NATURAL CONVECTION HEAT TRANSFER FROM A VERTICAL CYLINDER

AIM:


To determine the actual heat transfer co-efficient and theoretical heat

transfer coefficient by natural convection.



APPARATUS REQUIRED:

1. Voltmeter

2. Ammeter

3. Thermocouple

4. Heater

5. Temperature indicator



SPECIFICATION:


Length of the tube, L = 500mm
Diameter of the tube, D = 38mm
Capacity of Heater = 300 watts
Duct Size = 200mm x 200mm x 700 mm
Thermal conductivity of air at mean film temperature, (T
f
), K
Area of the rod, A = tDL m
2



FORMULA USED:

Theoretical heat transfer co-efficient (h
theoretical
)



For laminar flow



For turbulence flow



Where,


Nu = hL /k = 0.59(GrPr)
0.25
for 10
4
<GrPr<10
9




Nu = hL /k = 0.10(GrPr)
0.33
for 10
9
<GrPr<10
12


Nu- Nusselt Number

h - Heat transfer coefficient, W/m
2
K

k - Thermal conductivity of air W/mK
f




Grashoff number,

Gr =
g|l
3
AT

2


Where,

g Acceleration due to gravity, 9.81 m/s
2


1

Co-efficient of expansion,
| =
(T + 273)

(T + T )

T =
s o
f
2

T
s
- Surface temperature in C

T

- Air temperature in C

l Length = 0.5m

T T
s
- T

, K

Kinematic Viscosity at mean film temperature (T
f
) from HMT data
book
Pr Prandtl number



Actual heat transfer co-efficient (h
act
)

Q = h
act
A AT


Where,

Q Heat transfer rate = VI, watts

` h
act
Actual heat transfer co-efficient, W/m
2
K

A = Surface area of the heater = tDL = 0.0314 m
2


AT = T
s
- T

T
s
=
T
1
+ T
2
+ T
3
+ T
4
+

T
5
+ T
6
+ T
7

4




Where,


T
s
= Surface temperature in C

T

= Air temperature in C


PROCEDURE:



1. Connect the three pin plug to the 230 v, 50 Hz, 15 amps main supply and
switch on the unit.
2. Turn the Dimmer stat knob clockwise; set the heat input by fixing the
voltmeter and ammeter readings and note down the heat input Q in the table.
3. Keep on the temperature indicator switch in the first position

4. Allow the unit to attain the steady state condition.

5. When the steady state condition is reached note down the temperature
indicated by the temperature indicators
6. In the temperature indicator, T
1
, T
2
, T
3
, T
4,
T
5,
T
6,
& T
7
represents the
temperature of the heater at different points. T
a
represents the inlet
temperature of the air. These values are noted in the table.
7. Calculate the theoretical heat transfer coefficient (h
theoretical
) and actual heat
transfer coefficient (h
actual
) by using the given formulas.
8. Repeat the experiment from step2 to step 7 by varying the heat input to the
system.






TABLE:






S.
No


Voltmeter
Reading
Volts

Ammeter
Reading
Amps



Q


Heater Temperature C

Inlet
Temp of
Air
C




h
Theoretical

(W/m
2
K)




h
Actual

(W/m
2
K)

V

I

Watts

T
1


T
2


T
3


T
4


T
5


T
6


T
7


T
a












Figure 3: Natural convection apparatus
17



RESULT:

The theoretical and actual heat transfer coefficient has been calculated by
using natural convection apparatus