Dr.

Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-

Chapter 8
Practical External Convection Correlations

1-Flat plate with uniform heat flux

When a flat plate is subjected to uniform heat flux instead of uniform temperature, the local Nusselt
number is given by:

When heat flux is prescribed, the rate of heat transfer to or from the plate and the surface temperature at a
distance x are determined from:

And

2. Flow across cylinder

The flow across cylinders is often met with in many engineering
application like heat exchangers. The best equation used to evaluate
the average heat transfer coefficient is:

4/ 5
h. D 0.62 Re Pr 1/ 2 1/ 3   Re D  5 / 8 
NuD = = 0.3 + D
1 +   
  282000  
1/ 4
k   0.4  2 / 3 
1 +   
  Pr  
This equation is applicable for: 100  Re D  10 7 and Pe = Pr . Re D  0.2

3. Flow across sphere:

The recommended relation for evaluation the heat transfer coefficient for flow across spheres is:
1/ 4
µ 
Nu D =
h. D
[
= 2 + 0.4 Re 1D/ 2 + 0.06 Re 2D/ 3 Pr 0.4  ∞  ]
k  µs 
This is valid for the range: 3.5 ≤ Re D ≤ 8 × 10 4 and 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 380
The fluid properties in this case are evaluated at the free-stream temperature T∞ , except for Ts , which is
evaluated at the surface temperature.

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
3. General Formula Flow across ducts:
The average Nusselt number for flow across ducts can be expressed compactly as:
h. D
NuD = = C Re m Pr n
kf
where n=1/3 and the experimentally determined constants C and m are given in Table below.

Table for empirical correlations for the average Nusselt number for forced convection over
noncircular ducts in cross flow

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
4. Flow across Bank of Tubes:
Cross-flow over tube banks is commonly encountered in practice in heat transfer equipment such as the
condensers and evaporators of power plants, refrigerators, and air conditioners. In such equipment, one
fluid moves through the tubes while the other moves over the tubes in a perpendicular direction.
Two types of tube arrangement are possible.
(i) In-line arrangement.
(ii) Staggered arrangement.
The distance between tube centers is known as pitch. The pitch along the flow is known as longitudinal
pitch S L and the pitch in the perpendicular direction of flow is called transverse pitch ST .
In the case of staggered arrangement, the diagonal pitch is determined from:
2
S 
SD = S + T 
2
L
 2 
While in the case of In-line arrangement:
SD = S L2 + ST2

These are shown in Fig. below:

How to determine the heat transfer over the tubes?

Step-1- Determine the maximum Reynolds number:

Due to the obstruction caused by the tubes, the velocity near the tube increases and this maximum
velocity have to be used in the calculation of Reynolds number:
ρ . D.umax
Re D =
µ
In the case of in-line arrangement ,the maximum velocity near the tubes is:
ST
umax = u∞
ST − D
That is because the fluid enters the tube bank at flow area of A1 = ST . L and decreases
to AT = ( ST − D ). L between the tubes.
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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
In the case of staggered arrangement, the velocity may increase further in the diagonal region if the tube
columns are very close to each other. So, the larger of the values given by the following equations is to be
used,

ST ST
Choose either umax = u∞ OR umax = u∞
ST − D  
2 S D − D 
 
Step-2- Determine the Nusselt number and heat transfer rate:
Several correlations, all based on experimental data, have been proposed for the average Nusselt number
for cross flow over tube banks. More recently, Zukauskas has proposed correlations whose general form
is:
0.25
h. D  Pr 
Nu D = = C Re mD Pr n   Valid for N L ≥ 16 and 0.7  Pr  500
k  Prs 
0 ≤ Re D ≤ 2 × 10 6
Where N L : number of tube columns

The values of the constants C , n , and m depend on value Reynolds number as given in Table below.

