7

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Lab

Lab Report 8: Circular Fins

6th SEMESTER

Submitted to: LE Zeeshan

Session: ME-13 Section: A

Submitted by
Name: Moosa Jilani
CMS ID: 385332

School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Objective:
The objective of this lab was:
1. Effect of area of fins on temperature of circular fin base plate.

Introduction:
Fins: A fin is a surface that extends from the base of the main object. Its function is to
increase the rate of heat transfer by increasing the surface area.
Convection: Convection is the process of heat transfer by bulk movement of molecules
withing fluids.
Free Convection: Natural Convection is the process where movement of fluid molecules
occur due to difference in densities amongst the molecules.
Forced Convection: Convection is said to be forced when external sources such as fans
or pumps are used to induce convection.

Procedure:
1. Firstly, the temperature of the ambient is noted. This is T4.
2. Then the machine is switched on. Then the power to heater is turned on and it is
given a power of 4 to 5 Watts.
3. Then the surface temperature of the surface is noted when the fan was off. The
temperature is given 10 minutes to stabilize before a reading is taken.
4. The previous step is repeated for fan velocities of 1 and 2 m/s.
5. Once the temperatures have been noted, the fan and heater are turned off before
shutting down the machine.

Results and Discussion:

T4=18.5C

Fan velocity, m/s Surface Temperature, T5, (C)

0 27.2
1 24.7
 2 23.7

As it can be seen from both the table and the graph, the base temperature of the circular
finned plate undergoes a sharp decrease in temperature when the fan is turned and a
less sharper decrease when the fan speed is increased. This is because the fins increase
the surface area for more heat transfer to occur. Since the resistance is inversely
proportional to area, the resistance is smaller. Since the resistance is smaller and
resistance is inversely proportional to heat transferred, the heat transferred is larger. This
would mean a larger temperature drop occurs.
Furthermore, the base temperature was highest but smaller as the fan was turned on and
its speed increased. This shows that forced convection is responsible for carrying out
larger percentage of heat transferred as compared to free convection.

Conclusion:
In this lab, the concepts of convection were discussed. We learned about the differences
between free and forced convection, and how finned surfaces allowed for greater heat
transfer to occur in comparison to flat plates.