Question bank

170402: HEAT TRANSFER

Unit I

1 mark question (objective type)

For a given heat flow and for the same thickness, the temperature drop across the material will
be maximum for

(a)Copper (b)Steel (c) Glass-wool (d)Refractory brick

A copper block and an air mass block having similar dimensions are subjected to symmetrical
heat transfer from one face of each block. The other face of the block will be reaching to the
same temperature at a rate.

faster in air block (b) faster in copper block (c)equal in air as well as copper block(d) cannot be
predicted with the given information
A plane wall is 25 cm thick with an area of 1 m2, and has a thermal conductivity of 0.5 W/mK.
If a temperature difference of 60°C is imposed across it, what is the heat flow (a)120W (b)140W
(c)160W (d)180W
Thermal diffusivity of a substance is:

(a) Inversely proportional to thermal conductivity (b) Directly proportional to thermal

conductivity (c) Directly proportional to the square of thermal conductivity (d) Inversely
proportional to the square of thermal conductivity

A steel ball of mass 1kg and specific heat 0.4 kJ/kg is at a temperature of 60°C. It is dropped
into 1kg water at 20°C. The final steady state temperature of water is:

23.5°C (b) 300°C (c) 35°C (d) 40°C

2 mark question (very short answer type)

1. Define fourier law of heat conduction.

2. Define critical radius of insulation and its importance.
3. What is optimum thickness of insulation?

3 mark question (short answer type)

1. Derive the equation of heat flow through a composite wall.

2. Derive the equation for steady state heat transfer through a spherical shell.
7 mark question (Long answer type)
1. A stainless steel tube (ks = 19 W/mK) of 2 cm ID and 5 cm OD is insulated with 3 cm
thick asbestos (ka = 0.2 W/mK). If the temperature difference between the innermost and
outermost surfaces is 600°C, what will be the heat transfer rate per unit length.

Unit II

1 mark question (objective type)

The properties of mercury at 300 K are: density = 13529 kg/m3, specific heat at constant
pressure = 0.1393 kJ/kg-K, dynamic viscosity = 0.1523 × 10-2 N.s/m2 and thermal conductivity
= 8.540 W/mK. The Prandtl number of the mercury at 300 K is:

(a)0.0248 (b)2.48(c) 24.8 (d) 248

A sphere, a cube and a thin circular plate, all made of same material and having same mass are
initially heated to a temperature of 250oC and then left in air at room temperature for cooling.
Then, which one of the following is correct?

All will be cooled at the same rate (b) Circular plate will be cooled at lowest rate (c) Sphere will
be cooled faster (d) Cube will be cooled faster than sphere but slower than circular plate

A thin flat plate 2 m by 2 m is hanging freely in air. The temperature of the surroundings is
25°C. Solar radiation is falling on one side of the rate at the rate of 500 W/m2. The temperature
of the plate will remain constant at 30°C, if the convective heat transfer coefficient (in W/m2 °C)
is
25 (b) 50 (c) 100 (d) 200

For calculation of heat transfer by natural convection from a horizontal cylinder, what is the
characteristic length in Grashof Number?
Diameter of the cylinder (b) Length of the cylinder (c) Circumference of the base of the
cylinder (d) Half the circumference of the base of the cylinder

2 mark question (very short answer type)

1. What do you mean by fouling factor and also explain its effect on overall heat transfer
coefficient?
2. Define LMTD

3 mark question (short answer type)

A hot fluid enters a double pipe heat exchanger at a temperature of 423K and is to be cooled to
367 K by a cold fluid entering at 311 K and heated to 339 K. shall they be directed in parallel or
counter current flow.
Air at 20°C blows over a hot plate of 50 × 60 cm made of carbon steel maintained at 220°C.
The convective heat transfer coefficient is 25 W/m2K. What will be the heat loss from the plate?
Differentiate between free and forced convection.

7 mark question (Long answer type)

Oil at 120°C is used to heat water at 30°C in a 1-1 concurrent shell and tube heat exchanger.
The available heat exchange area is S1. The exit temperatures of the oil and water streams are
90°C and 60°C respectively. The concurrent heat exchanger is replaced

by a 1-1 countercurrent heat exchanger having heat exchange area S2. If the exit temperatures
and the overall heat transfer coefficients are same, determine the ratio of S1/S2.

