Heat Transfer Engineering

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The Critical Thickness of Insulation

A. AZIZ

To cite this article: A. AZIZ (1997) The Critical Thickness of Insulation, Heat Transfer Engineering,
18:2, 61-91, DOI: 10.1080/01457639708939897

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01457639708939897

Published online: 23 Oct 2007.

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The Critical Thickness
of Insulation

A. AZIZ
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, USA

The theory of critical thickness of insulation for cylindrical and spherical geometries is discussed in a
comprehensive and methodical manner. The article begins with the introduction of the classical
analysis, which assumes surface convection with a constant heat transfer coefficient, h. Next, various
modifications of the basic theory are discussed in detail. These modification allow for:

The variation of h with outside radius, ro (constant-property forced convection)

The variation of h with ro ' with temperature-dependent fluid properties (variable-property forced
convection)
Circumferential variation of h with forced convection
The variation of h with outside radius and the temperature difference between the outside surface and
the surroundings (natural convection)
Surface radiation
Combined radiation and natural convection
Combined radiation, natural convection, and surface heat release due to change of phase of the
surrounding fluid
Effects of radiation, inclination, and insulation opacity

The last three sections of the article consider the optimum configurations for a circular pipe covered
with insulations of equilateral polygonal, rectangular, and eccentric circular shapes. For polygonal and
rectangular geometries, the two-dimensional conduction analysis reveals that the conduction for the
critical configuration is the same whether the outside surface boundary condition is that of convection
or constant temperature. This permits the use of conduction shape factors to determine the optimum
configuration for polygonal and rectangular insulations. The analysis leads to the concept of critical
perimeter, which is more general than the concept of critical radius. The optimum sizing of eccentric
circular insulation, however, requires a complete two-dimensional analysis. A total of 12 examples
have been included to illustrate the various theoretical models described in the article. The detail and
the number of examples makes the article pedagogically as well as practically appealing.

When a planar surface that is losing heat is
covered with insulation, the effect is always to
reduce the heat dissipation. With the total tem-
perature drop fixed, the addition of insulation
causes the conduction resistance of the system to
increase but, because there is no change in exter-
nal surface area, the surface resistance (convec-
tive, radiative, or both) remains unchanged. Thus
Address correspondence to A. Aziz, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258-0001.
heat transfer engineering
the total resistance is always increased when a
planar surface is insulated. However, with cylin-
drical and spherical systems, the addition of insu-
lation, while increasing the conduction resistance,
lowers the surface resistance because of the in-
creased surface area. The total resistance can
increase or decrease depending on which effect
prevails. The critical thickness of insulation corre-
sponds to the condition when the total resistance
is minimized. For a given overall temperature
difference, this condition leads to maximum heat
vol. 18 no. 2 1997 61
dissipation. Alternatively, for a given heat transfer
rate, the critical thickness results in a minimum
overall temperature difference.
Because the critical radius is typically small, the
heat transfer enhancement due to insulation oc-
curs only when the radius of the bare cylinder or
sphere is smaller than the corresponding critical
radius. This situation arises only for small-diame-
ter wires or tubes or spheres and with a weak
surface heat transfer mechanism. For example,
~he heat ~issipation (and hence the current-carry-
mg capacity) of a small-diameter electrical con- «s.r;
ductor operating in a natural-convective environ-
Figure 1 System with cylindrical or spherical insulation.
m.ent ma~ be significantly improved by wrapping it
with a~ Insulation of critical thickness. Similarly,
the buildup of frost on a small-diameter refrigera-
Heat loss by simultaneous convection and radia-
tion tube can increase (not decrease) the heat
tion
transfer until the thickness attains the critical
The effect of surface heat generation due to
value.
change of phase of the ambient fluid at the
However, the concept of critical radius of insu-
external boundary
lation breaks down when the shape of the insula-
Effects of radiation, inclination, and insulation
tion is not that of a cylindrical or spherical shell.
opacity
For example, the tubes in a flat-plate solar collec-
tor are sometimes housed in square channels
This is followed by a discussion of the classical
(square insulation). Another example of noncircu-
theory and its refinements for the spherical geom-
Jar insulation is found in undercarpet flat cables
etry. The final section of the article focuses on the
which carry rectangular insulation around them:
theory of the critical perimeter and its application
R~ce~t research has shown that a more general
to insulations that take the shape of an equilateral
cntenon for maximum heat dissipation is that of a
polygon or a rectangle. Here the case of a tube
critical perimeter of insulation, which applies not
sitting eccentrically in circular insulation is also
only to the cylindrical and spherical geometries
discussed, to demonstrate the failure of the con-
but is also valid for equilateral polygonal and
cept of the critical perimeter.
rectangular-shaped insulations.
A total of 12 examples are included to illustrate
The purpose of this article is to provide a
the ~pplicability of the various analyses to engi-
methodical and comprehensive exposition of the
neering problems. This, together with the fact that
theo~ ~f critical insulation and its engineering
th~ discussion throughout the article is fairly de-
applications. The coverage begins with the presen-
tailed, makes the work not only pedagogically
tatio~ of t.he classical theory for a cylindrical sys-
use~ul, but also convenient for use by practicing
tem In which the surface heat dissipation mode is
engineers.
modeled as convection with a constant heat trans-
fer coefficient, h, Next, the refinements of the
basic theory are discussed. These refinements in-
1 BASIC THEORY FOR CYLINDRICAL
clude allowance for
INSULATION .
The variation of Iz with outside insulation radius
.
as In a forced-convection situation
' . Co~sider a cylinder of radius ri and length L
The variation of Iz with outside radius and the With Its surface maintained at temperature, T as
temperature difference between the outside shown in Figure 1.1 The cylinder is covered to a
surface and the surroundings, as in a natural- radius r0 with a layer of insulating material having
convection situation a thermal conductivity k. The outer surface of the
The t~mperature dependence of fluid properties insulation loses heat by convection to an environ-
The circumferential variation of Iz within a two-
1 The subscript i does not refer to the inside of the tube but to
dimensional conduction model the inside of the insulation that is wrapped around to the tube. The
Pure surface radiation heat loss temptation to call it the outer tube radius, '0' should be resisted.

