Basic Revision of Overall Heat-

Transfer Calculations
www.chem.eng.usyd.edu.au/courses/unitopsheattransfer/

Damien Giurco & Tim Langrish

Department of Chemical Engineering
The University of Sydney
 Components of Course: What
Stage are We Up To?
Types of exchangers, revision of OHTCs,
fouling factors.
Heat exchanger selection.
Thermal performance analysis (NTUs) for co- &
counter-current exchangers.
Multi-pass exchangers (S&T).
Condensation & boiling.
Radiation.
 Overview
Problem statement
Approaches to problem solving
Basic concepts & assumptions
revision of heat-transfer resistances & overall heat-
transfer coefficient
neglect of tube wall resistance
heat-transfer coefficients for condensation
Solution to problem statement
Motivation, Context & Relevance
Examination question in Process Modelling
in 1998 (could be in Thermo; there are no
limits).
Revise fundamentals (heat balances, use of
correlations, calculation of overall heat-
transfer coefficients, key dimensionless
groups).
Second-year design competition in 1995.
 Learning Aims and Outcomes
Re-familiarise yourself with key
dimensionless groups in heat transfer.
Apply the concepts of heat-transfer
resistances to heat exchanger problem
analysis.
 Apply these principles to a design problem
(decide on the size of a heat exchanger
given the outlet temperature(s), rather than
a performance problem, where you assess
the performance, here the outlet
temperatures, of existing equipment).
 Links to Other Courses
Process modelling - a spreadsheet analysis
may be helpful.
Fluid mechanics (2nd & 3rd year) - need to
calculate Reynolds numbers.
Mass transfer - condensation.
 Relevant Reading
This lecture (revision of fundamentals)
Hewitt, ch. 3.1, pp. 155-161, ch. 5.1, pp. 236-
239
Notes, pp. 1-5
Next lecture (fouling)
Hewitt, ch. 27, pp. 857-877
Notes, pp. 6-7
Ozisik, p. 542, Table 11-1
 Problem Statement
Water flowing at a rate of 4 m3hr-1 must be
heated from 15 to 50oC in a double-pipe
heat exchanger. The water is flowing
within the inner tube, with steam
condensing at 110oC on the outside.
Draw the situation first.
 Questions
Calculate the heat load (Q in kW) & mean
temperature difference (in K) for this
exchanger
For a pipe diameter (D) of 5 cm, calculate the
inside heat-transfer coefficient (i) & hence
the overall heat-transfer coefficient (U), both
in Wm-2K-1
What dont you know about this situation?
 Using these two results, calculate the heat-
transfer area required (A in m2) & hence the
length of the exchanger (L in m)
Approaches to Problem Solving
 Approach to Problem Solution
Diagram
What assumptions are justified & why?
Structure of problem solution
Layer 1:
Heat balance / energy equation
Design equation

Q U A Tmean
 Layer 2: Design Equation
Overall heat-transfer coefficient
Heat transfer area
Mean temperature difference (may not be
log mean)
 Layer 3: The Details
Overall heat-transfer coefficient
Film heat-transfer coefficients
Fouling resistances
Mean temperature difference
Sketch temperature profile through exchanger
 Layer 4: Film Heat-Transfer
Coefficients
Identify geometry
Fluid properties
Re, Pr, Nu
Check that numbers make sense (e.g. Re >
10,000 for full turbulence)
Basic Concepts and Assumptions
 Basic Concepts & Assumptions
Overall heat-transfer coefficient = 1/(overall
heat-transfer resistance)
Overall heat-transfer resistance = sum of
series resistances = inside film resistance
(heating water) + inside fouling resistance +
tube-wall resistance + outside fouling
resistance + outside film resistance
(condensing steam)
1 1 L 1
R fi R fo
U i o
 Example of Specific Marking
Criterion
Are you thinking of adding up individual
heat-transfer coefficients to form the overall
heat-transfer coefficient? Think again.
50% of the class did in 1993 & repeated
the course in 1994.
Marks will be halved in any item of
assessment (including the examination) for
this serious fundamental error:

U i o
 Assumptions
In the absence of further information:
What assumption might you make about the
tube-wall resistance & why?
What assumption might you make about the
heat-transfer coefficient on the condensing
steam side & why?
 Tube-Wall Resistance
This can often be neglected
Why?
Need to revise heat-transfer resistances: central
concept for calculating
overall heat-transfer coefficients in all heat
exchangers
calculating energy losses in energy utilising devices
(furnaces, boilers, engines, refrigerators, distillation
columns)
 Basic Concept of Heat-Transfer
Resistance
(temperature) driving force T
q (heat) flux
(heat transfer) resistance
Conduction: Linear temperature profile
for constant thermal conductivity
q heat flux
Q

Wm -2

A
dT

dx
T1 T2

L
driving force

heat - transfer resistance
Heat - transfer resistance
for conduction
driving force, T1 T2 K

heat flux, q W m -2

L
m K W
2 -1

 Convection
Heat-transfer coefficient incorporates both
convection & conduction in fluids (e.g. air)