Hot oil at 150°C is used to preheat a cold fluid at 30°C in a 1:1 shell and tube heat exchanger.
The exit temperature of the hot oil is 110°C.heat capacities (product of mass flow rate and
specific heat capacity) of both the streams are equal. The heat duty is 2 kw. Under concurrent
and counter current condition what is the overall heat transfer resistance.

Unit III

1 mark question (objective type)

In radiative heat transfer, a gray surface is one

Which appears gray to the eye (b) Whose emissivity is independent of wavelength (c) Which
has reflectivity equal to zero (d) Which appears equally bright from all directions.

The shape factors with themselves of two infinity long black body concentric cylinders with a
diameter ratio of 3 are……… for the inner and………………… for the outer.

0, 2/3 (b) 0, 1/3 (c) 1, 1/9 (d) 1, 1/3

3. . The radiative heat transfer rate per unit area (W/m2) between two plane parallel grey surfaces
(emissivity = 0.9) maintained at 400 K and 300 K is:
992 (b) 812 (c) 464 (d) 567
A solid cylinder (surface 2) is located at the centre of a hollow sphere (surface 1). The diameter
of the sphere is 1 m, while the cylinder has a diameter and length of 0.5 m each. The radiation
configuration factor F11 is:

0.375 (b) 0.625 (c) 0.75 (d) 1

2 mark question (very short answer type)

What is black body and how it is different from gray body.

Define Stefan Boltzmann law and Plank’s law.

3 mark question (short answer type)

1. Discuss Kirchhoff’s law of radiation.

7 mark question (Long answer type)

Drive an expression for heat exchange by radiations between infinite plates.

Obtain rate of heat loss from a thermo flask if the polished silvered surface have an emissivity
of 0.05, the liquid in the flask is at 95 °C and the casing is at 20 °C. Calculate
the loss if both surfaces were black. ( = 4.874 × 10 kcal/ hr m2 K4).
Unit IV

1 mark question (objective type)

Consider the following phenomena: 1. Boiling 2. Free convection in air 3. Forced convection 4.
Conduction in air Their correct sequence in increasing order of heat transfer coefficient is:

4, 2, 3, 1 (b) 4, 1, 3, 2 (c) 4, 3, 2, 1 (d) 3, 4, 1, 2

When all the conditions are identical, in the case of flow through pipes with heat transfer, the
velocity profiles will be identical for:
Liquid heating and liquid cooling (b) Gas heating and gas cooling (c) Liquid heating and gas
cooling (d) Heating and cooling of any fluid
Drop wise condensation usually occurs on

Glazed surface (b) Smooth surface (c) Oily surface (d) Coated surface

The burnout heat flux in the nucleate boiling regime is a function of which of the following
properties? 1. Heat of evaporation 2. Temperature difference 3. Density of vapour 4. Density of
liquid 5. Vapour-liquid surface tension Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
1, 2, 4 and 5 (b) 1, 2, 3 and 5 (c) 1, 3, 4 and 5 (d) 2, 3 and 4

When a liquid flows through a tube with sub-cooled or saturated boiling, what is the process
known?
Pool boiling (b) Bulk boiling (c) Convection boiling (d) Forced convection boiling

In spite of large heat transfer coefficients in boiling liquids, fins are used advantageously when
the entire surface is exposed to
Nucleate boiling (b) Film boiling (c) Transition boiling (d) All modes of boiling

2 mark question (very short answer type)

1. Define evaporator economy and capacity
2. Write down the material and energy balance for a single effect evaporator

3 mark question (short answer type)

Discuss the different types of feeding system in evaporator.

Define dropwise condenstaion and film wise condensation

7 mark question (Long answer type)

Describe the pool boling curve and various parts of it.

