Dimensionless Numbers & their Significance

Nomenclature:
D = diameter of pipe
DH = Hydraulic diameter
L = Length of the pipe
Lch = characteristic length
R = Length through which conduction occurs.
u = mean characteristic velocity of the object relative to the fluid.
Vch = Characteristic velocity
Cp = specific heat capacity at constant pressure.
k = thermal conductivity
= dynamic viscosity of the fluid
= density of fluid.
DAB = mass diffusivity
h = heat transfer coefficient.
g = acceleration due to earths gravity.
t = characteristic time
= Kinematic viscosity of fluid.
= Thermal diffusivity
= volumetric thermal expansion coefficient ( = 1/T for ideal fluids, T =
absolute temperature)
Ts = surface temperature
T = Bulk Temperature

Significance:

Ratio of Inertial forces to viscous forces.

Primarily used to analyse different flow regimes namely Laminar,

Turbulent, or both.

When Viscous forces are dominant its a laminar flow & when Inertial
forces are dominant it is a Turbulent flow.

Significance:

Depends only on fluid & its properties. It is also ratio of velocity

boundary layer to thermal boundary layer

Pr = small, implies that rate of thermal diffusion (heat) is more than the
rate of momentum diffusion (velocity).

Also the thickness of thermal boundary layer is much larger than the
velocity boundary layer.

Significance:

Analogous of Prandtl number in Heat Transfer.

Used in fluid flows in which there is simultaneous momentum & mass

diffusion.

It is also ratio of fluid boundary layer to mass transfer boundary

layer thickness.

To find mass transfer coefficient using Sherwood number, we

need Schmidt number.

Significance:

Ratio of thermal diffusivity to mass diffusivity.

Fluid flow with simultaneous Heat & mass transfer by convection

It is also ratio of Schmidt number to Prandtl number

Significance:

Heat transported by convection to Heat transported by conduction.

Product of Re & Pr for Pe(HT) & product of Re & SC for Pe(MT)

Significance:

It is the ratio of heat transferred to the fluid to the heat transported

by the fluid (ratio of Nusselt number to Peclet number)

Used to find heat transfer in forced convection flows.

St(HT) = Nu/(Re.Pr) & St(MT) = Sh/(Re.Sc)

Significance:
A) Sherwood Number:
Ratio of Convective to diffusive mass transport. Used in mass
transfer operations.
Analogous of Nusselt number in Heat transfer OR Sherwood number
is Nusselt number for mass transfer.
B) Nusselt Number
Ratio of convective to conductive heat transfer coefficient across the
boundary layer.
Low Nu => conduction is more => Laminar flow
High Nu => convection is more=> Turbulent flow.

It can also be viewed as conduction resistance to convection

resistance of the material.

Free convection: Nu = f(Ra, Pr)

Forced Convection: Nu = f(Re, Pr)

Significance:

Ratio of Buoyancy force to viscous force in natural convection.

Reynolds number is used in forced convection of fluid flow,

whereas Grashof number is used in natural convection.

Significance:

used in unsteady state (transient) heat transfer conditions.

ratio of heat transfer resistance inside the body to heat transfer

resistance at the surface of the body. OR ratio of internal thermal
resistance to external thermal resistance .

Shows the variation of temperature inside the body w.r.t to time.

Bi < 0.1 => heat transfer resistance inside the body is very low =>
inside the body conduction takes place faster compared to convection at
the surface. => no temperature gradient inside the body (uniformity in
temperature) vice versa implies that Temperature is not uniform throughout
hte material volume.

Significance:

It shows the presence & strength of convection in a fluid body.

Heat transfer by Conduction within fluid < Critical value for that fluid <
Heat transfer by convection. (consequences of Ra values)

Product of Gr.Pr

Significance:

Characterizes laminar flow in a conduit OR transfer of heat by

streamline fluid flow in a pipe

In case of mass transfer, Pr is replaced by Sc.

Significance:

Ratio of rate of heat conduction to the rate of heat storage.

Used along with Biot number to solve transient state heat transfer
problems.

For mass transfer by diffusion, Fourier number for MT is used.

It can also be understood as current time to the time taken to reach

steady state.