MECH 353 Heat Transfer: Homework #5

Due: 3/16/2011, Due at the beginning of class

Problem 1 20 points

Steel balss 12 mm in diameter are annealed by heating to 1150 K and then slowly
cooling to 400 K in an air environment for which T∞,o =325 K and h=20 W/m2 K.
Assuming the properties of the steel to be k=40 W/m K, density of 7800 kg/m3 and
c=600 J/kg K, estimate the cooling time for the required process.

Problem 2 20 points

The base plate of an iron has a thickness of L= 7 mm and is made from an aluminum
alloy (density 2800 kg/m3 , c=900 J/kg K, k=180 W/m K, emittance of 0.80). An
electric resistance heater is attached to the inner surface of the plate, while the outer
surface is exposed to ambient air and large surroundings at T∞,o =Tsur =298 K. The
areas of both the inner and outer surfaces are A=0.040 m2 . If a uniform heat flux of

Figure 1

1.25 x 104 W/m2 is applied to the inner surface of the base plate and the convection
coefficient of the outer surface is h=10 W/m2 K, estimate the time required for the
plate to reach a temperature of 408 K.
MECH 353 HW #5

Problem 3 20 points

For the same steel balls in problem 1 now the temperature varies as a function of
time as shown:

T(t) = 325K + at

where a=0.1875 K/s. Find an expression for the ball temperature as a function of
time. Include a plot of the ball temperature from t=0 to 1 hour.

Problem 4 20 points

A thick black-painted wood block at 20o C is subjected to constant solar flux of 1250
W/m2 . If the absorptance of the block is 0.92 what is the temperature of the exposed
surface after a time of 20 minutes? What is the temperature if the block were made
of aluminum?

Problem 5 20 points

Thermal energy storage systems often used packed beds of solid spheres as the storage
medium. Then hot gas or liquid is flowed over the surface of the spheres to add heat
to the storage system. COnsider a packed bed of 75 mm diameter aluminum spheres
and a charging process for which gas enters the storage at temperature of Tg,i =300o C.
If the initial sphere temperature is Ti =25o C, how long does it take for a sphere to
accumulate 90% of the maximum possible thermal energy? What is the corresponding
temperature in the center of the sphere?

Figure 2