Note:
The average Nusselt number relations in Table above are for tube banks with 16 or more columns. Those
relations can also be used for tube banks with N provided that they are modified as:
0.25
h. D  Pr 
Nu D = = F .C Re mD Pr n   Valid for N L  16
k  Prs 
Where: F is a correction factor which is given in table below:

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-

Step-3- Determine the heat transfer rate:

Once the Nusselt number and thus the average heat transfer coefficient for the entire tube bank is known,
the heat transfer rate can be determined from Newton’s law of cooling as:
q = h. As .∆TLMTD
Where: ∆TLMTD is the log mean temperature difference given by:

∆Texit − ∆Tinlet (Ts − Te ) − (Ts − Ti )

∆TLMTD = =
∆Texit (T − Te )
ln ln s
∆Tinlet (Ts − Ti )

Ts

Te

Ti

The exit temperature of the fluid Te can be determined from:

 A .h 
Te = Ts − (Ts − Ti ) Exp − s 
 m .Cp 
Where As = πDL( N L N T ) is the total area of the tubes and m = ρ .u∞ .( N T . ST . L) is the
mass flow rate.

The heat transfer rate can also be determined using:

q = m .Cp.(Te − Ti ) = h. As .∆TLMTD

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
Solved Problems
EXAMPLE -1-
Air at 20°C flows over a flat plate having a uniform heat flux of 800 W/m2. The flow velocity is 4 m/s
and the length of the plate is 1.2 m. Determine the value of heat transfer coefficient and also the
temperature of the plate as the air leaves the plate. Take unit width and properties as:

First, check the flow type:

L.u 1.2 * 4
Re L = = = 247167.9
ν 19.42 * 10 − 6
So, the flow is laminar. To determine the value of convection coefficient at x=L,
h.( x = L)
Nu x = L = = 0.453 Re1x/ 2 Pr 1 / 3
k
= 0.453 * (247167.9 ) (0.695 )
1/ 2 1/ 3

= 199.5
⇒ hx = L = 4.86W / m 2. K

To find the temperature at x=L, basic heat flow equation is used:

q" 800
T ( x = L) = T∞ + = 20 + == 184.6
hx = L 4.86

EXAMPLE -2-
Air at 30°C flows across a steam pipe of 0.2 m diameter at a surface temperature of 130°C, with a
velocity of 6 m/s. Determine the value of convective heat transfer coefficient using the two equations
described in this lecture.
ν = 21.09 * 10 −6 m 2 / s ; k = 0.03047 W / m . K ; Pr = 0.692
Using the general equation

Using the special equation:

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
EXAMPLE -3-
a long 10-cm-diameter steam pipe whose external surface temperature is110°C passes through some open
area that is not protected against the winds. Determine the rate of heat loss from the pipe per unit of its
length when the air is at 10°C and the wind is blowing across the pipe at a velocity of 8 m/s.
take the properties as:

Solution:
Assuming L=m

The simpler Nusselt number relation in Table above in this case would give Nu = 128, which is 3 percent
higher than the value obtained above using Eq. below:
h. D
NuD = = C Re m Pr n
kf
TRY IT YOUR SELF!

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-

EXAMPLE -4-
A 25-cm-diameter stainless steel ball is removed from the
oven at a uniform temperature of 300°C. The ball is then subjected to the flow of air at 25°C with a
velocity of 3m/s. The surface temperature of the ball eventually drops to 200°C. Determine the average
convection heat transfer coefficient during this cooling process and estimate how long the process will
take.
take the properties

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-

EXAMPLE -5-
air is to be preheated before entering a furnace by geothermal water at 120ºC flowing through the tubes of
a tube bank located in a duct. Air enters the duct at 20ºC with a mean velocity of 4.5 m/s, and flows over
the tubes in normal direction. The outer diameter of the tubes is 1.5 cm, and the tubes are arranged in-line
with longitudinal and transverse pitches of SL= ST = 5 cm. There are 6 column in the flow direction with
10 tubes in each column, as shown in Figure below. Determine the rate of heat transfer per unit length of
the tubes.
Take the properties:

The air density at inlet is: ρ air ,i = 1.204 kg / m 3

Then the maximum velocity and the Reynolds number based on the maximum velocity become:
ST 0.05
umax = u∞ = (4.5) = 6.43m / s
ST − D 0.05 − 0.015
ρ . D.umax 1.06 * 6.43 * 0.015
Re D = = = 5091
µ 2.008 * 10 − 5

The average Nusselt number is determined using the proper relation from Tables:

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
This Nusselt number is applicable to tube banks with N ≥ 16 . In our case, the number of columns is
N = 6 , and the corresponding correction factor from Table F = 0.945 . Then the average Nusselt
number and heat transfer coefficient for all the tubes in the tube bank become:

m = ρ i * u∞ * ( N T * ST * L) = 1.204 * 4.5 * 10 * 0.05 * 1 = 2.709kg / s

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Dr.Safaa Hameed Faisal Heat Transfer Lecture-
Problems

Problems-1-- Water at 10°C flows over a flat plate with a uniform heat flux of 8.3 kW/m2. The velocity
of flow is 0.3 m/s. Determine the value of convective heat transfer coefficient and also the temperature at
a distance of 1 m from the leading edge.
ν = 1.393 * 10 −6 m 2 / s ; k = 0.5751 W / m . K ; Pr = 10.31

Problems-2-- Liquid sodium at 300°C flows across a tube 0.05 m outside dia at 500°C with a velocity of
8 m/s. Determine the value of convective heat transfer coefficient using the special correlations.

Answ(h = 203236 W/m2K)

Problems-3-- Water at 30°C flows across a pipe 10 cm OD at 50°C with a velocity of 0.6 m/s. Determine
the value of convection coefficient using the general and special correlations.

Answ(2683 W/m2K, h = 2877 W/m2K)

Problems-4-- A tube with 4 cm square cross section has air blown across it at 20 m/s. The air is at 30°C
and the pipe surface is at 50°C. Determine the convective heat transfer coefficient when (i) the flow is
along diagonal and (ii) the flow is perpendicular to a face. (hint:use table to solve this problem case 2 and
3)

Problems-5-- Combustion air in a manufacturing facility is to be preheated before entering a furnace by

hot water at 90ºC flowing through the tubes of a tube bank located in a duct. Air entersthe duct at 15ºC
with a mean velocity of 3.8 m/s, and flows over the tubes in normal direction. The outer diameter of the
tubes is 2.1 cm, and the tubes are arranged in-line with longitudinal and transverse pitches of SL= ST = 5
cm. There are eight columns in the flow direction with eight tubes in each columns. Determine the rate of
heat transfer per unit length of the tubes.
Properties : k = 0.02514 W/m-K ;ρ = 1.204 kg/m3 ; Cp =1.007 kJ/kg-K; Pr = 0.7309;µ = 1.825×10-5
kg/m-s ;Prs = Pr@ Ts = 0.7132; Also, the density of air at the inlet temperature (for use in the mass flow
rate calculation at the inlet) is ρi = 1.225 kg/m3. Answ(25kW)

Problems-6-- Air is to be heated by passing it over a bank of 3-m-long tubes inside which steam is
condensing at 100ºC. Air approaches the tube bank in the normal direction at 20ºC with a mean velocity
of 5.2 m/s. The outer diameter of the tubes is 1.6 cm, and the tubes are arranged staggered with
longitudinal and transverse pitches of SL= ST = 4 cm. There are 20 columns in the flow direction with 10
tubes in each column. Determine (a) the rate of heat transfer, (b) the rate of condensation of steam inside
the tubes. (c) Repeat solution for in-line arrangement with SL= ST = 5 cm.
Properties : k = 0.02625 W/m-K; ρ = 1.145 kg/m3 ; Cp =1.007 kJ/kg-K; Pr = 0.7268; µ = 1.895×10-5
kg/m-s;Prs = Pr@ Ts = 0.7111 Also, the density of air at the inlet (for use in the mass flow rate calculation
at the inlet) is ρi = 1.204 kg/m3. The enthalpy of vaporization of water at 100°C is hfg = 2257 kJ/kg-K .
Answ(75kW,0.03316kg/s, 74kW,0.03273kg/s)

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