62 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997

ment at temperature T". It is assumed that the . Observe that when the bare tube heat dissipa-
convective heat transfer coefficient h is constant tion,
and that the addition of insulation does not appre-
ciably alter the temperature To'
It is shown in many elementary heat transfer
textbooks [1, 2] that the heat transfer rate for the is used as q in Eq. (6), the result is
system of Figure 1 is given by
1
Q = Bi, = In(P) + (l/P Bi.)

The function Q is plotted in Figure 2 for a

range of values of Bi; I. These curves are also
where In('o/,)/27TkL is the conduction resis-
given by Schneider [3]. Note that the curve for
tance of the insulation and l/h(27T'oL) is the
B( I = 1 exhibits a maximum at P = 1, that is,
convection resistance at the outer surface of the
when the cylinder is bare. As Bi;1 increases or
insulation. As '0 increases, the conduction resis-
Bi, decreases, Qrnax occurs at progressively higher
tance increases while the convection resistance
values of P, indicating that the critical radius, '0 c
decreases. For a given overall temperature differ-
increases as Bi, decreases. The curves for Bi , < '1
ence T; - Too, q is maximized when the total resis-
show that the addition of insulation (increasing P)
tance R r , given by
causes the heat transfer to increase until the
maximum is reached at '0 = '0 c ' As the insula-
In(,o/') 1 tion radius increases beyond the' critical value, the
(2)
Rr = 27TkL + h(27T'oL) heat dissipation from the system begins to de-
crease and continues to do so for all insulation
radii. For situations in which r, is greater than
is minimized. Setting dRrld,o = 0 gives the criti-
cal radius '0 c as
'0 c = k /h; that is, when Bi, > 1, the addition of
insulation serves its intended purpose of retarding
the heat flow.
k The application of the basic theory is now illus-
, =-
o,C h trated with an example.
Example 1. A 4-cm-radius tube whose surface is
and with = '0 '0
C' the second derivative of R,
maintained at 80°C is losing heat by natural con-
vection to room air at 20°C. The heat transfer
with respect to ,; is positive,
coefficient is h = 3 W /m 2 K, and the insulation
that has been added has a thermal conductivity of
d 2R r k = 0.18 W /m K. Does the insulation increase the
(4)
d,2o To=ro• c
heat dissipation from the tube? If so, determine
the critical thickness of insulation and the maxi-
mum heat dissipation from the tube. At what
and hence R: is a minimum and the heat transfer radius beyond the critical value does the heat loss
rate is a maximum. Use of Eq, (3) in Eq, (l) gives
once again reach the value for the bare tube?
the maximum heat transfer rate, qrnax:
Solution: The critical radius of insulation, '0, c'
is
27TkL(T; - Too)
(5) k
qrnax = 1 + In(,o j,)
r., = h
Rearrangement of Eq, (1) yields the dimension- 0.18
less heat transfer rate Q as a function of P = '0/'; = -3- = 0.06m
and Bi, = hr.rk:
= 6cm
1
(6) Because '0 c > 'j, the addition of insulation will
increase the heat dissipation from the tube, The
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 63
 4

ro
p=-
ri

Figure 2 Variation of heat dissipation with radius ratio for a cylindrical system.

critical thickness is 6 - 4 = 2 cm. The maximum The convective Biot number Bi, is
heat dissipation is given by Eq. (5).
hr 3(0.04)
Bi =_1 = _
27TkL(Tj - T,) e k 0.18
qrnllx = 1 + In ( 'o,c jr)
j = 0.667

27T(0.18)(l)(80 - 20) and using the values of qbllre and Bi, in Eq. (6)
=------,---,--- yields
1 + In(6j4)
1.50
= 48.28 Wjm In P + P = 1.50