A building has to be maintained at 21°C (dry bulb) and 14.5°C. The outside temperature is –
23°C (dry bulb) and the internal and external surface heat transfer coefficients are 8 W/m2K and
23 W/m2K respectively. If the building wall has a thermal conductivity of 1.2 W/mK, what is the
minimum thickness (in m) of the wall required to prevent condensation

Unit V

1 mark question (objective type)

In a counter flow heat exchanger, for the hot fluid the heat capacity = 2 kJ/kg K, mass flow rate
= 5 kg/s, inlet temperature = 150°C, outlet temperature = 100°C. For the cold fluid, heat capacity
= 4 kJ/kg K, mass flow rate = 10 kg/s, inlet temperature = 20°C. Neglecting heat transfer to the
surroundings, the outlet temperature of the cold fluid in °C is

7.5 (b) 32.5 (c) 45.5 (d) 70.0

In a condenser, water enters at 30°C and flows at the rate 1500 kg/hr. The condensing steam is
at a temperature of 120°C and cooling water leaves the condenser at 80°C. Specific heat of water
is 4.187 kJ/kg K. If the overall heat transfer coefficient is 2000 W/m2K, then heat transfer area is:

0.707 m2 (b) 7.07 m2 (c) 70.7 m2 (d) 141.4 m2

The logarithmic mean temperature difference (LMTD) of a counterflow heat exchanger is 20°C.
The cold fluid enters at 20°C and the hot fluid enters at 100°C. Mass fl0w rate of the cold fluid is
twice that of the hot fluid. Specific heat at constant pressure of the hot fluid is twice that of the
cold fluid. The exit temperature of the cold fluid

is 40°C (b) is 60°C (c) is 80°C (d) Cannot be determined

In a counter flow heat exchanger, hot fluid enters at 60°C and cold fluid leaves at 30°C. Mass
flow rate of the hot fluid is 1 kg/s and that of the cold fluid is 2 kg/s. Specific heat of the hot fluid
is 10 kJ/kgK and that of the cold fluid is 5 kJ/kgK. The Log Mean Temperature Difference
(LMTD) for the heat exchanger in °C is:
15 (b) 30 (c) 35 (d) 45

Air can be best heated by steam in a heat exchanger of

Plate type (b) Double pipe type with fins on steam side (c) Double pipe type with fins on air
side (d) Shell and tube type
Which one of the following heat exchangers gives parallel straight line pattern of temperature
distribution for both cold and hot fluid?
Parallel-flow with unequal heat capacities (b) Counter-flow with equal heat capacities

Parallel-flow with equal heat capacities (d) Counter-flow with unequal heat capacities

Consider the following statements: In a shell and tube heat exchanger, baffles are provided on
the shell side to: 1. Prevent the stagnation of shell side fluid 2. Improve heat transfer 3. Provide
support for tubes Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
1, 2, 3 and 4 (b) 1, 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 2 (d) 2 and 3

In a heat exchanger, the hot liquid enters with a temperature of 180ºC and leaves at 160ºC. The
cooling fluid enters at 30ºC and leaves at 110ºC. The capacity ratio of the heat exchanger is:

0.25 (b) 0.40 (c) 0.50 (d) 0.55

2 mark question (very short answer type)

1. Define tube clearance and tube pitch.

2. Describe the various types of tube pitch and their advantages
3. What do you understand by extended surface area heat exchanger

3 mark question (short answer type)

Draw a neat sketch of 1-2 shell and tube heat exchanger and also explain various parts of it.

7 mark question (Long answer type)

How heat transfer takes place from fin. Derive all three cases.

Design a 1-1 shell and tube condenser, where 30000kg/hr of pure isobutene vapors are to be
condensed at 58.5°C on the shell side. The cooling water flows through the tube entering at 28°C
and leaving at 43°C. The heat losses to the surroundings are negligible. The orientation of the
condenser is horizontal. Copper tubes of 19 mm O.D. and 15.7 mm I.D. and 5 meters long are to
be used metal wall resistance and fouling factor may be neglected. The average velocity of water
through the tube may be taken as 3 m/sec. the

following average properties of isobutene may be used. = 86 kcal/kg

tw=41°C K=0.1125kcal/m hr°C P=575 Kg/m3

N(tubes in vertical stack)=26. Calculate hi,ho,Uo, number of tubes and shell diameter.