Scribd
Upload
68 views

Free Convection Practice Problems

The document contains 4 heat transfer practice problems involving free convection. Problem 1 involves determining the heat loss from the sides of a water bath container that cans are tested in. Problem 2 involves calculating the time for a propane tank to empty through natural vaporization after developing a crack. Problem 3 involves calculating the heat loss from an uninsulated steam pipe in a plant. Problem 4 gives three cases for calculating the heat loss through single and double pane windows on a train.

Uploaded by

Nehil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
68 views

Free Convection Practice Problems

The document contains 4 heat transfer practice problems involving free convection. Problem 1 involves determining the heat loss from the sides of a water bath container that cans are tested in. Problem 2 involves calculating the time for a propane tank to empty through natural vaporization after developing a crack. Problem 3 involves calculating the heat loss from an uninsulated steam pipe in a plant. Problem 4 gives three cases for calculating the heat loss through single and double pane windows on a train.

Uploaded by

Nehil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

Heat Transfer Practice Problems

Free convection

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


Q1 In a plant that manufactures canned aerosol paints, the cans are temperature-tested in water baths at 55°C before
they are shipped to ensure that they withstand temperatures up to 55°C during transportation and shelving. The
cans, moving on a conveyor, enter the open hot water bath, which is 0.5 m deep, 1 m wide, and 3.5 m long, and
move slowly in the hot water toward the other end. Some of the cans fail the test and explode in the water bath.
The water container is made of sheet metal, and the entire container is at about the same temperature as the hot
water. If the temperature of the surrounding air and surfaces is 20°C, determine the rate of heat loss from the four
side surfaces of the container (disregard the top surface, which is open). The water is heated electrically by
resistance heaters, and the cost of electricity is Rs 6/kWh. If the plant operates 24 h a day 365 days a year,
determine the annual cost of the heat losses from the container for this facility.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


*Image source: Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals & Applications. Yunus Cengel, Afshin Ghajar

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


Q2 A 1.5-m-diameter, 4-m-long cylindrical propane tank is initially filled with liquid propane, whose density is
581 kg/m3. The tank is exposed to the ambient air at 25°C in calm weather. The outer surface of the tank is polished
so that the radiation heat transfer is negligible. Now a crack develops at the top of the tank, and the pressure inside
drops to 1 atm while the temperature drops to -42°C, which is the boiling temperature of propane at 1 atm.
The heat of vaporization of propane at 1 atm is 425 kJ/kg. The propane is slowly vaporized as a result of the heat
transfer from the ambient air into the tank, and the propane vapor escapes the tank at -42°C through the crack.
Assuming the propane tank to be at about the same temperature as the propane inside at all times, determine how
long it will take for the tank to empty if it is not insulated.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


*Image source: Heat and Mass Transfer: Fundamentals & Applications. Yunus Cengel, Afshin Ghajar BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Q3 During a visit to a plastic sheeting plant, it was observed that a 60-m-long section of a 2-in nominal (6.03-cm-
outerdiameter) steam pipe extended from one end of the plant to the other with no insulation on it. The
temperature measurements at several locations revealed that the average temperature of the exposed surfaces of
the steam pipe was 170°C, while the temperature of the surrounding air was 20°C. Taking the temperature of the
surrounding surfaces to be 20°C also, determine the rate of heat loss from the steam pipe. Steam is generated in a
gas furnace that has an efficiency of 78 percent, and the plant pays Rs 800 for 1 MJ of natural gas. The plant
operates 24 h a day 365 days a year. Determine the annual cost of the heat losses from the steam pipe for this
facility.
*Rs 0.4 for 1 MJ

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Q4 The dimensions of the window of an air-conditioned coach are 1 m x 0.3 m. Consider three cases:

i) The window consists of a 20mm thick glass panel


ii) The window consists of two 5mm thick glass panels separated by 17mm
iii) The window consists of two 5mm thick glass panels separated by 11mm
The inner surface of the panel is maintained at 20oC and the outside surface of panel is at 35oC.

The conductivity of the glass panels is 1 W/mK and the space between them in case 2 and 3 is filled by air. Calculate
the heat lost in all three cases.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Q5 Consider a cylindrical water bottle with a small inner cylinder used for storing ice to keep water cool for a long time.
Assume no thermal resistance offered by the inner cylinder wall. The ID of the outer cylinder is 8cm and OD of inner
cylinder is 3cm. The water is stored at 10oC. The height of the bottle is 20cm. Calculate the heat transfer rate from
the inner cylinder to outer cylinder.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus


BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
A thin-walled metal tank containing fluid at 400C cools in air at 140C; h is very large inside
the tank. If the sides are 0.4 m high, compute h, q, and δ at the top. Are the boundary layer
assumptions reasonable?

ßair = 1/T∞ = 1/(273 + 14) = 0.00348 K-1.

Then RaL = gßΔTL3/vα = 1.625*108

Pr = 0.713, where the properties are evaluated at 300 K = 270C. [(40+14)/2]

NuL = 0.678[(RaLPr)/(0.952 + Pr)]¼ = 0.678(1.625*108)¼(0.713/(0.952 + 0.713))¼ = 61.9

h = 61.9k/L = 61.9(0.02623)/0.4 = 4.06 W/m2K

q= hΔT = 4.06(40-14) = 105.5 W/m2

The b.l. thickness at the top of the tank is given by

At x=L, we have δ = 4% or 1.72 cm.

This is thicker than typical forced convection boundary layers, but is still reasonably thin.

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

You might also like