The heat dissipation from the bare tube is which can be solved by trial and error to give
P = 2.396 or '0
= (2.396)(4) = 9.59 em. Thus it is
only after 9.59 - 4 = 5.59 em of insulation has
been added that q will be lowered below qbare'
= (27T )(0.04)(1)(3)(80 - 20) This might be considered a high value for the
insulation thickness, and its addition may not be
= 45.2Wjm economically feasible.
64 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
2 REFINED ANALYSES FOR CYLINDRICAL Setting dq rdr.;
INSULATION
2Vro,c 2k *
__ Pr- 1/ 3
)I/m
Reo , c (variable h)
This section discusses the various refinements
= ---
/I ( em
of the classical theory of Section 1. These refine- (10)
ments, which were briefly mentioned in the intro-
ductory paragraphs, will be considered in detail Equation (10) gives the dimensionless critical
here. Reynolds number, Reo co when the variation of h
with ro is taken into 'account. For the classical
case of constant h, ro,c = kjh, which makes the
2.1 Forced Convection with Constant Properties left-hand side of Eq. (8) unity. Thus, for the con-
stant-h case,
If the cylindrical system of Figure 1 is cooled by
forced convection in cross flow, the average con- 2Vro c 2k *
__ Pr- 1/ 3
)I/m
Reo , c = - -/I' - (constant h)
vective heat transfer coefficient, h, varies with the ( e
outside radius r o , and therefore cannot be re- (11)
garded as constant as stipulated in the analysis of
Section 1. This variation of h with ro is given by Because the values of e and m depend on Reo,
Incropera and Dewitt [2] as Eqs. (10) and (11) were solved iteratively by Mus-
sulman and Warrington [4] for Pr = 1 and for a
2hro range of values of k*. Their results, which are
-- =
k e Rem Pr 1/ 3
0
(7) displayed in Figure 3, show that the classical the-
r ory overestimates the critical radius by an order of
magnitude. For example, at k* = 3, the variable-h
where Reo = 2Vroj/l is the Reynolds number analysis predicts Reo,c = 11.2 while the constant-h
based on the outside radius ro ' Pr is the Prandtl theory gives Reo,c = 134.
number, V is the flow velocity, k r is the thermal
conductivity of the fluid, /I is the kinematic viscos-
ity of the fluid, and e and m are constants. The
values of e and m, which depend on the Reynolds
number, are given in Table 1.
After rewriting Eq. (7) in the form

hr; e
- = -- Rem Pr 1/ 3 (8)
k 2k* 0

where k* = kjk r, Mussulman and Warrington [4]

substituted Eq. (8) into Eq. (1) to obtain

(9)
4

Table 1 The constants C and m

ILL_--L_ _---'---_ _-'----_-----'- _ _---'---_----J
Re C m I 3 5 9 II 13

0.4-4 0.989 0.330

4-40 0.911 0.385 Figure 3 Dimensionless critical radius for forced-convection
40-4,000 0.683 0.466 cooling of a cylindrical system. The discontinuities in the
4,000-40,000 0.193 0.618 solid curve are due to discontinuities in the correlation for h.
40,000-400,000 0.027 0.705 (Adapted from [4].)
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 65
 Substitution of Eqs. (10) and (11) into Eq, (9) by the constant-h theory? If the inside surface
gives the maximum heat transfer, qrn;": temperature of the insulation is not to exceed
80°C, what is the maximum power the conductor
qrnax can dissipate per unit length?
Qrnllx = 27TkL(Tj - T.) Solution: The properties of air at the average
temperature,
1
(1/m) + lnl Re , eiRe) 80 + 20
= 50°C or 323 K
2
(variable II) (12)
are
qmax 1
Qrnllx = 27TkL(Tj - Too) 1 + In(Reo,cIRe) k f = 0.028 W 1m K v = 18.08 X 10- 6 m 2 Is

(13) Pr = 0.707
(constant h)
The thermal conductivity ratio, k", is
where Rei:: 2Vr;/v is the Reynolds number
based on inside radius ri , The results for Rca c k 0.14
from Figure 3 can be used to compute Qrnax from k* = - = - - = 5
kf 0.028
Eqs, (12) and (13), The results for Q rnax are shown
in Figure 4 for Rei = 50 and 500, The classical
Assuming that m = 0.466, C = 0.983, and Pr =
analysis (constant h) underestimates the heat
0.707, it follows from Eq. (10) that Reo,c = 78.94.
transfer rate significantly.
Thus
Example 2. A O.5-cm-diameter electrical con-
ductor is to be insulated with polystyrene having a 2Vr
thermal conductivity of k = 0.14 W1m K. Air at Reo,c = --!!.:..:.. = 78.94
20°C flowing in cross flow at 20 cmy's cools the v
conductor. Calculate the thickness of the insula- Because Reo,c lies in the range 40-4,000, the
tion so that heat dissipated to air is maximized. assumed values of m and C arc correct. Using the
How does this compare with the value predicted definition of Reo,C'

78.94v (78.94)(18.08 X 10- 6 )

ro • c =
2V (2)(20 X 10- 2 )
- - Variable h, eq (12)
= 0.00357 m or 0.357 cm
- - - ConstlLDt h, eq (13)
1.5 The critical thickness of insulation is 0.357-
0.250 = 0.107 ern.
A repetition of the calculation using Eq, (11)
gives
J 2Vr o c
Re o,c = - -
v ' =406

