, thermal
conductivity, specific heat and density- are important
parameters in heat transfer.
The distance from the leading edge of the plate
-Viscosity is temperature-dependent.

Thermal boundary layer

➢ A flat plate immersed in a stream of fluid that is in

steady flow parallel to the plate.

➢ The stream approaching the plate does so at velocity

u0 and temperature T and that the surface of the Hydrodynamic boundary layer; velocity varies from u=0 at the
plate is maintained at a constant temperature Tw. wall to u=u0 at the outer boundary of the layer.
Thermal boundary layer; the temperature gradient is confined
➢Tw is greater than T ; the fluid is heated by the plate.
to a layer next to the wall, and within the layer the temperature
varies from Tw at the wall to T at its outside boundary.
Prandtl number
• The relationship between the thickness of the two boundary layers at a given point along the plate
depends on the dimensionless Prandtl number.
• The ratio of the diffusivity of momentum to the thermal diffusivity α.

• The diffusivity of momentum

• The thermal diffusivity
• The Prandtl number is greater than unity, the thermal boundary layer is thinner than the hydrodynamic
layer because of the relatively low rate of heat conduction.
• Prandtl numbers for most liquids decrease as the temperature rises because of the decrease in viscosity.
• The Prandtl number of a gas is usually close to 1 and two boundary layers have about the same thickness.
• The Pr number for gases is almost independent of T because the viscosity and thermal conductivity both
increase with T at about the same rate.
• It is assumed that the entire plate is
heated and that both boundary
layers start at the leading edge of the
plate.

• If the first section of the plate is not

heated and if the heat-transfer area
begins at a definite distance x0 from
the leading edge, as shown by line
O'B, a hydrodynamic boundary
layer already exists at x0, where the
thermal boundary layer begins to
form.
Heat transfer by forced convectıon ın lamınar flow
• In laminar flow, heat transfer occurs only by conduction, as there are no eddies to carry heat by
convection across an isothermal surface.
• Mathematical solutions depend on the boundary conditions established to define the conditions of
fluid flow and heat transfer.
• A simple flow situation where the velocity is assumed constant in all cross sections and tube lengths
is called plug or rodlike flow.
• Independent of the conditions of flow,
(1) the heating surface may be isothermal
(2) the heat flux may be equal at all points on the heating surface, in which case the average
temperature of the fluid varies linearly with tube length.
Most of the simplier mathematical derivations are based on the assumptions that the fluid properties
are constant and temperature-independent that flow is laminar with no crosscurrents or eddies.
In this section three tpes of heat transferin laminar flow are considered:
1) Heat transfer to a fluid flowing along a flat plate
2) Heat transfer in plug flow in tubes
3) Heat transfer to a fluid stream that is in fully developed flow at the entrance to the tube

Note: In all cases, the temperature of the heated length of the plate or tube is assumed to be constant,
and the effect of natural convection is ignored.
Laminar flow heat transfer to flat plate
Consider heat flow to the flat plate shown in Figure 12.1b.
The conditions are assumed to be as follows:
• Velocity of fluid approaching plate and at and beyond the edge of the boundary layer OA: u0.
• Temperature of fluid approaching plate and at and beyond the edge of the thermal boundary layer O'B: T∞.
• Temperature of plate: from x=0 to x= x0, T=T∞; for x ˃ x0, T=Tw; where Tw ˃ T∞.
• The following properties of the fluid are constant and temperature-independent: density ρ, conductivity k,
specific heat cp, and viscosity μ.
Detailed analysis of the situation yields the equation

The temperature gradient at the wall

• The relation between the local heat-transfer coefficient hx at any distance x from the leading edge and
the temperature gradient at the wall is

• Eliminating (dT/dy)w gives

• This equation can be put into a dimensionless form by multipliying by x/k, giving
 • The left-hand side of this equation is, a Nusselt number corresponding to the distance x, or Nux. The
second group is the Prandtl number (Pr), and third group is a Reynolds number corresponding to
distance x, denoted by Rex.

Nusselt number Prandtl number Reynolds number

• The local Nusselt number can be interpreted as the ratio of the distance x to the thickness of the
thermal boundary layer, since conduction through a layer of thickness y would give a coefficient k/y.

• When the plate is heated over its entire length , x0=0 and equation becomes

Equation gives the local value of the Nusselt number at distance x from the leading edge.
• More important in practice is the average value of Nu over the entire length of the plate x1, defined as

where

• Equation can be written for a plate heated over its entire

length,

Since x0=0, as
where C is a constant containing all factors other than hx and x. Then
• The average coefficient is clearly twice the local coefficient at the end of the plate

• These equations are valid only for Prandtl numbers of 1.0 or greater, since the derivation assumes a thermal
boundary layer no thicker than the hydrodynamic layer.
Laminar flow heat transfer in tubes
• The velocity of the fluid throughout the tube and at all points in any cross section of the stream is constant; so
that u=u0=V, that is, plug flow; the wall temperature is constant; and the properties of the fluid are
independent of temperature.
• Mathematically this model is identical to that of heat flow by conduction into a solid rod at constant surface
temperature, using as heating time the period of passage of a cross section of the fluid stream. This can be used
for plug flow of a fluid by substituting
Graetz and Peclet numbers
• Two other dimensionless groups are commonly used in place of the Fourier number in treating heat transfer to
fluids.
Mass flow rate
• The Graetz number is defined by the equation

• The Graetz number can also be calculated from Reynolds and Prandtl numbers and the D/L ratio

The Peclet number Pe is defined as the product of the Reynolds number and the Prandtl number They are related
by equations
Exit temperature in plug flow
• An infinitely long solid cylinder of radius rm is given by equation (10.21);

Equation becomes, for plug flow,

Average outlet fluid temperature

Inlet fluid temperature

Fully developed flow

With a newtonian fluid in fully developed laminar flow, the actual velocity distribution at the entrance to the
heated section and the theoretical distribution throughout the tube are both parabolic.

