ME-3100 Basic Thermal Engineering

Jan – May 2024

Tutorial – 7

1. A hot gas at 300oC flows through a long metal pipe of 10 cm outer diameter and 3 mm thick.
Mineral wool (k = 0.052 W/m-K) is wrapped around it, so that the surface temperature of the
exposed mineral wool insulation is 50oC. What is the thickness of the insulation, if hi (within
the metal tube) is 29 W/m2-K, and at outside (ambient) ho = 12 W/m2-K and To = 25oC? Also
what is the heat loss per unit length? [3.2 cm, 154.6 W/m]

2. An electrical wire of 3 mm diameter is insulated by a 1.5-mm-thick rubberized sheath (k = 0.1

W/m-K). Convection heat transfer coefficient at the outer surface of the sheath is 15 W/m 2K,
and the temperature of the ambient air is 25oC. If the temperature of the insulation may not
exceed 45oC, what is the maximum allowable electrical power that may be dissipated per unit
length of the conductor? What is the critical radius of the insulation? [4.31 W/m, 6.67 mm]

3. A room has exterior walls of 20 mm thick sheathing with thermal conductivity of 0.15 W/m-K.
To reduce heat losses in the winter, the room is encapsulated by applying a 20 mm thick layer
of extruded insulation with thermal conductivity of 0.018 W/m-K to the exterior of the original
sheathing. The extruded insulation is, in turn, covered with a 4 mm thick architectural glass
with thermal conductivity of 1.2 W/m-K. Determine the heat flux through the original and
retrofitted walls, when interior and exterior air temperatures are 23 oC and −15oC, respectively.
Inner and outer convection heat transfer coefficients are 4 W/m 2-K and 23 W/m2-K,
respectively. [89.03 W/m2, 24.65 W/m2]

4. A long, hollow cylinder is constructed from a material whose thermal conductivity varies with
temperature as 0.15+0.0018T, where T is in oC, and k is in W/m-K. Inner and outer radii of the
cylinder are 12.5 cm and 25 cm, respectively. Under steady-state conditions, the temperature
at the interior surface of the cylinder is 427°C and that at the exterior surface is 93°C.
Calculate the rate of heat transfer per unit length. (b) If the heat transfer coefficient on the
exterior surface of the cylinder is 17 W/m2-K, calculate the temperature of the air on the
outside of the cylinder. [1870 W/m, 23oC]

5. A 2 kW resistance based heater coil of diameter 4 mm and length 0.5 m, is used to heat
water. Its thermal conductivity is 15 W/m-K and its surface temperature is 105oC. What is the
temperature at its center? [126oC]

6. Consider a slab of thickness 2 cm with uniform heat generation of 40 MW/m 3. Its left surface
(x = 0) is maintained at 160oC and its right surface (x = 2 cm) is at 100 oC. Thermal
conductivity of the slab is 200 W/m-oC. Determine the expression for T as a function of x.
Calculate the heat fluxes at the left surface, center and right surface. [T = 160 – 103 x – 105
x2, 200 kW/m2, 600 kW/m2 and 1000 kW/m2]

7. In a cylindrical fuel rod of a nuclear reactor, heat is generated internally according to the
equation (qg)"' = (q0)"'[1 – (r/R)2], where (qg)"' is the local rate of heat generation per unit
volume (W/m3) at r, R is the radius of the rod and (q0)"' is the rate of heat generation per unit
volume at the centerline. Calculate the temperature drop from the centerline to the surface
when R = 2.5 cm, thermal conductivity of the rod is 26 W/m-K and the rate of heat removal
from the surface is 1.6 MW/m2. [576.9oC]
8. A long copper (k = 350 W/m-K, α = 95 × 10-6 m2/s) cylinder of 2 cm diameter is taken out of a
liquid nitrogen bath at 77 K and exposed to a stream of warm air at 50 oC and h = 20 W/m2-K.
Find the time taken by the rod to reach 10oC. [1673 s]

9. A cylindrical fin of 3 mm diameter and 3 cm long, has a base temperature of 120 oC. It is
exposed to a fluid at 20oC and h = 10 W/m2-K. Assume that the tip is insulated. What is the
value of temperature at the pin tip, if the fin is made of (a) copper (k = 350 W/m-K) (b)
stainless steel (k = 15 W/m-K) and (c) teflon (k = 0.35 W/m-K). [118.3oC, 90.1oC and 20.6oC]

10. Heat is transferred from water to air through a brass wall (k = 54 W/m-
K). The addition of rectangular brass fins, 0.08 cm thick and 2.5 cm
long, spaced 1.25 cm apart, is contemplated. Assume water-side heat
transfer coefficient of 170 W/m2-K and an air-side heat transfer
coefficient of 17 W/m2-K. What is the percent increase in heat transfer
rate achieved by adding fins to the air side per unit area of the brass
wall? Neglect the temperature drop through the brass wall. Also,
assume the tips of the fins to be insulated. [226 percent]