Because the computed value of Reo,c lies in the

0.5
range 40-4,000, the assumed values of m and C
arc correct. Hence

406v
r =--
2 3 456 7 8 O,c 2V
k
k"=-
k, (406)(18.08 X 10- 6)
Figure 4 Maximum dimensionless heat dissipation from a (2)(20 X 10- 2 )
forced convection cooled cylindrical system. (Adapted from
[4].) = 0.01835 m or 1.835 ern
66 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
This gives the critical thickness for constant h as When Eqs. (14) and (15) are put into Eq. (7), the
1.80 - 0.25 = 1.55 ern. This shows that the classi- expression for the convective heat transfer be-
cal critical thickness is roughly 1.55/0.07 = 14.5 comes
times greater than the correct value predicted by
the variable-h theory.
For Reo,c = 78.94, Table 1 gives C = 0.683 and (16)
m = 0.466. Using Eq. (8), the convective heat
transfer coefficient h is calculated as where

Ckf (Re O,c i" Pr l / 3

h = -"'----'-----
2ro , c

and
(0.683)(0.028)(78.94) 0.466( O. 707) 1/3
(2)(0.0036) C [2V]m Pr l / 3
C = -k(T.) --
I 2 00v(Too)
= 18.1 W/m 2 K
Let dRT/dro = 0 in Eq. (2), while noting that h
The maximum heat transfer, qrnax can be evalu- is a function of roo The condition for maximum q
ated as then becomes

(17)

27T(0.14)(1.0)(80 - 20) which reduces to Eq. (3) for constant h. Using Eq.
(16) and noting that cPo is also a function of ro'
In(0.357/0.25) + [0.14/18.1(0.00357)] the derivative is obtained as
= 21.1 W/m

The maximum power the critically insulated con-

ductor can dissipate is 21.1 W/m. The same result
is obtained when Eq, (12) is used.
= C[rm( 3- 7m) (cPo + 1) -(7m+I/4) ~ BcPo
1 0 4 2 2 Bro

_ (cPo + 1 )(3-7ffl)/4]
2.2 Forced Convection with Variable Properties +mrm I
o 2
The use of the correlation of Eq. (7) requires
that the thermal properties of k f and v which =hr [( 3 - 7m )( 2 )-
1 - o
BcP+ - m] (18)
appear in Reo be evaluated at the mean film o 4 cPo + 1 2 Bro ro
temperature, Tf = (To + Too)/ 2. This is somewhat
complicated because To itself is a function of roo To find BcPo/ Bro' consider the temperature dis-
For gases, the dependence of kf and v may be tribution in the insulation,
assumed to be of the form
(19)
(14)
which gives

(15) BT I To -T;
(20)
Br '-'0 = ro In(ro/r)
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 67
 Next consider the heat transfer q through the where Reo,e = 2Vro,c1vT~. After elimination of
insulation, hr; e between Eqs. (27) and (28), the critical Reo e
is obtained as '

(21)
2k*m 1/ 3
) 11m
Re o,e =
( -C- Pr- F( '1'0
-I. ) (29)
which gives
where
aqo 2rrk [ To - 1'; ]
aro In(r,,/r) ro In(rolr) - (aTol ar o)
(22)

Combining Eqs. (20) and (22), one obtains

x( 2 )3-7m I4]l/m k
k" = - (30)
aq cPo + 1 kf
(23)

A comparison of Eqs. (10) and (30) shows that

For q to be a maximum, aq1 sr 0 = 0, which means F( cPo) serves as a correction factor for the case of
that variable properties. Mussulman and Warrington
[4] calculated F( cPO> for 1 < k* s 40 and for OJ =
1';IT~ :;; 2 and found the values to be within 2%
(24)
of unity, indicating that the influence of tempera-
ture dependent k f and v on the critical radius is
small.
The conductive-convective heat flux balance at
r =ro gives

2.3 Forced Convection with a Circumferential

-aTI h
= --(T h
- T.) = --T..(cP -1) Variation of h .
ar '-'0 k 0 00 k 00 0

(25)
In both Sections 2.1 and 2.2, the convective
heat transfer coefficient h was allowed to vary
and from Eqs. (24) and (25) it follows that with the outer radius of the insulation, roo How-
ever, experimental studies of convective heat
acPo h transfer from an isothermal cylinder in cross flow
- = - -(cP - 1) (26) [5] indicate that h also varies circumferentially as
ar o k 0