Heat - transfer resistance

for convection
1
m K W
2 -1

 Some Numbers
Heat-transfer coefficients ()
lowest: around 2 Wm-2K-1 for natural convection,
normally around 10 Wm-2K-1
highest: 20,000 Wm-2K-1 for small passages, two-phase
(boiling & condensation)
Thermal conductivities (): 50 Wm-1K-1 for iron,
400 Wm-1K-1 for copper
Wall thicknesses: 1-10 mm in pipes & process
equipment
 Relative Resistances
Iron pipe, 1 mm wall thickness
L/k = 0.001 m / 40 Wm-2K-1 = 2.5 x 10-5 m2KW-1 = tube-
wall resistance, smaller than either
For h = 2 Wm-2K-1, film resistance = 0.5 m2KW-1 (natural
convection)
or
For h = 20,000 Wm-2K-1, film resistance = 5 x 10-5 m2KW-1
(condensation)
Neglect wall conduction in overall resistance /
coefficient
 Assumptions
In the absence of further information:
What assumption might you make about the
tube-wall resistance & why? Done.
What assumption might you make about the
heat-transfer coefficient on the condensing
steam side & why?
 Heat-Transfer Coefficient for
Condensing Steam
Heat-transfer coefficients for condensation
typically large (10,000 Wm-2K-1) cf (cf=
compared with) those for single-phase heat
transfer (2,000 Wm-2K-1)
because latent heat of phase change transferred (for
water, about 2000 kJkg-1 cf specific heat capacity
of liquid, 4 kJkg-1K-1)
implies that film resistance on condensing steam
side is small cf on side heating liquid water
 Overall Resistance to Heat
Transfer
Here, most of resistance is on water heating
side
Hence overall heat-transfer coefficient is nearly
equal to inside (water) film heat-transfer
coefficient
If inside heat-transfer coefficient is 2,000 Wm -2K-
1 & outside coefficient is 10,000 Wm -2K-1, then
(no fouling) overall coefficient is 1,670 Wm -2K-1
 Assumptions
In the absence of further information:
What assumption might you make about the
tube-wall resistance & why? Done.
What assumption might you make about the
heat-transfer coefficient on the condensing
steam side & why? Done.
 Other Assumptions
Steady-state: time derivatives are zero,
implies no accumulation of heat, etc
as well as
Adiabatic: no heat loss or gain, heat loss or
gain is small relative to heat-transfer rates
These assumptions are not the same
 Review Point
Have reviewed assumptions & approach to
problem solving
No fouling, so neglect Rfi & Rfo
Have reviewed why 1/o & L/ should be
neglected here
1 1 L 1
R fi R fo
U i o
so
U i approximately
Worked Example
 Worked Example
Physical properties
Scope of problem
heat duty
mean temperature difference
Reynolds number, heat-transfer coefficient
Check resistances to heat transfer
Area & length
 Physical Properties
For water, from Hewitt or elsewhere (give a
reference, e.g. from tutorial sheet, but you
must give a reference)
Density () = 1000 kg/m3
Viscosity () = 10-3 kg/(ms)
Thermal conductivity (k or ) = 0.6 W/(mK)
Specific heat capacity (CP) = 4200 J/(kgK)
 Scope of Problem
Heat duty
Mean temperature driving force
pure parallel flow (co/counter)
log mean

D 0.05 m

m 4 m /hr 1000 kg/m
3 3
1 hr / 3600 s
1.11 kg/s
 Heat Duty & Driving Force
Heat balance
Q m C P T
1.11 kg/s 4200 J/(kgK) (50 - 15) K
163 kW
(110 15) (110 50)
TLM 76.2 K
110 15
ln
110 50
 Transport (Heat-Transfer)
Coefficient
Related to momentum transfer parameter
(Reynolds number, Re) & fluid properties (ratio of
molecular diffusion of momentum to molecular
diffusion of heat = Prandtl number, Pr)
Reynolds number = inertial/viscous forces
Inertia mass flux (kg/(m2s))
If we know the mass flowrate, then we do not
need the density to calculate Re
 Mass Flux

m
G umean
Across sectional
1.11 kg/s


0.05 m 2
4
566 kg m s
- 2 -1
Reynolds & Prandtl Numbers

Re

G D 566 kg m s 0.05 m
-2 -1

3
10 kg m s -1 -1

28300
CP
Pr



4200 J kg -1 K -1 10 3 kg m -1 s -1
-1 -1
0.6 W m K
7
Heat-Transfer Correlation (Inside
Tube)
Re over 10,000, turbulent flow, Dittus Boelter
equation (Hewitt et al., 1994) OK.

Nu 0.023 Re 0.8 Pr 0.3

0.023 28300 7
0.8 0.3

150
Nu 150 0.6 W m -1 K -1
i
D 0.05 m
1800 W m K
-1 -2
 Check Inside & Outside
Resistances
Inside resistance 1/1,800 m2K W-1
Outside coefficient 10,000 W m-2 K-1
Outside resistance 1/10,000 m2K W-1
small compared with inside resistance
Hence, overall heat-transfer coefficient
1,500 W m-2 K-1
 Area & Length
Q Design equation
A
U Tm
163,000 W

1,530 W m K 76.2 K
-2 -1

1.40 m 2

1.40 m 2
L 8.94 m
0.05 m
 Conclusions
Check assumptions & heat-transfer
resistances first
Try to get a feel for the significant
resistances
Heat-transfer resistances add, not coefficients
(adding coefficients will result in marks
being halved for any item of assessment)