Problem Set #8

Problem 10A.2: Heat loss from a rectangular fin

Calculate the heat loss from a rectangular fin (see Figure 10.7-1) for the following conditions:

Air temperature 350oF

Wall temperature 500oF
Thermal conductivity of fin 60 BTU/hr-ft-F
Thermal conductivity of air 0.0022 BTU/hr-ft-F
Heat transfer coefficient 120 BTU/hr-ft-F
Length of fin 0.2 ft
Width of fin 1.0 ft
Thickness of fin 0.16 in

Solution
Begin with Equation 10.7-14 we can obtain the following heat loss expression:
actual rate of heat loss from the fin
=
rate of heat loss from an isothermal fin at Tw

Q = 2WLh Tw Ta

in which is given by Equation 10.7-16:

tanh N hL2
= with N =
N kB
For the conditions given in this problem,
hL2 (120 BTU/hr ft2 F)(0.2 ft)2
N= = = 3.4641
kB BTU 0.08
60 ( ft)
hr ft2 F 12
and
tanh N tanh(3.4641)
= = = 0.2881
N 3.4641
As a result, the heat loss expression gives:
BTU
Q = 2WLh T0 Ta = 2 1.0 ft 0.2 ft 120 500 350 F 0.2881
hr ft 2 F
= 2074 BTU/hr
 Problem 10A.6: Insulating power of a wall

The "insulating power" of a wall can be measured by means of the arrangement shown in the
figure. One places a plastic panel against the wall. In the panel two thermocouples are mounted
flush with the panel surfaces. The thermal conductivity and thickness of the plastic panel are
known. From the measured steady-state temperatures shown in the figure (Figure 10A.6),
calculate:
(a) The steady-state heat flux through the wall (and panel):

Solution
Using Equation 10.6-9 and the data given for the plastic panel:
BTU
k12 (T1 T2 ) 0.075 (69 61 F)
q0 = = hr ft2 F = 14.3 Btu/hr ft2
(x2 x1) 0.502
( 12 ft)

(b) The "thermal resistance" (wall thickness divided by thermal conductivity).

Solution
The thermal resistance of the wall is:
T2 T3 (61 0 F) ft2 hr F
R23 = = = 4.2
q0 BTU BTU
14.3
hr ft2
 10B.2: Viscous heating in slit flow

Find the temperature profile for the viscous heating problem shown in Figure 10.4-2, when given
the following boundary conditions: at x=0, T=T 0; at x=b, qx=0.

Solution
Equation of Change for Energy (Equation 10.4-5):
vb 2
q x x = C1
b
B.C.#1: x=b at qx=0, so
vb 2
C1 = x
b

T vb 2 vb 2
k x + x =0
x b b

T b vb 2 x
= 1
x k b b

b vb 2 x2
T= x + C2
k b 2b
B.C. #2: x=0 at T=T0
T0 = 0 + C2 so C2 = T0

b2 vb 2 x 1 x vb2 x 1 x 2
T T0 = 1 =
k b b 2 b k b 2 b

Rearrange:
T T0 vb2 x 1 x 2
=
vb2 k b 2 b
k
 10B.6: Insulation thickness for a furnace wall.

A furnace wall consists of three layers: (i) a layer of heat-resistant or refractory brick, (ii) a layer
of insulating brick, and (iii) a steel plate, 0.25 in. thick, for mechanical protection. Calculate the
thickness of each layer of brick to give minimum total wall thickness if the heat loss through the
wall is to be 5000 BTU/ft2-hr, assuming that the layers are in excellent thermal contact. The
following information is available:

Material Maximum allowable Thermal conductivity Thermal conductivity

temperature (BTU/hr-ft-F) at (BTU/hr-ft-F) at
100oF 2000oF
Refractory Brick 2600oF 1.8 3.6
Insulating Brick 2000oF 0.9 1.8
Steel ---- 26.1 ----

Solution

Let the regions be labeled as follows:

Refractory brick: "01"
Insulating brick: "02"
Steel: "03"

We can use the formulas given in Equations 10.6-8, 9 and 10.

The minimum wall thickness will occur when T 1=2000oF, so we should increase the temperature
to be on the safe side, so let To=2500 oF. So for region "01" the thickness must be

1
k01 T0 T1 4.1 + 3.6 2500 2000
x1 x 0 = =2
q0 5000

Thus, for Refractory brick,

x1 x0 = 0.39

Here we have taken the thermal conductivity of the refractory brick to be the arithmetic average
of the values of the thermal conductivity at 2000oF and 2500oF, the latter of which was estimated
by linear extrapolation from the given data.

For the remaining two regions, we add Equations 10.6-9 and 10.6-10 to get:

x 2 x1 x 3 x 2
T1 T3 = q 0 +
k12 k23

Taking the steel temperature to be 100,

 1
x 2 x1 (0.25) 12
2000 100 = 5000 +
1 26.1
2 0.9 + 1.8
So for insulating brick,

x2 x1 = 0.51 ft