a function of the angular coordinate O. This im-

plies that conduction in the insulation is two-di-
Use of Eq. (26) to replace acPol aro in Eq. (18)
mensional, that is, T = Ttr, 0).
and then use of Eq. (18) to replace d/dro(hro) in
Using a two-dimensional conduction model,
Eq. (17) yields the final result. After some alge-
Sparrow and Prata [6] studied the effect of h =
braic manipulation, it appears as
h( 0) on the critical radius. They considered the
system of Figure 1 in cross flow with air at velocity
hro,e 4m(cPo + 1) V and temperature Too and with the angular coor-
--= (27)
k cPo (1 + Tm) + 7(1 - m) dinate 0 measured in a counterclockwise direction
from the forward stagnation point. To determine
From Eq, (16), the critical radius, the system was assumed to have
fixed heat dissipation (fixed q1L), and the varia-
tion of 1'; - T~ with ro was studied. The value of
C l/3 (cP + 1 )3-7m I4 ro giving a minimum value of 1'; - T~ identified
hro,e = -k(T..)
2 o,e Pr
Rem 00
0
2 . (28)
the critical value.
68 heattrensfer engineering yol. 18 no. 2 1997
 For two-dimensional conduction in the insula- Sparrow and Prata computed the results for c/Jj
tion, the temperature distribution c/J is governed as a function of P for k" = 2, 5, 10, and 15, and
by Re, = 10, 25, 75, and 100. They found that no
critical radius existed for k* = 2. For k* = 5, the
a2c/J 1 ac/J 1 a2c/J critical radius existed for Rei = 10 and 25 but not
-+ 2 - - + - -2- = 0 (31) for higher Reynolds numbers. At k* = 10 and 15,
aR R aR R a()2
the results exhibited critical radius for each of the
with four values of Rei' A sample of their results is
shown in Figure 5, which corresponds to k* = 10.
(32a) For all four Reynolds numbers, the critical value
of P, which corresponds to k* = 10. For all four
and Reynolds numbers, the critical value of P, which
corresponds to the minimum of c/Jj for the h =
ac/J h( ()) model, is less than that for the h '* h( ()
-(P, () = -Bi e c/J (32b) model, which assumes a circumferentially aver-
aR aged value of h and radial conduction only. For
where example, for Rei = 10, P, = 26 for the h = h(()
model and 36 for the h '* h( () model.
T - T. r Figure 5 also shows that Pc decreases as the
c/J= q/kL'" R=- flow Reynolds number Rei increases. At Re, =
r, 150, for example, P, = 1.9 for the h = h(() model
and 2.3 for the h '* h( () model. These values are
h«()rj
Bi = - - - considerably lower than the values for Re, = 10
e k already given.
It can also be seen from Figure 5 that the
Here Bi, is an angle-dependent Biot number. h = hi; () model predicts higher values of c/Ji than
The Biot number can be related to the angular those predicted by the h '* h( () model. As shown
Nusselt number, NUe = 2roh«()/kf , as by Sparrow and Prata [6] the same behavior is
manifested at other values of k", When the re-
. 1 (NU e) sults for all values of k* are considered, the
(33)
Ble ="2 k*P h = h( () model is seen to predict c/Jj values 4-10%
higher than those predicted by the h '* h( ()
The angular Nusselt number, Nuj; is a function of model.
Reo = 2Vr o/v = P Re, and the angle (). Thus, for
a fixed value of Rei and chosen values of P and
(), NUe can be found, which, in turn, can be used 2.4 Natural-Convection Cooling
in Eq. (33) to obtain Bi.;
However, Eqs. (31) and (32) cannot be solved In natural-convective cooling, the convective
directly because c/Ji is not known. In fact, the heat transfer coefficient depends on both radius
purpose of solving these equations is to find c/Jj' ro and the temperature difference, (To - T",). The
Choosing c/Ji = 1, Sparrow and Prata [6] solved correlation describing this dependence is given by
Eqs. (31) and (32) using a finite-difference ap- Incropera and Dewitt [2] as
proach. These results were then used to compute
the conductive heat flow q' at r = ro ' which is u»,
given by the integral
k = CRa~,o (36)
f

q'
- = -
21T a()
-
I Pd() (34)
where Ra , 0 = 8g f3(To - T",)r; / va is the
q fo aR R-P Rayleigh number and C and n are constants.
Table 2 gives the values of C and n. Rearrange-
The value of c/Jj corresponding to q' follows as ment of Eq. (36) allows h to be expressed as

q
(35) (37)
q'
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 69
 1.04 r - - - - - - - - - - - - ,

1.00 0.80 \,

1le;=25 6.0%
, 1'-----
\ . 1 I
0.96 ,, ,,
" ',.
0.92 "'",,- L----·- ...... _--------- ...

~\..., 0.88 L-----:,.L--.,,-L-----,L:------=":--6="00.74 51-------':-----:':--...,,-L----'

I ~ 10 25
~tI'

" 0.72 r - - - - - - - - - - - - , 0.54 r - - - - - - - - - - - ,

-if

0.68 to . I 1le;=75 I - - h = h ( 8 )052 18.;=1501

~
'
\, ----- h"h(8)
0.64 - \ 0.50
',\ ZI%

0.60 -
"
'","
617°;'
j--~---- 0.48 ""',... J-------
, I I I
4 6 8 0.46 ---=---~------,!
L,
4
2
1'0/1',

Figure 5 Dimensionless temperature variation with radius ratio for the cylindrical system: comparison of results for constant h
and circumfercntially variable h. (Adapted from [6).)

where It is observed from Eqs. (24) and (25) that

(40)

With h given by Eq. (37), the convective heat and it follows from Eqs. (39) and (40) that
loss from the outer surface of the insulation be-

(l-m )k
comes
(41)
'o,c = 1+ n h

q=
This result was first reported by Sparrow [7].
Equations (38) and (41) must be solved itera-
(38) tively to obtain the critical value of '0 correspond-
ing to qrnax' and it is convenient to write the
equations in dimensionless form before attempt-
Setting aq / ii, 0 = 0 in Eq. (38) gives the ex-
ing the iterative solution.
tremum of q,
Introducing h", cPo, and P,
ot;
(39)
iJ,o (42a)

