Empirical and Practical Relations for

Forced-Convection Heat Transfer

Ravi Kumar
Professor
Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247677
India
 EMPIRICAL RELATIONS FOR PIPE AND TUBE FLOW

=   − 

In terms of heat transfer coefficient


=   = ℎ 2   − 

= ℎ  −  
Dittus and Boelter Equation
 = 0.023. 
for heating of fluid: n=0.4
for cooling of fluid: n=0.3
Gnielinski Equation
 = 0.0214  . − 100  .# &' 0.5 <  < 1.5 +, 10# <  < 10-
 = 0.012  .$ − 280  .# &' 1.5 <  < 500 +, 3000 <  < 10-

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 2
  = . / 
The final correlation equation may
represent the data within ±25 %.

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 3
Sieder and Tate
.
#
;
 = 0.023 . 
/:
;
Entrance Region Nusselt Equation
.>>

 = 0.036 . 
/:
=
For 10<L/d<400
Petukhov has developed a more accurate, although more complicated, expression for fully
developed turbulent flow in smooth tubes
?
AB DE KL
 = @ C
? G/H
n=0.11 for Tw>Tb, n=0.25 for Tw<Tb and zero
KM

.$F
.$ @ DE H/I J

for Constant heat flux or all gases.

Friction factor can be obtained either form figure or from the formula for smooth tubes.

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 4
0.5 < Pr <200 & = 1.82N'O − 1.64 J

6 percent accuracy
0.5 < Pr <2000
10 percent accuracy
104 < Red <5×106
0.8<μb/μw <40

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 5
Hausen presents the following empirical relation for fully developed laminar flow in
tubes at constant wall temperature:

0.0668  
=
 = 3.66 + /:

1 + 0.04  
=
A somewhat simpler empirical relation was proposed by Sieder and Tate for laminar
heat transfer in tubes

/: .
#
 ;
 = 1.86  
/:
= ;
Valid for

  > 10
=
06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 6
The product of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers that occurs in the laminar-flow
correlations is called the Peclet number.
R
 = =  
S
Reynolds analogy between fluid friction and heat transfer be used to effect a
solution under these circumstances. Expressed in terms of the Stanton number,
/: &
TU V =
8
The friction coefficient f is defined by
1 = 
ΔX = & R/
2 

.:>
An empirical relation for the friction factor for rough tubes & = Z \.[] H
Y I.[CF
^_C̀.a

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 7
Local and average Nusselt numbers for
circular tube thermal entrance regions in
fully developed laminar flow

b+Uc ,d = bc = 


06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 8
 Entrance Effects in Turbulent Flow
Turbulent thermal entry Nusselt
numbers for circular tubes with
qw = constant

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 9
 Numerical
• Air at 2 atm and 200◦C is heated as it flows through a tube with a diameter of 1 in
(2.54 cm) at a velocity of 10 m/s. Calculate the heat transfer per unit length of
tube if a constant-heat-flux condition is maintained at the wall and the wall
temperature is 20◦C above the air temperature, all along the length of the tube.
How much would the bulk temperature increase over a 3-m length of the tube?
µ=2.57x10-5 Pa-s; k=0.0386 W/m.oC
• Water at 60◦C enters a tube of 1-in (2.54-cm) diameter at a mean flow velocity of 2
cm/s. Calculate the exit water temperature if the tube is 3.0 m long and the wall
temperature is constant at 80◦C. ρ =985 kg/m3, µ=4.71x10-4 Pa-s, k=0.651 W/m.oC
• Air at 1 atm and 27◦C enters a 5.0-mm-diameter smooth tube with a velocity of 3.0
m/s. The length of the tube is 10 cm. A constant heat flux is imposed on the tube
wall. Calculate the heat transfer if the exit bulk temperature is 77◦C. Also calculate
the exit wall temperature and the value of ‘h’ at exit. ν = 18.22x10-6 m2/s.
k=0.02814 W/m.oC. Pr = 0.703