For this situation the appropriate boundary conditions lead to the development of another theoretical
equation, the same form as above equation.

These correlations are based on the Graetz number, but they give the film coefficient or the Nusselt number
rather than the change in temperature, since this permits the fluid resistance to be combined with other
resistances in determining an overall heat-transfer coefficient.
The Nusselt number for heat transfer to a fluid inside a pipe is the film coefficient multiplied by D/k:
• The film coefficient hi is the average value over the length of the pipe and is calculated as follows for the
case of constant wall temperature:

Theoretical values of the Nusselt number for

parabolic flow can be obtained.
At low Graetz
numbers, the Nusselt
numbers approaches a
limiting value of 3.66. For Graetz numbers
greater than 20, the
theoretical Nusselt
It is difficult to get an number increases with
accurate measurement about the one-third
of the heat-transfer power of Graetz.
coefficient at low
Graetz numbers, since
the final temperature
difference is very small.

An empirical equation fot moderate Graetz

numbers (greater than 20) is
Correction for heating or cooling
• For viscous liquids with large temperature drops, a modification is required to account for differences
between heating and cooling.
• A dimensionless, but empirical, correction factor accounts for the difference between heating and cooling:

• This factor is added to to give the final equation for

laminar flow heat transfer:
The viscosity at the arithmetic
mean temperature of the fluid

The viscosity at the wall temperature (Tw)

HEAT TRANSFER BY FORCED CONVECTION IN TURBULENT FLOW
• The most important situation in heat transfer is the heat flow in a stream of fluid in turbulent flow in a
closed channel, especially in tubes.
• Turbulence is encountered at Reynolds numbers greater than about 2,100
• The rate of heat transfer is greater in turbulent flow than in laminar flow most equipment is operated in
the turbulent range.
Dimensional analysis method
Dimensional analysis of the heat flow to a fluid in turbulent flow in a long, straight pipe yields the
dimensionless relationship

Nusselt Reynold Prandtl

Stanton The four groups are

number St related by the
equation
Empirical equations
• One empirical correlation for long tubes with sharp-edged entrances is the Dittus-Boelter equation

where n is 0.4 when the fluid is being heated and 0.3 when it is being cooled.
• A better relationship for turbulent flow is known as the Sieder-Tate equation; it uses the same correction factor
as for laminar flow

• An alternative form of equation is obtained by dividing both sides by Re Pr and transposing to give what is
called Colburn equation.

• These equations should not be used when the Reynolds number is below 6,000 or for molten metals, which
have very low Prandtl numbers.
Effect of tube length
• Near the tube entrance, where the temperature gradients are still forming, the local coefficient hx is greater
than h∞ for fully developed flow.
• Dimensionally, the effect of tube length is accounted for by another dimensionless group x/D, where x is
the distance from the tube entrance.
• The average value of hx over the tube length is denoted by hi.
• The value of hi is found by integrating hx over the length of the tube.
• Since hx h∞ as x ∞, the relation between hi and h∞ is of the form.

• An equation for short tubes with sharp-edged entrances, where the velocity at the entrance is uniform over
the cross section, is
Average value of hi in turbulent flow
• Since the temperature of the fluid changes from one end of the tube to the other and the fluid properties
μ,k, and Cp are all functions of temperature, the local value of hi also varies from point to point along the
tube.
• The effect of fluid properties can be shown by condensing equation
to read, assuming

➢ The effects of μ,k, and Cp in equation all at in the same direction, but the increase in hi with temperature is
due mainly to the effect of temperature on viscosity.
➢ The average value of hi is computed by evaluating the fluid properties μ,k and Cp at the average fluid
temperature, defined as the arithmetic mean between the inlet and outlet temperatures.
➢ The value of hi is called the average coefficient.
30+90
➢ Assume that the fluid enters at 30°C and leaves at 90°C. The average fluid temperature is = 60 °C.
2
Estimation of wall temperature Tw
• To evaluate μw, the viscosity of the fluid at the wall, temperature Tw must be found.

• From the first two members of equation

• Substituting 1/U0 from equation and neglecting the wall resistance term give
• In qualitative terms equation may be written
outside diameter Do
The Reynolds analogy
-The simplest and oldest analogy equation is that of Reynolds, which is derived for flow at high Reynolds
numbers in straight round tubes.

The Colburn analogy: Colburn j factor

Colburn analogy between heat transfer and fluid friction

HEAT TRANSFER IN TRANSITION REGION BETWEEN LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW
• The range of Reynolds numbers between 2100 and 6000 is called the transition region.
• A graphical method is used (no simple equation applies here).
Natural convectıon
• Consider a hot, vertical plate in contact with the air in a room.

• The temperature of the air in contact with the plate will be that of
the surface of the plate, and a temperature gradient will exist from
the plate out into the room.

• At the bottom of the plate, the temperature gradient is steep, as

shown by the full line marked Z=10 mm in Fig. 12.7.

• At distances above the bottom of the plate, the gradient becomes

less steep (Z=240 mm).

• At a height of about 600 mm from the bottom of the plate, the

temperature-distance curves approach an asymptotic condition and
do not change with further increase in height.
 References
- McCabe, W. L., Smith, J. C., Harriott, P., 2005, Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering,
McGraw-Hill, Seventh Edition, International Edition, New York.
- Çengel, Y. A., Çengel, Y., 2002, Heat Transfer: A Practical Approach, McGraw-Hill Science,
2nd Edition.