Table 2 The constants C and n (42b)

Rao,o C n
1O- l lI_IO- 2 0.675 0.058 and
10- 2_102 1.020 0.148
102-10 4 0.850 0.188
104_10 7 0.480 0.250 (42c)
107_10 ' 2 0.125 0.333

70 heallransler engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997

 Eq. (37) can be expressed as calculated as
8g {3('T; - Too)r?
h = h* cP; (43) R1,1a · · = - - - - - -
pm va
(8)(9.81)(1/293)(80 - 20)(0.0025)3
Next, a balance of the conductive and convective
(23.17 X 10 6)(3.36 X 10 5)
heat flows gives
= 322.6
27TkL(Tj - TO> Table 2 gives C = 0.850 and n = 0.188, so m =
q= 1 - 3n = 0.436. From Eq. (36),
In(ro/r)
Ckf
h* = - Ran.
1,1
2 r,

(0.850)(0.032)(322.6)
or, in dimensionless form, 2(0.0025)
= 16.1 W/m 2 K
1 - cPo = B'
-cjJ-o-n+"""1'--
>
len
n
I p (45) Now the Biot number, Bi., can be calculated:
h*r.
Bi =_'
k
where Bi, = h*rJk. The conduction heat flow q e

can be expressed in dimensionless form as (16.1)(0.0025)

0.16
1 - cPo
(46) = 0.25
In P
Substitution of the values of n, m, and Bi, into
For a given Hie> Eq. (45) can be solved by trial Eq. (45) gives
and error to find cPo as a function of P. This 1 - cP
result can then be substituted in Eq. (46) to obtain _~;-o = 0.25p0.564 In P (47)
cP U88
Q as a function of cPo and P. The value of P for
which Q attains a maximum gives the critical Equation (47) is solved for cPo for a number of
radius ratio P, = ro,elr;. This procedure has been values of P ranging from 2 to 5 by using the
outlined by Bejan [8] and is illustrated with an fsolve command in Maple V, Release 3.0 [9].
example. The result is then used in Eq. (46) to calculate Q.
Example 3. A cylindrical, current-carrying con- Table 3, which records the results for cPo and Q,
ductor has a radius of 0.25 ern. Because of the shows that the maximum Q is reached at P = 3.7,
high thermal conductivity of the conductor mate- giving ro = (3.7)(0.0025) = 0.00925 m or 0.925 cm.
rial, the temperature of the conductor is uniform Thus, the optimum thickness of insulation is 0.925
over the cross section and equal to 80°C. The - 0.250 = 0.675 cm.
conductor is to be sheathed with an insulating
material' having a thermal conductivity of
0.16 W/m K. The sheathed conductor operates in Table 3 Solution for 00 and Q
a natural-convective environment of air at 20°C. p cPo Q
Assuming that v = 23.17 X 10- 6 m 2/s, k = 0.032
W/mK, and a = 3.36 X 10- 5 m 2/s for air, calcu- 2.0 0.8027 0.2846
late the optimum thickness of the insulation to 3.0 0.6782 0.2929
3.6 0.6236 0.2938
allow the maximum heat dissipation from the con-
3.7 0.6156 0.2940 optimum
ductor. What is the maximum heat dissipated by 3.8 0.6078 0.2938
the conductor per unit length? 3.9 0.6002 0.2937
Solution: Because Rao,o is not known a priori, 4.0 0.5927 0.2936
the choice of C and n is based on Raj,j, which is 5.0 0.5304 0.2918

heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 71

 Because Qrnax = 0.2940, it follows from Eq. (46) with C = 1.06 and n = 0.25, and the fluid pro-
that perties evaluated at the film temperature, Tf =
(To + Too)j2. Their analysis led to the following
three equations:

= (27T )(0.2940)(0.16)(80 - 20) Ra. = 8g (3(~ - T)r~.c = 26.28k*4G( A.", .1. )

'.0 v(Too)a(T.J 'I'
0
'I'
= 17.73 W1m
(54)
Attention can now be focused on two other
analyses that are relevant to this discussion.
Balmer [10] noted that the correlation for h de-
scribed by Eq. (37) is accurate only within the
turbulent natural-convection regime. He therefore
proposed that the correlation of Churchill and (55)
Chu [11], which accurately covers both laminar
and turbulent regimes, be used instead of Eq. (37).
The Churchill-Chu correlation is and

2 cP; - 1 2( cPo + 1) ( Raj 0 )

