The Cooper Union

Department of Chemical Engineering

ChE342 Heat and Mass transfer

Practice Problems

1.
A 0.3-cm-thick, 12-cm-high, and 18-cm-long circuit board houses 80 closely
spaced logic chips on one side, each dissipating 0.06 W. The board is
impregnated with copper fillings and has an effective thermal conductivity of
16 W/mK. All the heat generated in the chips is conducted across the circuit
board and is dissipated from the back side of the board to the ambient air.
What is the temperature difference between the two sides of the circuit
board. (Answer: 0.042oC)
2.
It is well known that wind makes the cold air feel much colder as a result of
the wind chill effect that is due to the increase in the convection heat
transfer coefficient with increasing air velocity. The wind chill effect is usually
expressed in terms of the wind chill temperature (WCT), which is the
apparent temperature felt by exposed skin. For outdoor air temperature of
0C, for example, the wind chill temperature is
25C at 20 km/h winds and 29C at 60 km/h winds. That is, a person exposed
to 0C windy air at 20 km/h will feel as cold as a person exposed to 25C
calm air (air motion under 5 km/h). For heat transfer purposes, a standing
man can be modeled
as a 30-cm-diameter, 170-cm-long vertical cylinder with both the top and
bottom surfaces insulated and with the side surface at an average
temperature of 34C. For a convection heat transfer coefficient of 15 W/m2K,
calculate the rate of heat loss from this man by convection in still air at 20C.
What would your answer be if the convection heat transfer coefficient is
increased to 30 W/m2K as a result of winds?
What is the wind chill temperature in this case? (336W, 672W, 6oC)
3.
A concrete wall with a surface area of 20 m2 and a thickness of 0.30 m
separates conditioned room air from ambient air. The temperature of the
inner surface of the wall (T1) is maintained at 25C. (a) Determine the heat
loss Q (W) through the concrete wall for three thermal conductivity values of
(0.75, 1, and 1.25 W/mK) and outer wall surface temperatures of T2 5 215,
210, 25, 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 38 C (a total of 11 data points for each
thermal conductivity value).Tabulate the results for all three cases in one
table. Also provide a computer generated graph [Heat loss, Q (W) vs. Outside
wall temperature, T2 (C)] for the display of your results. The results for all

three cases should be plotted on the same graph.(b) Discuss your results for
the three cases
4.
. In many manufacturing plants, individuals are often working around high
temperature surfaces. Exposed hot surfaces that are potential for thermal
burns on human skin
tissue are considered to be hazards in the workplace. Metallic surface of
temperature above 70C is considered extremely high temperature in the
context of thermal burn, where skin tissue damage can occur
instantaneously upon contact with the
hot surface. Consider an AISI 1010 carbon steel strip (= 7832 kg/m3) of 2
mm thick and 3 cm wide that is conveyed into a chamber to be cooled at a
constant speed of 1 m/s. The steel strip enters the cooling chamber at
597C. Determine the amount of heat rate that needed to be removed so
that the steel strip exits the chamber at 47C to avoid instantaneous thermal
burn upon accidental contact with skin tissue. Discuss
how the conveyance speed can affect the heat rate needed to be removed
from the steel strip in the cooling chamber. (176 kW)

Cooling
Chamber

Steel strip
1m/s

Tin= 597oC

T out =

47oC
5.
Consider a house with a floor space of 200 m2 and an average height of 3 m
at sea level, where the standard atmospheric pressure is 101.3 kPa. Initially
the house is at a uniform temperature of 10C. Now the electric heater is
turned on, and the heater runs until the air temperature in the house rises to
an average value of 22C. Calculate how much heat is absorbed by the air
assuming some air escapes through the cracks as
the heated air in the house expands at constant pressure. Also, find the cost
of this heat if the unit cost of electricity in that area is $0.075/kWh.(9038 kJ;
$0.19)

6.
Liquid ethanol is a flammable fluid and can release vapors that form
explosive mixtures at temperatures above its flashpoint at 16.6C. In a
chemical plant, liquid ethanol
(cp 5 2.44 kJ/kgK, = 789 kg/m3) is being transported in a pipe with an
inside diameter of 5 cm. The pipe is located in a hot area with the presence
of ignition source, where an estimated 20 kW of heat is added to the ethanol.
Your task, as an engineer, is to design a pumping system to transport the
ethanol safely and to prevent fire hazard. If the inlet temperature of the
ethanol is 10C, determine the volume flow rate that is necessary to keep
the temperature of the ethanol in the pipe below its flashpoint. (0.00157
m3/s)
.

20 kW

Liquid ethanol
Tin= 10oC
Tout
7.
A series of experiments were conducted by passing 40C air over a long 25
mm diameter cylinder with an embedded electrical heater. The objective of
these experiments was to determine the power per unit length required
(W/L) to
maintain the surface temperature of the cylinder at 300C for different air
velocities (V ). The results of these experiments are given in the following
table:
V (m/s)
1
2
4
8
12
W /L (W/m) 450 658 983 1507 1963
(a) Assuming a uniform temperature over the cylinder, negligible radiation
between the cylinder surface and surroundings, and steady state conditions,
determine the convection heat transfer coefficient (h) for each velocity (V ).
Plot the results in terms of h (W/m2K) vs. V (m/s). Provide computer
generated graph for the display of your results and tabulate the data used
for the graph.
(b) Assume that the heat transfer coefficient and velocity can be expressed
in the form of h = CVn.. Determine the values of the constants C and n from

the results of part (a) by plotting h vs. V on log-log coordinates and choosing
a C value that assures a match at V = 1 m/s and then varying n to get the
best fit.
8.
A spherical interplanetary probe, with a diameter of 2 m, is sent out into the
solar system. The probe surface is made of material having an emissivity of
0.9 and an absorptivity of 0.1. Signals from the sensors monitoring the probe
surface temperatures are indicating an average value of 40C for a space
temperature of 0 K. If the electronics inside the probe is generating heat at a
rate of 100 W/m3, what is the incident radiation rate on the probe surface. (
14715 W)