Heat Transfer Operations

Dr. R. Manivannan
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Chemical Engineering
NIT Raipur
 Turbulent Boundary Layer
Flow over a Flat Plate
• BLT is more in turbulent flow as compared to that in laminar flow.
• Also, the velocity distribution is more uniform across the thickness of
boundary layer
• It is experimentally observed that the velocity distribution in turbulent
flow follows the one-seventh power law
1
𝑢 𝑦 7
=
𝑈 𝛿
Surface shear stress
1
7 −1
𝑦 4
𝜏 = 0.0225𝜌. 𝑈 .
4
𝐶𝑓𝑥 = 0.0576𝑅𝑒𝑥 5
𝛿
−1
𝛿
= 0.371. 𝑅𝑒𝑥 5
𝑥
Free / Natural convection
1
=
(T f + 273)

 g (Ts − Ta ) L3
GrL =
2

0  Ra  109 , 0  Pr  
1
4
0.670 Ra
Nu = 0.68 + 4
 9
 9

1 +  0.492  
16

  Pr  
 
Free / Natural convection
Ra  109 , 0.6  Pr  
1
3
0.15 Ra
Nu = 16
 
9 27

1 +  0.492  
16

  Pr   
 
Ra  109 , 0  Pr  0.6
2
 
 
 1 
 0.387 Ra 6 
Nu = 0.825 + 8

  9 27 

 1 +  0.492   
16
   Pr   
   
Thermal Boundary Layer Thickness (TBLT)

For turbulent flow, since the effects of physical movement of eddies

predominates over the diffusion effects, Prandtl number does not have

much influence on the TBLT, and is of the same order as the HBLT.
THERMAL BOUNDARY
LAYER
• Just as the hydrodynamic boundary layer
was defined as that region of the flow where
viscous forces are felt.

• Thermal boundary layer may be defined as

that region where temperature gradients are
present in the flow.
FIG.1- TEMPERATURE PROFILE IN THE THERMAL
BOUNDARY LAYER
Consider the system shown in the fig.1

❖ Tw = temperature of the wall

❖ T∞ = temperature of the fluid outside the
thermal boundary layer
❖ δt = the thickness of the thermal boundary
layer at the wall. where, the velocity is zero.
Thus the local heat flux per unit area q”

………..(
1)
From Newton’s law of cooling

……….(2)

where h is the convection heat-transfer coefficient.

Combining these equations

……….(3)
……….(4)
•To evaluate the heat-transfer coefficient, we must
obtain an expression for the temperature distribution.

•To do this, an approach similar to that used in the

momentum analysis of the boundary layer is
followed. The conditions that the temperature
distribution must satisfy are

….a
….b
….c
Thus rewriting the flow-velocity incompressible flow
equation at y=0, with no viscous heating we find
since the velocities must be zero at the wall.

….d
T = C1 + C2 y + C3 y + C4 y
1 2 3

Using boundary condition a, C = T

1 w
𝑇∞ = 𝑇𝑤 + 𝐶2 𝛿𝑡 + 𝐶3 𝛿𝑡2 + 𝐶4 𝛿𝑡3

𝜕𝑇
= 0 = 𝐶2 + 2𝐶3 𝑦 + 3𝐶4 𝑦 2
𝜕𝑦
  2T
At y =0 = 0 = 2C3 + 6C4 y
y 2

C3 = 0

C2 + 2C3 y + 3C4 y = 0 2

C2 + 3C  = 0
4 t
2

C2 = −3C  4 t
2

T − Tw = C2 t + C4 t = −3C4 t + 3C4 t

3 3 3

T − Tw = −2C  4 t
3

𝑇∞ − 𝑇𝑤 3 𝑇∞ − 𝑇𝑤
𝐶4 = 𝐶2 =
−2𝛿𝑡3 2 𝛿𝑡
T = Tw + -

= -

=
Conditions (a) to (d) may be fitted to a cubic
polynomial as in the case of the velocity profile, so that
Where θ = T-TW. The thermal-boundary-layer thickness
δt may be obtained by an integral analysis of the energy
equation for the boundary layer.

