Combined Heat Transfer under

Natural Convection
ME 315 Herwerth
California State University, Los Angeles
Fall 2012

by Ye Ding
 Table of Contents

Objective....................................................................................................................................................3
Apparatus...................................................................................................................................................4
Theory........................................................................................................................................................5
Calculation of power consumption........................................................................................................5
Heat transfer by radiation.......................................................................................................................5
Heat transfer by natural convection.......................................................................................................5
Procedure...................................................................................................................................................7
Data and Results........................................................................................................................................8
Original Data..........................................................................................................................................8
Calculations and Results........................................................................................................................9
Graphs..................................................................................................................................................10
Discussion................................................................................................................................................11
Power consumption and heat transfer calculations..............................................................................11
Radiation versus convection................................................................................................................12
Calculation of Hcm per Morgan and McAdams...................................................................................12
Heat transfer versus temperature.........................................................................................................13
Interpolation of ν (nu), Pr, and k..........................................................................................................14
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................16
Objective

To determine the combined heat transfer (Qradiation + Qconvection) from a horizontal cylinder in natural
convection over a wide range of power inputs and corresponding surface temperatures, and
demonstrate the relationship between power input and surface temperature in free convection.

Page 3 of 16
Apparatus

Page 4 of 16
Theory

Calculation of power consumption

Power is the time rate of change of energy, that is, dE/dt. Approximating the system as an ohmic
resistive circuit, dE = dq ∙ V = dq ∙ I ∙ R. Since I = dq/dt, dE/dt = I ∙ I ∙ R or Qin = I ∙ V. In theory,
Qin = Qtot = Qc + Qr; see below.

Heat transfer by radiation

An empirical relationship for a horizontal cylinder in immersed in air was formulated by V. T.
Morgan in his paper "The Overall Convective Heat Transfer from Smooth Circular Cylinders",
published in TF Irvine and JP Hartnett (eds.), Advances in Heat Transfer vol. 16, Academic,
New York, 1975, pp 199-269.

H rm  F
T
s
4
 Ta4 
Q  H rm A s  Ts  Ta   Ts  Ta  ,
For r where Qr is the power dissipation by radiation,
in which σ = Stefan Boltzmann constant [Wm-2K-4], ξ = emmisivity of surface [dimensionless],
and F = 1 = view factor [dimensionless]

Heat transfer by natural convection

Q  H cm A s  Ts  Ta 
In the same problem according to Morgan, for c where Qc is the power
Hc m 
 kNu m 
dissipation by natural convection, D , in which k is the thermal conductivity of the
Nu m  c  Ra D 
n

ambient air at the film temperature Tfilm, the Russlet number is a function of Gr
g  Ts  Ta  D3
GrD 
and Pr, the Rayleigh number RaD = GrD ∙ Pr, the Grashof number 2 as a
function of diameter D, ν being the kinematic viscosity of the ambient air at Tfilm, g being the

1  T  Ta 
Tfilm  s
acceleration due to gravity, Tfilm is the volume expansion coefficient, and 2 is
the film temperature. The values of k, ν, and Pr at differnt film temperatures, and the values of c
and n for calculating Num, have all been tabulated below.
Tfilm ν k Pr
[K] [m2/s] [Wm-1K-1] [dimensionless]
300 1.684 x10-5 0.02624 0.708
350 2.076 x10-5 0.03003 0.697
400 2.590 x10-5 0.03365 0.689

Page 5 of 16
450 3.171 x10-5 0.03707 0.683
500 3.790 x10-5 0.04038 0.680
550 4.434 x10-5 0.04360 0.680
600 5.134 x10-5 0.04659 0.680

RaD c n
10-9 to 10-2 0.675 0.058
10-2 to 102 1.02 0.148
102 to 104 0.850 0.188
104 to 107 0.480 0.250
107 to 1012 0.125 0.333

Alternatively, a simplified equation may be used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient for
free convection ("Heat Transmission", WH McAdams, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1959),
0.25
 Ts  Ta 
Hc m  1.32  
such that  D  .

