MIET2473: Heat Transfer

Investigative Assignment

Name: Lim Yu Xuan

Student ID: S3883571

Submission Date:
27 Jun 2021

1|Page
Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Results and Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 5
2.1 Empirical Heat Transfer........................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Empirical Heat Transfer Coefficient ........................................................................................ 6
2.3 Theoretical Rayleigh Number ................................................................................................. 7
2.4 Theoretical Heat Transfer Coefficient ..................................................................................... 8
2.5 Theoretical Heat Transfer ....................................................................................................... 9
3. Discussion...................................................................................................................................... 10
4. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 11

Table 1:Items required for experiment. ................................................................................................. 3

Table 2:Truncated values from data ....................................................................................................... 5
Table 3:Comparison table ..................................................................................................................... 10

Figure 1:Mass of jar with water .............................................................................................................. 4

Figure 2:Mass of jar only ......................................................................................................................... 4
Figure 3:Temperature of water by time ................................................................................................. 5

Equation 1:Mass of water ....................................................................................................................... 4

Equation 2:Energy equation ................................................................................................................... 5
Equation 3:Heat transfer for convection ................................................................................................ 6
Equation 4:Rayleigh number for natural convection .............................................................................. 7
Equation 5:Nusselt number equation ..................................................................................................... 8

2|Page
 1. Introduction

In this investigative assignment, the student has chosen to conduct an experiment to measure the
temperature of cold water heating up to room temperature.

Items and equipment required:

0.7 litre bottle Weighing scale

of drinking Range: 0kg to 2.25kg
water Resolution:0.01kg

Jar Temperature probe

D:0.085m Range: -50°C to 300°C
h:0.155m Resolution: 0.1
t:0.002m

Chiller

Table 1:Items required for experiment.

A 0.7 litre bottle of drinking water was left to cool in a chiller that is pre-set at 10°C for 24 hours.

The experiment was then conducted the following day in a kitchen with windows closed to minimize
environmental disturbances such as wind and sunlight. The room temperature on that day was
measured to be 30°C.

Upon removing the bottle of drinking water from the chiller, it was immediately poured into a jar
with a diameter of 0.085m, height of 0.155m and wall thickness of 0.002m. Following that, the
temperature probe was immediately placed in contact with the water and timer started
simultaneously.

Temperature was recorded at an interval of 1 minute until the cold water normalises at room
temperature.

3|Page
After the water temperature normalised at room temperature. Data was continued to be recorded
for another 10 minutes. The mass of the jar with water was recorded to be 1.09kg.

Figure 1:Mass of jar with water

The water was then poured away to get the mass of water by finding the difference between jar
with water and empty jar only. The mass of jar only was recorded to be 0.39kg.

Figure 2:Mass of jar only

To find the weight of water we can use the mass of jar and water subtracted by weight of jar:

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 1.09 − 0.39 = 0.7𝑘𝑔

Equation 1:Mass of water

Following this, results and analysis will be discussed in the next section.

4|Page
 2. Results and Analysis

The datapoints collected from this experiment was tabulated and plotted into a graph shown below.

Figure 3:Temperature of water by time

From the graph, it was observed that the temperature does not rise linearly. Hence, the graph was
truncated into 3 different sections for ease of calculation.

Section Time frame (min) Temperature range (°C)

1 0 - 50 10 - 20.3
2 50 - 130 20.3 – 24.9
3 130 - 350 24.9 - 30
Table 2:Truncated values from data

2.1 Empirical Heat Transfer

By using the data collected from the experiment, heat transfer (Q) can be calculated for each section
using the energy equation:

𝑄 = 𝑚 . 𝐶𝑝 . 𝛥𝑇
Equation 2:Energy equation

Parameters for this equation have also been established:

Mass of water (m): 0.7kg

Specific heat capacity of water (𝐶𝑝 ): 4200 J/kg°C

For section 1, 0 – 50min, 10 – 20.3°C:

20.3 − 10
Q1 = (0.7)(4200) ( )
(50 − 0)(60)
= 10.094W

5|Page
For section 2, 50 – 130min, 20.3 – 24.9°C:
24.9 − 20.3
Q 2 = (0.7)(4200) ( )
(130 − 50)(60)
= 2.818W

For section 3, 130 – 350min, 24.9 – 30°C:

30 − 24.9
𝑄3 = (0.7)(4200) ( )
(350 − 130)(60)
= 1.136W

2.2 Empirical Heat Transfer Coefficient

With the values for heat transfer, we can then calculate the heat transfer coefficient (h) for each
section using the following equation:

𝑄 = ℎ . 𝐴 𝛥𝑇
Equation 3:Heat transfer for convection

The surface area of the jar with top open is established below:

𝐴 = 𝜋𝑑ℎ + 𝜋𝑟 2
0.085 2
= ((𝜋)(0.085)(0.155)) + (𝜋( ) )
2
= 0.047𝑚2

For section 1:

10.094 = (ℎ)(0.047)(20.3 − 10)

ℎ1 =20.851 W/m2 K

For section 2:

2.818 = (ℎ)(0.047)(24.9 − 20.3)

ℎ2 =13.034 W/m2 K

6|Page
For section 3:

1.136 = (ℎ)(0.047)(30 − 24.9)

ℎ3 =4.739 W/m2 K

2.3 Theoretical Rayleigh Number

After solving empirical values for the experiment, theoretical values should be calculated to identify
the margin of error between empirical and theoretical. We can begin by solving for the Rayleigh
number using the natural convection equation:

𝑔𝛽(𝑇𝑠 − 𝑇∞ )𝐿𝑐 3
𝑅𝑎 = . 𝑃𝑟
𝑣2
Equation 4:Rayleigh number for natural convection

The parameters of the above equation are listed below:

g = 9.81m/s2
1
𝛽=
T
𝐿𝑐 = 0.155𝑚
Pr of air at 30°C = 0.7282

𝑣 of air at 30°C = 1.608 *10-5

For section 1, 0 – 50min, 10 – 20.3°C:

1
(9.81)( )(30 − 10)(0.1553 )
((30 + 10)/2) + 273
𝑅𝑎1 = . 0.7282
(1.608 *10-5 )2
=7022715.307

For section 2, 50 – 130min, 20.3 – 24.9°C:

1
(9.81)( )(30 − 20.3)(0.1553 )
((30 + 20.3)/2) + 273
𝑅𝑎2 = . 0.7282
(1.608 *10-5 )2
=3347184.165

For section 3, 130 – 350min, 24.9 – 30°C:

1
(9.81)( )(30 − 24.9)(0.1553 )
((30 + 24.9)/2) + 273
𝑅𝑎3 = . 0.7282
(1.608 *10-5 )2
=1746387.666

7|Page
2.4 Theoretical Heat Transfer Coefficient

Using the Nusselt number equation, we can find the theoretical value for heat transfer coefficient
(h):
(h) (Lc )
Nu =
k
Equation 5: Nusselt number equation

The parameters of the above equation are listed below:

Thermal conductivity of water (k) at 30 °C: 0.615 W/mK

35L
As D ≥ , vertical plate condition is assumed.
GrL 1/4

For section 1:

(0.387)(7022715.307)1/6 2
Nu1 = (0.825 + )
0.492 9/168/27
1+( )
0.7282
= 15.539
(h)(0.155)
15.539 =
0.615
h1 = 61.655W/m2 K

For section 2:

(0.387)(3347184.165)1/6 2
Nu2 = (0.825 + )
0.492 8/27
1 + (0.7282)9/16

= 12.816
(h)(0.155)
12.816 =
0.615
h2 = 50.85W/m2 K

8|Page
For section 3:

(0.387)(1746387.666)1/6 2
Nu3 = (0.825 + )
0.492 8/27
1 + (0.7282)9/16

= 10.871
(h)(0.155)
10.871 =
0.615
h3 = 43.132W/m2 K

2.5 Theoretical Heat Transfer

Finally, theoretical heat transfer can be calculated:

For section 1:

𝑄1 = (61.655)(0.047)(20.3 - 10)
= 29.847 W

For section 2:

𝑄2 = (50.85)(0.047)(24.9 - 20.3)
= 10.994 W

For section 3:

𝑄3 = (43.132)(0.047)(30 - 24.9)
= 10.339 W

9|Page
 3. Discussion

In this section, the difference between heat transfer of empirical and theoretical values will be
discussed.

Section Empirical Heat Theoretical Heat %Error

Transfer (W) Transfer (W)
1 10.094 29.847 66.181
2 2.818 10.994 74.368
3 1.13 10.339 89.071
Table 3:Comparison table

From the table, it was observed that there is a huge percentage of error between the empirical
values and theoretical values. This could be due to environmental factors affecting this experiment.
Room or atmospheric temperature could fluctuate over the entire duration of this experiment
(350min) which is slightly short of 6 hours. Experiments should ideally be conducted in an
environmentally controlled condition to minimize as much variables as possible. In this case,
temperature and humidity should be carefully controlled.

10 | P a g e
 4. Conclusion

From this investigative assignment, theoretical calculations learnt from weekly lectures can be put
into practical use to calculate heat transfer that can often be overlooked during day-to-day life.

From this experiment, it was quite surprising to find out that a bottle of cold water takes such a long
time (almost 6 hours) to normalise to room temperature. If time allows, the student would like to
carry out another experiment for boiling water cooling down to room temperature.

11 | P a g e