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 10
 Numerical
• Repeat previous problem with constant wall temperature.
• A 2.0-cm-diameter tube having a relative roughness of 0.001 is maintained
at a constant wall temperature of 90◦C. Water enters the tube at 40◦C and
leaves at 60◦C. If the entering velocity is 3 m/s, calculate the length of tube
necessary to accomplish the heating. ρ =978 kg/m3, µ=4.0x10-4 Pa-s,
k=0.664 W/m.oC.
• Air at 300 K and 1 atm enters a smooth tube having a diameter of 2 cm and
length of 10 cm. The air velocity is 40 m/s. What constant heat flux must be
applied at the tube surface to result in an air temperature rise of 5◦C? What
average wall temperature would be necessary for this case?

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 11
 FLOW ACROSS CYLINDERS AND SPHERES
The pressure increase and reduction in velocity are
related through the Bernoulli equation written along
a streamline:
X 
= −
R 2
Since the pressure is assumed constant throughout
the boundary layer, we note that reverse flow may
begin in the boundary layer near the surface; that is,
the momentum of the fluid layers near the surface is
not sufficiently high to overcome the increase in
pressure When the velocity gradient at the surface
becomes zero, the flow is said to have reached a
Separation point
e
g =0
ef hij

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 12
 Drag coefficient for spheres as a function of the Reynolds number

The drag coefficient

for bluff bodies is
defined by
k+O &'
Rn 
lm = .m 
2

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 13
 Local Nusselt number for heat transfer from a cylinder in cross flow

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 14
The resulting correlation for average heat-transfer coefficients in cross flow
over circular cylinders is
ℎ n 
/:
V = =. V
SV oV
Redf C n
0.4=4 0.989 0.330
4-40 0.911 0.385
40-4,000 0.683 0.466
4000-40,000 0.193 0.618
40,000-4,00,000 0.0266 0.805

Heat transfer from liquid to cylinder

V = 0.35 + 0.56V.> V.:

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 15
following relations for heat transfer from tubes in cross flow, based on the extensive study
.>
 V
 = 0.43 + 0.50 .>  .: &' 1 <  < 10:

.>
 V
 = 0.43 + 0.50 .>  .: &' 10: <  < 210>

Still a more comprehensive relation is given by Churchill and Bernstein that is applicable
over the complete range of available data:

/
/: >/ #/>
0.62  
 = 0.3 + 1+
/:
/# 282,000
0.4
1+

For 102<Red<107; This relation underpredicts the data somewhat in the midrange of
Reynolds numbers between 20,000 and 400,000,

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 16
• It is suggested that the following be employed fo this range

/
0.62
/ 
/: 
 = 0.3 +
/#
1+
0.4 /: 282,000
1+

20,000<Red <400,000; Ped >0.2

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 17
 Spheres
McAdams recommends the following relation for heat transfer from spheres
to a flowing gas
.-
ℎ n 
= 0.37 &' 17 <  < 70,000
SV oV
Achenbach has obtained relations applicable over a still wider range of
Reynolds numbers for air with Pr =0.71:
 = 2 + 0.25 + 310J# 
.-
/ &' 100 <  < 310>
 = 430 + + + d  +  : &' 310> <  < 510-
+ = 0.510J: d = 0.2510Jr  = −3.110J
$

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 18
Flow of liquid past sphere, Kramers
.>
 J.: n 
 = 0.97 + 0.68 1 <  < 2000
SV tV
Viet and Leppert for water and oil
.>
; 
 J.: = 1.2 + 0.53 .>#
;
All the above data have been brought together by Whitaker [35] to develop a single
equation for gases and liquids flowing past spheres:

/#

/ /: ;n
 = 2 + 0.4 + 0.06  .#
;
which is valid for the range 3.5<Red <8×104 and 0.7<Pr <380. Properties in Equation
are evaluated at the free-stream temperature.

