 How Nusselt’s number relates to heat exchangers

o The Nusselt’s number is a constant, defined as the ratio between the convective
and the conductive heat transfer occurring in the heat exchanger.
 Show Nusselt number equation by definition
 Background/ history behind Nusselt’s Number THEORETICAL
o Nusselt Number as a metric of heat transfer efficiency THEORETICAL
 Why Nu is used in heat exchangers in particular THEORETICAL

 How Nusselt’s Number is obtained in S and T heat exchangers:

o Background behind Re THEORETICAL
 Re in S and T heat exchangers (turbulence, how we measure/ calculate it
etc)
o Background behind Pr THEORETICAL
 Pr in S and T heat exchangers (turbulence, how we measure/ calculate it
etc)

 The  thermal conductivity is also taken into account with a dimensionless parameter, the so-
called Prandtl number Pr. The Prandtl number describes the transport of
momentum between the flowing fluid layers in relation to the transport of heat by thermal
conduction. To put it loosely, the Prandtl number describes how well heat on the pipe wall
is conducted through the fluid and transported away by the flow process
o Thus, the following functional dependence applies to the Nusselt number in
general: Nu = Nu (Re, Pr)

 Note that when using the Reynolds number, the type of flow plays a decisive role, i.e.
whether the flow is laminar or turbulent. In turbulent flows, the Nusselt numbers generally
assume very large values, since the mixing caused by the turbulences leads to an increased
transport of momentum and energy transverse to the flow direction. This results in a large
heat flow.

The Nusselt number is determined in large part by Reynolds and Prandtl number—two
dimensionless parameters that describe the properties of flow concerning velocity and thermal
conductivity respectively. These dimensionless numbers are of paramount importance due to the
fact that they are based on the concept of similitude; hence they are also referred to as similarity
parameters. For instance, the Nusselt can simply be interpreted as the dimensionless heat transfer
coefficient. The heat transfer coefficient is always dependent on the specific application which
includes, among other things, the size of the system. In the case of a shell-and-tube heat
exchanger it is the diameter of a pipe. The Nusselt number, in contrast, can describe the heat
transfer in general regardless of a system’s size. Therefore, heat transfer information contained
within the Nusselt number can relate models of reduced scale in a laboratory to industrial-size
systems.

Heat transfer coefficients

 The heat transfer coefficient describes the convective heat transfer from a
solid to a flowing fluid (gas or liquid) or vice versa.
 As always in thermodynamic processes, the temperature difference between
solid and fluid is the driving force for the heat flow. 
o The greater the temperature difference between the solid wall (Tw) and the
flowing fluid (Tf), the greater the rate of heat flow
 Furthermore, the heat flow depends on the surface area of the solid in
contact with the passing fluid. 
o The larger the area, the more heat can be transferred and the greater
the heat flow through this area.
 The heat flow is therefore proportional to the temperature difference and
the surface area, so that by introducing a proportionality constant  “α” the heat
flow between solid and fluid can be determined as follows:

 In this context the proportionality constant α can thus be defined as the
relationship between heat flux and temperature difference and is called heat
transfer coefficient:
o α = q / (Tw−Tf )   heat transfer coefficient
 However, the temperature distribution in the flowing fluid is different. This in
turn influences the heat transfer coefficient, despite possible identical
temperature differences. The heat transfer coefficient is therefore also
dependent on the direction of heat flow.
 The heat transfer coefficient is influenced, among other things, by the
combination of the substances, surface properties, flow velocity and type of
flow (i.e, laminar or turbulent) and direction of the heat flow!
 Also dependent on the size of the system – characteristic length