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Assignment 1 - 2020 PDF

This document contains an assignment for a heat and mass transfer course. It includes 4 questions related to key concepts in heat transfer: 1) Defining thermal conductivity and its significance, the different mechanisms of heat transfer, and calculating the critical radius of insulation and its effect on heat transfer rate. 2) Calculating the temperature variation and surface temperatures in a heated metal plate with given thickness, area, thermal conductivity, and heat transfer coefficients. 3) Determining the inner surface temperature of a furnace wall given its thickness, conductivity, emissivity, outer surface temperature and heat transfer coefficient. 4) Calculating the required thickness of insulation needed to reduce heat transfer through a wall by 80%

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84 views

Assignment 1 - 2020 PDF

This document contains an assignment for a heat and mass transfer course. It includes 4 questions related to key concepts in heat transfer: 1) Defining thermal conductivity and its significance, the different mechanisms of heat transfer, and calculating the critical radius of insulation and its effect on heat transfer rate. 2) Calculating the temperature variation and surface temperatures in a heated metal plate with given thickness, area, thermal conductivity, and heat transfer coefficients. 3) Determining the inner surface temperature of a furnace wall given its thickness, conductivity, emissivity, outer surface temperature and heat transfer coefficient. 4) Calculating the required thickness of insulation needed to reduce heat transfer through a wall by 80%

Uploaded by

Lusambo Simpasa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

EM 541 – HEAT & MASS TRANSFER

ASSIGNMENT 1

Due Date: Friday, 24th April, 2020

Instructions

Use appropriate diagrams and sketches.

Indicate all applicable formulae.

State all assumptions made.

Discuss your results.

Question One [10 Marks]

a. Define thermal conductivity and explain its significance in heat transfer. [2.5]
b. What are the mechanisms of heat transfer? How are they distinguished from each other?
[2.5]
c. What is critical radius of insulation? Write down the equation for the critical radius for either
a cylinder or sphere and sketch on a graph the variation of heat transfer rate with radius of
insulation. [2.5]
d. Write down the equation for conduction of heat through a slab or plane wall and also through
a hollow cylinder. [2.5]

Question Two [10 Marks]


Consider the base plate of a 1200 W household iron that has a thickness of L = 0.7 cm, base
area of A = 300 cm2, and the thermal conductivity of k = 20 W/m oC. The inner surface of the
base plate is subjected to uniform heat flux generated by the resistance heaters inside, and
the outer surface loses heat to the surroundings at T∞=20 oC by convection, as shown in
figure 1. Taking the convection heat transfer coefficient to be h= 60 W/m2 oC and
disregarding heat loss by radiation, obtain an expression for the variation of temperature in
the base plate, and evaluate the temperatures at the inner and outer surfaces.

Figure 1

Question Three [10 Marks]


The hot combustion gases of a furnace are separated from the ambient air and its surroundings which
are at 25oC by a brick wall 0.15m thick. The brick has a thermal conductivity of 1.2 W/m.K and a
surface emissivity of 0.8. Under steady state conditions an outer surface temperature of 100oC is
measured. Free convection heat transfer in the air adjoining this surface is characterized by a
convection of h=20 W/m2.K .What is the brick inner surface temperature.

Question Four [10 Marks]


An exterior wall of a house may be approximated by a 0.1016 m layer of common brick
[k = 0.7 W/m.oC] followed by a 0.0381 m layer of gypsum plaster [k =0.48 W/m.oC]. What thickness
of loosely packed rock-wool insulation [k =0.065 W/m.oC] should be added to reduce the heat loss (or
gain) through the wall by 80 percent?

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