Page 6 of 16
Procedure

1. Switch on the front mains switch. (If the panel meters do not illuminate check the RCD and any
circuit breakers at the rear of the service unit; all switches at the rear should be up.)
2. Since this will be operated manually set the selector switch to MANUAL on HT10X.
3. Set the heater voltage to 5 volts:
4. Adjust the voltage control potentiometer to give a reading of 5 volts on the top panel meter with
the selector switch set to position V.
5. Allow the HT14 to stabilize. Monitor the temperatures using the lower selector switch/meter.
6. When the temperatures are stable record the following (can take up to 20-30 minutes for this to
occur): T9, T10, V, and I.
7. Repeat procedure 3 to 5 for 8, 12, 15, and 20 volts ensuring that the temperature has reached
steady state each time.
Note: Do not set the heater voltage in excess of 20 Volts when operating the cylinder in natural
convection (no forced airflow). The life of the heating element will be considerably reduced if
operated at excessive temperature.

Page 7 of 16
Data and Results

Original Data

Page 8 of 16
Calculations and Results

Page 9 of 16
Graphs
See Discussion.

Page 10 of 16
Discussion

Power consumption and heat transfer calculations

The power consumptions Qin calculated using Ohm's law roughly match the results from the
heat transfer calculations. However, there seems to be a trend where, as time passes, Qin and Qtot

approach one another more closely regardless of the electromotive force in the circuit.
A closer look at the temperature sensor readings reveals that even for the same voltage, the
surface temperature was warmer at a later time compared to an earlier data point. This
discrepancy seems to increase as time passes, albeit we don't have that many data points to rule

out the effect of statistical variation.

In case this trend is not simply a part of larger fluctuations, two possible causes come to mind.
First, initially, parts of the system might have behaved like a thermal sink; upon reaching their
thermal capacity, however, they could no longer remove heat from the system, thus allowing
more heat to reach the cylinder surface. Second, the temperature sensors themselves may be

Page 11 of 16
 hysteretic, reading high after being exposed to higher temperatures, and reading low after being
exposed to lower temperatures compared to what they're supposed to be measuring at the
moment. Thus, the history of the sensors might have affected their readings.

Radiation versus convection

It seems that as power consumption increases, a greater proportion of the heat is dissipated by
radiation compared to convection. This is supported by convection coefficient calculations
using both the method by Morgan and the simpler formula from McAdams.

Calculation of Hcm per Morgan and McAdams

The values of Hcm generally match. Their discrepancy does seem to grow as time passes. This
may again be related to the discrepancy in the temperature readings over time. However,
because the formula for calculating Hcm, especially using Morgan's approach, is quite complex,
it is not exactly clear how or why the discrepancy in Hcm would grow with time and temperature
discrepancy, if a trend actually exists here.

Page 12 of 16
 At the same time, the discrepancy between the two methods clearly does grow with increasing
Hcm (taken as the average of the two methods). Within the range of data available, this relation
is linear. The mathematical reason behind this, however, is again not easy to decipher.

Heat transfer versus temperature

Heat transfer varies directly with the cylinder's surface temperature. However, since we expect
heat flow to cease if the ambient temperature were to equal the cylinder's surface temperature, it
may be helpful to also model the heat transfer against the difference in temperature between the
cylinder's surface and its surrounding. In either case, the relation is roughly exponential. In
terms of math, the surface temperature is factored in multiple times in the heat transfer
equations, affecting the temperature gradient (or gradient of the powers of temperature), the
convective coefficient, the thermal conductivity of the air and its viscosity, the Prandtl number,
and the film temperature. Therefore, neither the surface temperature by itself nor its difference
from the ambient temperature exclusively determines the heat transfer.

Page 13 of 16
Interpolation of ν (nu), Pr, and k
From the tables of values given, it is necessary to interpolate the values of ν (nu), Pr, and k for
the actual temperatures encountered in the experiment. Linear, power, and exponential
regression were used. Thus calculated results are graphed below--blue for the table values; red
for the interpolated values for the temperatures encountered in the experiment. See Data and
Results for their numerical values.

Page 14 of 16
Page 15 of 16
Conclusion

The results of this experiment support the free convection model formulated by Morgan for a
cylinder over the range of power input and temperatures encountered. They also give credence to two
ways of calculating the free convection heat transfer coefficient--one by Morgan, the other from
McAdams.

Page 16 of 16