Consider the control volume bounded by the planes 1, 2,

A-A, and the wall as shown in fig 2. It is assumed that
the thermal boundary layer is thinner than the
hydrodynamic boundary layer, as shown (fig 3).
where
Tw = wall temperature
T∞ = free stream temperature
dqw = the heat given up to the fluid over the length dx
Fig.2- Control volume for integral energy analysis of laminar boundary flow
Fig.3- Hydrodynamic and thermal boundary
layers on a flat plate. Heating starts at x= xw.
Thus making energy balance gives

Energy convected in + viscous work within element

+heat transfer at wall = energy convected out ….(
5)
The energy convected in through plane 1 is

The energy convected in through plane 2 is

The mass flow through plane A-A is

and this carries with it an energy equal to

The net viscous work done within the element is

and the heat transfer at the wall is

Combining these energy quantities according to

Equation (5) and collecting terms gives

….(6)

This is the integral energy equation of the boundary

layer for constant properties and constant free-stream
temperature T∞.
To calculate the heat transfer at the wall, we need to derive
an expression for the thermal boundary layer thickness.
As shown in fig. 3 the hydrodynamic boundary layer
develops from the leading edge of the plate, while heating
does not begin until x= x0.
Inserting the temperature distribution Equation (4) and the
velocity distribution Equation

into Equation (6) and neglecting the viscous-dissipation

term (since the term is very small unless the velocity of
the flow field becomes very large), gives
On assuming the thermal boundary layer is thinner than
the hydrodynamic boundary Layer. On integrating to y =
δt since the integrand is zero for y > δt and making the
substitution

….(7)
Because δt<δ, ζ<1, and the term involving ζ4 is small
compared with the ζ2 term, we neglect the term ζ4 and write

….(8)

Performing the differentiation gives

or
But

And
So that we have

….(9)

Noting that
we see that Equation (9) is a linear differential equation of
the first order in ζ3, and the solution is

when the boundary condition

is applied, the final solution becomes

….(10
where )

….(11)
has been introduced. The ratio ν/α is called the Prandtl
number.
When the plate is heated over the entire length, x0 =0, and

….(12)
• The Prandtl number ν/α relates the relative thicknesses of
the hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layers.

• The kinematic viscosity of a fluid conveys information

about the rate at which momentum may diffuse through the
fluid because of molecular motion.
• These diffusion rates determine how thick the boundary
layers will be for a given external flow field.

• The Prandtl number is thus the connecting link between

the velocity field and the temperature field.

The Prandtl number is dimensionless when a consistent set

of units is used:

….(13
)
Returning now to the analysis from equation , we have
…. (14)

Substituting for the hydrodynamic-boundary-layer

thickness from Equation

And using Equation (10) gives

…. (15)

On nondimensionalysing by multiplying both sides by x/k,

called the Nusselt number.

…. (16)
Finally,
…. (17)

Or, for the plate heated over its entire length, x0 =0 and

…. (18)
Equations (15), (17), and (18) express the local values of
the heat-transfer coefficient in terms of the distance from
the leading edge of the plate and the fluid properties.
On integrating over the length of the plate for x0 =0

…. (19.1)
For a plate where heating starts at x=x0, the average heat
transfer coefficient can be expressed as

…. (19.2)

In this case, the total heat transfer for the plate would be

assuming the heated section is at the constant temperature

Tw. For the plate heated over the entire length,

…. (20.1)
or

…. (20.2)
Where

When there is an appreciable variation between wall and free-

stream conditions, it is recommended that the properties be
evaluated at the so-called film temperature Tf , defined as the
arithmetic mean between the wall and free-stream
temperature,
…. (21)

The results of the exact analysis are the same as those of the
approximate analysis given above.
 Analogy between momentum and heat transfer

• 2-D equations for the momentum transport and energy transport

have identical forms.

• Reasonable to assume that their solutions also must have some

correspondence to each other.

• Solution of momentum equation leads us to a relation for the

skin friction coefficient and the drag force, similarly, solution of
the energy equation leads us to an expression for the heat
transfer coefficient.
This relation is known as Çolburn analogy and it gives a simple relation
between the HTC and Friction Coefficient (FC). The above equation is
valid for values of Pr between 0.6 and 50. LHS of above equation is also
known as ‘Colburn j-factor’, and is generally used to correlate HTC with
Reynold’s number.