INTERNAL FORCED CONVECTION

Liquid or gas flow through pipes or ducts is commonly used in heating and cooling
applications. The fluid in such applications is forced to flow by a fan or pump through a flow
section that is sufficiently long to accomplish the desired heat transfer. In this chapter we pay
particular attention to the determination of the friction factor and convection coefficient since
they are directly related to the pressure drop and heat transfer rate, respectively. These
quantities are then used to determine the pumping power requirement and the required tube
length.
The value of the average velocity Vavg at some stream wise cross-section is determined from
the requirement that the conservation of mass principle be satisfied

Note that the mean temperature Tm of a fluid changes during heating or cooling. Also, the
fluid properties in internal flow are usually evaluated at the bulk mean fluid temperature,
which is the arithmetic average of the mean temperatures at the inlet and the exit. That is,

Tb = (Tm, i + Tm, e) / 2
The fluid velocity in a pipe changes from zero at the surface because of the no-slip condition
to a maximum at the pipe center. In fluid flow, it is convenient to work with an average
velocity Vavg, which remains constant in incompressible flow when the cross-sectional area of
the pipe is constant (Fig). The average velocity in heating and cooling applications may change
somewhat because of changes in density with temperature. But, in practice, we evaluate the
fluid properties at some average temperature and treat them as constants.

Laminar and Turbulent Flow in Tubes

Fluid flow is streamlined and thus laminar at low velocities, but turns turbulent as the velocity
is increased beyond a critical value. Transition from laminar to turbulent flow does not occur
suddenly. For flow in a circular tube, the Reynolds number is defined as;
Where Vavg is the average flow velocity, D is the diameter of the tube, and ν = µ/ρ is the
kinematic viscosity of the fluid. For flow through noncircular tubes, the Reynolds number as
well as the Nusselt number, and the friction factor are based on the hydraulic diameter Dh
defined as;

Where Ac is the cross sectional area of the tube and p is its perimeter

It certainly is desirable to have precise values of Reynolds numbers for laminar, transitional,
and turbulent flows, but this is not the case in practice. This is because the transition from
laminar to turbulent flow also depends on;
 The degree of disturbance of the flow by surface roughness,
 Pipe vibrations, and
 The fluctuations in the flow. Under most practical conditions,
The flow in a tube is laminar for Re < 2300. But it should be kept in mind that in many cases
the flow becomes fully turbulent for Re > 4000, when designing piping networks and
determining pumping power, a conservative approach is taken and flows with Re > 4000 are
assumed to be turbulent.
GENERAL THERMAL ANALYSIS
In the absence of any work interactions, the conservation of energy equation for the steady
flow of a fluid in a tube can be expressed as;

Where Ti and Te are the mean fluid temperatures at the inlet and exit of the tube, respectively,
and Q is the rate of heat transfer to or from the fluid. Note that the temperature of a fluid
flowing in a tube remains constant in the absence of any energy interactions through the wall
of the tube
Surface heat flux is expressed as
Where hx is the local heat transfer coefficient and Ts and Tm are the surface and the mean fluid
temperatures at that location. Note that the mean fluid temperature Tm of a fluid flowing in a
tube must change during heating or cooling. Therefore, when hx = h = constant, the surface
temperature Ts must change when qs = constant, and the surface heat flux qs must change when
Ts = constant. Thus we may have either Ts = constant or qs = constant at the surface of a tube,
but not both. Next we consider convection heat transfer for these two common cases.
Constant Surface Heat Flux (qs = constant)
In the case of qs = constant, the rate of heat transfer can also be expressed as

Then the mean fluid temperature at the tube exit becomes;

Note that the mean fluid temperature increases linearly in the flow direction in the case of
constant surface heat flux, since the surface area increases linearly in the flow direction (As is
equal to the perimeter, which is constant, times the tube length).
The surface temperature in the case of constant surface heat flux qs can be determined from;

In the fully developed region, the surface temperature Ts will also increase linearly in the flow
direction since h is constant and thus Ts - Tm =constant (Fig). Of course this is true when the
fluid properties remain constant during flow.
The slope of the mean fluid temperature Tm on a T-x diagram can
be determined by applying the steady-flow energy balance to a
tube slice of thickness dx shown in (Fig). It gives;

Where p is the perimeter of the tube.

Constant Surface Temperature (Ts = constant)
From Newton’s law of cooling, the rate of heat transfer to or from a fluid flowing in a tube
can be expressed as; Q = h As ΔTavg = h As (Ts - Tm) avg (W)
Where h is the average convection heat transfer coefficient, As is the heat transfer surface area
(it is equal to πDL for a circular pipe of length L), and ΔTavg is some appropriate average
temperature difference between the fluid and the surface. In the constant surface temperature
(Ts = constant) case, ΔTavg can be expressed approximately by the arithmetic mean
temperature difference ΔTam as;