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 19
 Numerical
• Air at 1 atm and 35◦C flows across a 5.0-cm-diameter cylinder at a velocity
of 50 m/s. The cylinder surface is maintained at a temperature of 150◦C.
Calculate the heat loss per unit length of the cylinder. µ=2.14x10-5 Pa-s,
k=0.0312 W/m.oC.
• A fine wire having a diameter of 3.94×10−5 m is placed in a 1-atm
airstream at 25◦C having a flow velocity of 50 m/s perpendicular to the
wire. An electric current is passed through the wire, raising its surface
temperature to 50◦C. Calculate the heat loss per unit length. νf= 16.7x10-6
Pa-s, k=0.02704 W/m.oC.
• Air at 1 atm and 27◦C blows across a 12-mm-diameter sphere at a free-
stream velocity of 4 m/s. A small heater inside the sphere maintains the
surface temperature at 77◦C. Calculate the heat lost by the sphere. νf=
15.69x10-6 Pa-s, k=0.02624 W/m.oC.

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 20
 FLOWACROSS TUBE BANKS
Heat-exchanger arrangements involve
multiple rows of tubes.
The heat transfer characteristics for tube
banks are of important practical interest.
In-line tube banks were studied by Grimson
He represented the data in terms of
equation
u wx 
/:
V = =. V
v? ?
for staggered tubes.

T
/y = n
The Reynolds number is based on the

T −
maximum velocity occurring in the tube
bank; that is, the velocity through the
minimum-flow area. This area will depend
on the geometric tube arrangement.

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 21
06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 22
For the staggered case, the flow enters the tube bank through the area Sn −d and

/
z{ 
then splits into the two areas + T −

If the sum of these two areas is less than Sn −d, then they will represent the
minimum flow area and the maximum velocity in the tube bank will be
T
n
 = 2
/y
/

T
+ T −
2
Pressure drop for flow of gases over a bank
.
#
2&′b/y

 ;
∆X =
R ;

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 23
By Jacob
0.118
& = 0.25 +
~

. /y
J.
-
T −

For staggered arrangement
0.08T
& ~ = 0.044 +   J.
>
/y
T − 
.


06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 24
 LIQUID-METAL HEAT TRANSFER
• Considerable interest has been placed on liquid-metal heat transfer because
of the high heat-transfer rates that may be achieved with these media.
• These high heat-transfer rates result from the high thermal conductivities of
liquid metals as compared with other fluids; as a consequence, they are
particularly applicable to situations where large energy quantities must be
removed from a relatively small space, as in a nuclear reactor.
• In addition, the liquid metals remain in the liquid state at higher
temperatures than conventional fluids like water and various organic
coolants. This also makes more compact heat-exchanger design possible.
• Let us first consider the simple flat plate with a liquid metal flowing across
it.

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 25
The Prandtl number for liquid
metals is very low, of the order of
0.01, so that the thermal boundary-
layer thickness should be
substantially larger than the
hydrodynamic-boundary layer
thickness.
Since the ratio of δ/δt is small, the
velocity profile has a very blunt
shape over most of the thermal
boundary layer.
As a first approximation, then, we
assume a slug-flow model for
calculation of the heat transfer; that
is we take
 = n

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 26
throughout the thermal boundary layer for
purposes of computing the energy-transport term
in the integral energy equation
 €
e
 n −  f = ‚ g
  ef 
The conditions on the temperature profile are the
same
ƒ  −  3f 1 f :
= = −
ƒn n −  2 „ 2 „
 €
3f 1 f : 3‚ƒn
ƒn n  1− + f =
  2„ 2 „ 2„…

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 27
That may be integrated to give
„‚
2„… „… = 
n
Solution to this equation is given below for a plate heated over entire length.
8‚
„… =
n
Heat transfer coefficient
e
−S
ef  3S 3 2 n
ℎy = = = S
 − n 2„… 8 ‚
The relationship may be put in dimensionless form
y = 0.530 y 
/ = 0.530 
/

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 28
 € #.-#
Using the equation = for hydrodynamic layer thickness
y AB†
„ 4.64
=  = 1.64 
„… 8
€
For Pr ~ 0.01 the ratio = 0.16
€

06-11-2015 Prof. Ravi Kumar, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247667 29