2hr o 0.387 Ra~~ ---'--- = 1+ In - - ' (56)
-- = 0.60 + 8 27 (48) cPo - 1 (7cPo + 13) Ra;.;
k/ ( 11 + (0.559(e,)'/"1 / )
where
5 12
for 10- < Ra o • o < 10 • By rewntmg Eq. (48),
the dependence of h on ro and (To - T.J can be
expressed explicitly as

and
(49)
8g (3(~ - Too)r?
Ra, , = ----,---,---,--
If Eq. (49) is used to find the critical radius, the '.' v(Too) a (T,,)
result is
T, is the absolute temperature at the inner radius
r;, To is the absolute temperature at the outer
(50) radius ro , Too is the absolute environment temper-
ature, k is the thermal conductivity of the insulat-
where A is one of the real roots of the cubic ing material, and v(Too), k/Too}, and a(Too) are the
equation kinematic viscosity, thermal conductivity, and
thermal diffusivity of the fluid, respectively, at
temperature Too.
(51) The heat transfer corresponding to the critical
radius is given by
and a and bare qrnax
Qrnax = 27TkL(~ - Too)
a = 0.4243( k f f/2 (52)
- 1
2 3 7cPo + 13 1 Ra; 0
8g{3(T0 - Too)lav= ) - - + -In --'- (57)
b = 0 2737(k )1/2 5 [ toe, + 10 5 ( Ra;.; ) ]
. f ( [1 + (0.559/Pr)9/16f6/9
The results of an iterative numerical solution of
(53) Eqs. (54)-(56) are shown in Figure 6. The dimen-
sionless critical radius Ra, 0 is affected by all
In another analysis, Mussulman and Warring- three parameters, namely, k*, Raj.; and cP;. Fig-
ton [4] considered a correlation given by Eq. (36) ure 7 shows the corresponding results for Qrnax
72 heat transfer engineering vol. 1B no. 2 1997
 700 .-------.--,-----,---.---,-,---,..-"";1

i
"" 0.3

0.1
2 3 4 7 10
5 7 p=!.
kJ
k
k" = k;
Figure 7 Maximum dimensionless heat dissipation from a
Figure 6 Dimensionless critical radius for natural convec- natural convection cooled cylindrical insulation. (Adapted
tion cooling of cylindrical insulation. (Adapted from [4]'> from [4).)

obtained from Eq. (57). The value of Qrnax is seen Equation (58) can be written as
to decrease with increase in k* and decrease in
Raj t: _l_-_cP.,-
o = Bi (A,. 4_ rA 4) (60)
Pin P r. '1"0 cc
Example 3, when solved with the aid of Figures
6 and 7, leads to approximately the same results as
and the conduction heat transfer may be ex-
the Maple-driven solution.
pressed in dimensionless form as

Q= q
1 - cPo
2.5 Pure Radiative Cooling (61)
27TkLT; In P

Once again, consider Figure 1. The outer sur- For a given radiative Biot number Bi, and cP"".
face of the insulation is assumed to lose heat by Eq. (60) can be solved for cPo by trial and error for
pure radiation to a large enclosure at temperature a range of values of P. This result can then be
Too- Let € be the emissivity of the outer surface of substituted into Eq. (61) to find Q. The value of P
the insulation. For steady state, the conduction at which Q exhibits a maximum identifies the
heat flow through the insulation must match the critical value P, = ro.clr;. Alternatively, one may
surface radiative heat loss. Thus use the method of Lagrange multipliers to seek
the extremum of objective function Q given by
Eq. (61) subject to the constraint of Eq. (60). The
(58) former strategy was illustrated in Example 3.
Therefore, in the example that follows, the latter
strategy is employed.
Using. the dimensionless quantities Example 4. An electrical cable 1.27 ern in
diameter is to be insulated with rubber (k =
T 0.159 W1m K). During operation, the surface of
cP =- the cable attains a temperature of 65.6°C. If the
T; outside surface of the sheathed cable loses heat by
(59)
€CTT/r; ro radiation to the surroundings at 21.2°C, calculate
Bi r = - - - P= - the critical radius of insulation, the heat dissipa-
k r. tion from the critically' insulated cable, the tem-
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 73
perature on the outside surface of the insulation, The definition of </>0 gives
and the percentage increase in heat loss obtained
with critical amount of insulation compared with To
that from the uninsulated cable. Assume the emis- </>0 = - = 0.9272
sivity of the surface of the insulation to be 0.90. t;
Solution: Calculate Bi, and </>00 using the given
data. or

€uT/r; To = 0.9272T; = (0.9272)(338.6)

Bi,= - - -
k
= 313.9 K or 40.9°C
(0.9)(5.67 X 10- 8)( 273 + 65.6)3(0.00635)
0.159 The heat dissipation from the uninsulated cable
IS
= 0.08
Too
</>00 = T I

273 + 21.2 = (0.9)(5.67 x 1O-8)(21T)(0.00635)

= 273 + 65.6 = 0.8689
X [(338.6)4 - (294.2)2]
Substituting these results into Eq. (60) gives
= 11.51 W/m
I-</>
I = 0.08[ </>: + (0.8689)41
0
PnP Thus the percentage increase in q with the
critical amount of insulation is 08.02-
= 0.08( </>: + 0.5699)
11.5)/11.5 = 0.57 or 57%.
or An approximate solution to the problem dis-
cussed in this section has been proposed by Mus-
I - cf>o 4 suIman and Warrington [4]. They linearized the
P In P = 0.08</>o + 0.0456 (62)
radiation term by defining the radiation heat
transfer coefficient h , as
The extremum of Q given by Eq. (61) is subject
to the constraint of Eq. (62). It can be found using
the method of Lagrange multipliers. In Maple V,
the extrema library can be used to this effect [9].
The use of this library to solve Eqs. (61) and (62)
gives the solution, (63)

