FEBRUARY

26, 2018

DUHOK POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF TECHNICAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF PETROCHEMICAL

FREE FORCED CONVECTION HEAT

TRANSFER FROM FINNED AND

PINNED PLATES
[DOCUMENT SUBTITLE]

SIYAR M. SALEEM
[DOCUMENT SUBTITLE]
HEAT TRANSFER Practical
Group B
Report No. 1
 INTRODUCTION
Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids (i.e. liquids, gases). It cannot take
place in solids, since either bulk current flows or significant diffusion can take place in solids.
Convection is one of the major modes of heat transfer and mass transfer.

Forced convection is a mechanism, or type of heat transport in which fluid motion is

generated by an external source (like a pump, fan, suction device, etc.). It should be
considered as one of the main methods of useful heat transfer as significant amounts of heat
energy can be transported very efficiently and this mechanism is found very commonly in
everyday life, including central heating, air conditioning, steam turbines and in many other
machines. Forced convection is often encountered by engineers designing or analyzing heat
exchangers, pipe flow, and flow over a plate at a different temperature than the stream (the
case of a shuttle wing during re-entry, for example). However, in any forced convection
situation, some amount of natural convection is always present whenever there are g-forces
present (i.e., unless the system is in free fall). When the natural convection is not negligible,
such flows are typically referred to as mixed convection.

The removal of excessive heat from system components is essential to avoid

damaging effects of burning or overheating. Therefore, the enhancement of heat transfer is an
important subject of thermal engineering. Extended surfaces (fins) are frequently use in heat
exchanging devices for the purpose of improve the heat transfer between a primary surface
and the surrounding fluid.

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 THEORY

Heat transfer from an object can be improve by increasing the surface area in
contact with the air by adding fins or pins normal to the surface. This can be seen in
Newton’s Law of Cooling that states that the rate of heat loss of a body is proportional to
the difference in temperatures between the body and its surroundings, which defines the
convection heat transfer rate.

The constant of proportionality h is termed the convection heat-transfer coefficient. The

heat transfer coefficient h is a function of the fluid flow, so, it is influenced by the surface
geometry, the fluid motion in the boundary layer and the fluid properties as well. The effect
of the surfaces can be demonstrated by comparing finned and un-finned surfaces with a flat
plate under the same conditions of power and flow.

A heated surface dissipates heat to the surrounding fluid primarily through a process
called convection. Heat is also dissipated by conduction and radiation, however these
effects are not considered in this experiment. Air in contact with the hot surface is heated by
the surface and rises due to reduction in density. The heated air is replaced by cooler air,
which is in turn heated by the surface, and rises. This process is called free convection.

Convection heat transfer from an object can be improved by increasing the surface area
in contact with the air. In practical it may be difficult to increase the size of the body to suit.
In these circumstances the surface area in contact with the air may be increased by adding
fins or pins normal to the surface. These features are called extended surfaces. A typical
example is the use of fins on the cylinder and head on an air-cooled petrol engine. The
effect of extended surfaces can be demonstrated by comparing finned and pinned surfaces
with a flat under the same conditions of power input and airflow.

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 MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENTS

Figure 1: Free and Force Convection Heat Exchanger Apparatus.

1. Fan 2. Air flow column

3. RTD sensors 4. Portable Anemometer
5. Panel 6. Exchangeable Heat Transfer System

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 PROCEDURE

1. Place the fan assembly on to the top of the duct.

2. Place the finned heat exchanger into the duct.

3. Note the ambient air temperature (tA).

4. Set the heater power control to 50 Watts (clockwise). Allow sufficient time to achieve
steady state conditions before noting the heated plate temperature (tH).

5. Set the fan speed control to give a reading of 0.5m/s on the thermal anemometer, allow
sufficient time to achieve steady state conditions. Record heated plate temperature into
table.

6. Repeat this procedure at 1.0m/s and 1.5m/s.

7. Plot a graph of Air Velocity (m/s) against Temperature. ( tH –tA)

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 GRAPH

Table 1: Pinned Plate Geometry
Ambient air temperature (Ta) = 18 ◦C Input Power = 30 W
Distance of nearest hole = 8 mm Distance of middle hole = 35 mm
Distance of farthest hole = 60 mm
Run No. Air Velocity T1 T2 T3 TH
1 0 27.5 27 29 30
2 1 29.3 27.2 26.9
3 2 27.1 26.3 26

Air Velocity vs. Temperature

30

29

28
Temperature

27 T1
T2
26
T3

25

24
0 1 2

Air Velocity

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Table 2: Finned Plate Geometry
Ambient air temperature (Ta) = Input Power = 30 W
Distance of nearest hole = Distance of middle hole =
Distance of farthest hole =
Run No. Air Velocity T1 T2 T3 TH
1 0 35 33 31.3 30
2 1 33.3 31.1 29.1 38.4
3 2 29.7 28.9 27.9 37.7

Air Velocity vs. Temperature

40

35

30
Temperature

25

20
T1
15 T2

10 T3

0
0 1 2

Air Velocity

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 DISCUSSION
Pin Fin Apparatus This setup is designed to study the heat transfer in
a pin fin. It consists of cylindrical fin fitted to the base in rectangular duct.
A blower is provided on one side of duct to conduct experiments under
forced convection heat transfer mode. Five thermocouples are embedded
along the axis of the cylindrical fin at five different locations and one
thermocouple placed in the air stream at the exit of the test section to
measure the outlet air temperature. Digital Temperature Indicator is
provided to read temperatures distribution along the fin. Test pipe is
connected to the delivery side of the blower along with the Orifice to
measure flow of air through the pipe. A heater heats one end of fin and
heat flows to another end.

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