Where Tb = (Ti + Te) / 2 is the bulk mean fluid

temperature, which is the arithmetic average of
the mean fluid temperatures at the inlet and the
exit of the tube. Note that the arithmetic mean
temperature difference ΔTam is simply the
average of the temperature differences between
the surface and the fluid at the inlet and the exit
of the tube
Consider the heating of a fluid in a tube of constant cross section whose inner surface is
maintained at a constant temperature of Ts. We know that the mean temperature of the fluid
Tm increases in the flow direction as a result of heat transfer. The energy balance on a
differential control volume

That is, the increase in the energy of the fluid (represented by an increase in its mean
temperature by dTm) is equal to the heat transferred to the fluid from the tube surface by
convection. Noting that the differential surface area is
dAs = pdx, where p is the perimeter of the tube, and that
dTm = - d(Ts - Tm), since Ts is constant, the relation above can be rearranged as
Integrating from x = 0 (tube inlet where Tm = Ti) to x = L (tube exit where Tm = Te) gives

Where As = pL is the surface area of the tube and h is the constant average convection heat
transfer coefficient. Taking the exponential of both sides and solving for Te gives the
following relation which is very useful for the determination of the mean fluid temperature at
the tube exit
ΔTln is the logarithmic mean temperature difference. Note that ΔTi = Ts - Ti and ΔTe = Ts -
Te are the temperature differences between the surface and the fluid at the inlet and the exit of
the tube, respectively.
EXAMPLE Heating of Water in a Tube by Steam
Water enters a 2.5cm internal-diameter thin copper tube of a heat exchanger at 15°C at a rate
of 0.3 kg/s, and is heated by steam condensing outside at 120°C. If the average heat transfer
coefficient is 800 W/m2. °C, determine the length of the tube required in order to heat the
water to 115°C (Fig).

Assumptions: - 1 Steady operating condition exists. 2 Fluid properties are constant. 3 The
convection heat transfer coefficient is constant. 4 The conduction resistance of copper tube is
negligible so that the inner surface temperature of the tube is equal to the condensation
temperature of steam.
Properties: - The specific heat of water at the bulk means temperature of (15 + 115)/2 = 65°C
is 4187 J/kg. °C. The heat of condensation of steam at 120°C is 2203 kJ/kg (Table).
Knowing the inlet and exit temperatures of water, the rate of heat transfer is determined to be
Q = m cp (Te - Ti) = (0.3 kg/s) (4.187 kJ/kg. °C) (115°C - 15°C) = 125.6 kW
The logarithmic mean temperature difference is
ΔTe = Ts - Te = 120°C - 115°C = 5°C
ΔTi = Ts - Ti = 120°C - 15°C = 105°C

Pressure Drop
A quantity of interest in the analysis of pipe flow is the pressure drop ΔP since it is directly
related to the power requirements of the fan or pump to maintain flow. We note that dP/dx =
constant, and integrating from x =x1 where the pressure is P1 to x =x1 +L where the pressure
is P2 gives
The average velocity is determined from its definition. It gives

Substituting into the Vavg expression, the pressure drop can be expressed as

The symbol Δ is typically used to indicate the difference between the final and initial values,
like Δy = y2 - y1. But in fluid flow, ΔP is used to designate pressure drop, and thus it is P1 -
P2. A pressure drop due to viscous effects represents an irreversible pressure loss, and it is
called pressure loss ΔPL
In practice, it is found convenient to express the pressure loss for all types of fully developed
internal flows (laminar or turbulent flows, circular or noncircular pipes, smooth or rough
surfaces, horizontal or inclined pipes) as

Where ρV2avg/2 is the dynamic pressure and f is the Darcy friction factor,

Setting Eqs. 1and 2 equal to each other and solving for f gives the friction factor for fully
developed laminar flow in a circular tube,
This equation shows that in laminar flow, the friction factor is a function of the Reynolds
number only and is independent of the roughness of the pipe surface.
In the analysis of piping systems, pressure losses are commonly expressed in terms of the
equivalent fluid column height, called the head loss hL. Noting from fluid statics that ΔP =
ρgh and thus a pressure difference of ΔP corresponds to a fluid height of h = ΔP/ρg, the pipe
head loss is obtained by dividing ΔPL by ρg to give

Once the pressure loss (or head loss) is known, the required pumping power to overcome the
pressure loss is determined from
Example Pressure Drop in a Tube
Water at 40°F (ρ = 62.42lbm/ft3 and μ = 1.038 ×10-3 lbm/ft.s) is flowing in a 0.12-in-diameter
30-ft-long horizontal tube steadily at an average velocity of 3 ft/s (Fig). Determine the pressure
drop and the pumping power requirement to overcome this pressure drop.

Assumptions 1 The flow is steady and incompressible. 2 The entrance effects are negligible,
and thus the flow is fully developed. 3 The tube involves no components such as bends,
valves, and connectors.
Properties The density and dynamic viscosity of water are given to be ρ = 62.42lbm/ft3 and
μ = 1.038 ×10-3 lbm/ft.s.
Analysis First we need to determine the flow regime. The Reynolds number is
Which is less than 2300. Therefore, the flow is laminar. Then the friction factor and the
pressure drop become

The volume flow rate and the pumping power requirements are

Therefore, mechanical power input in the amount of 0.30 W is needed to overcome the
frictional losses in the flow due to viscosity.