P, = 3.92 </>0 = 0.9272 Qmax = 0.05328 where Too is taken to be approximately equal to To.
From these, the result for ro • e follows as Replacing h in Eq. (3) by he' the critical radius
r o • e for radiative cooling becomes
ro e = 3.92r;
k k
= (3.92)(0.00635) r =-=--"7 (64)
o,e h, 4€uT. 0
3
= 0.0249 m or 2.49 cm
Using Eq. (61), qrnax/L follows as or, in dimensionless form,

r 1
p = ~ = -----,,- (65)
e rj Hi, </>J
= (21T )(0.159)(338.6)(0.05328)
= 18.02 W/m where Bi, = 4eaT,Jr;/k and </>0 = To/Too.
74 heattransler engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
 The balance of conductive and radiative heat Equation (68) and Figure 8 shew that as <Pi
flows gives increases, the limiting Biot number becomes
smaller and smaller. In space applications, the
27TkUT; - T) effective sink temperature Too is very low, making
q=
In e, cPi very large. Thus the usefulness of insulation to
augment heat transfer in space is severely limited.
= Ecr(27Tro,cL)(To - Too)(To + Too)(T; + T}) The maximum heat dissipation, qmax' corre-
(66) sponding to the critical insulation follows from
Eq. (66) as
and this can be expressed in dimensionless form
to give the relationship among <Po, <Pi' and Pc,
Qmax = 27TkUT; - Too)

where <Pi = T;/Too. In writing Eq. (67), Eq. (65)
was utilized to eliminate Bi.,
Musselman and Warrington [4] solved Eqs. (65)
and (67) numerically to obtain P, as a function of
Bi, and <Pi' Their results are shown in Figure 8.
For a given <Pi' the critical radius decreases as Bi r
increases, that is, as the radiative cooling becomes
stronger. Each curve is seen to terminate tP; = 1)
at a certain value of Bi., indicating that the criti-
cal condition ceases to exist beyond that value.
This limiting value of Bi, can be found by putting
Pc = 1 (no insulation) in Eq. (65) and noting that
in the absence of insulation, <Po = <Pi' giving
(69)
The numerical solution of Eqs. (65) and (67) yields
P, and <Po as a function of Bi and <Pi' This
information can be used to evaluate Qmax as a
function of Bi, and <Pi' Figure 9 depicts the results
for Qmax' For a given 0i' Qmax increases as Bi r
increases. Each curve terminates at the corre-
sponding limiting value of Bi, as dictated by Eq.
(68).
Example 5. Repeat Example 4 using the lin-
earized radiation model.
Solution: First, obtain <Pi and Bi.

lim Bi = <p:- 1/ 3 (68) T; 338.6

P r !
c-+1
cPi = Too = 294.1 = 1.15

(4)(0.9)(5.67 X 10- 8 ) (294.2)3(0.00635)

0.159
= 0.21

For Bi, = 0.21 and <Pi = 1.15, Figure 8 gives

r
Pc = .-!!.:.:... = 4.3
r.
so

= (4.3)(0.00635)
Figure 8 Critical radius ratio for a radiatively cooled cylin-
drical system. (Adapted from [4],) = 0.027 m = 2.7 cm
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 75
 duced by linearization, some error also occurs in
the interpolation and reading of Figures 8 and 9.

2.6 Combined Radiation and Natural Convection

The case of combined radiative and natural-

convective cooling has been studied by Simmons
[12]. Assuming that h is given by Eq. (37), the
combined radiation and natural-convection heat
loss can be expressed as

Bi,

Figure 9 Maximum dimensionless heat dissipation from a

radiativcly cooled cylindrical system. (Adapted from [4].)

where F is the radiation view factor.

For Bi, = 0.21 and cP; = 1.15, Q max can be read Setting aq/ aro = 0 in Eq. (70) and solving for
from Figure 9 as 0.37. Thus aTo / aro gives

qnlllx =
L Q max 2 7T ur,I - T.cc )

= (0.37)(27T )(0.159)(338.6 - 294.2)

4 4
= _[hO-m)(To - Too) -+ eFa(T0 - Too ) ]
= 16.42 W/m
(1 + nthr; + 4eFaT;ro
Use may now be made of Eq, (65) to calculate (71)
cPo'
1 1 where C\(To - Too)"r;;m has been replaced by h in
cPJ - Bi Pc - (0.21)(4.3) = 1.1074 accordance with Eq. (37).
The balance of conductive, convective, and ra-
diative heat fluxes at r = r 0 gives
which makes

cPo = 1.0346

and (72)

T" = (1.0346)(294.2) = 304.4 K or 31.4°C

Noting that Eq. (24) can be applied at the critical
With qbarc/L = 11.51 W /m, the same as condition regardless of the mechanism of surface
in Example 4, the percentage increase in q is dissipation, Eq. (71) can be equated to Eq. (72)
(16.41 - 11.51)/11.51 = 0.42 or 42%. and solved for ro c ' The result is
Note that the linearized radiation model pre-
dicts a higher critical radius, lower maximum heat ro,c = k[ hO-m)(To - Too) + eFa(To4 - Too4 ) ] /
dissipation, and lower outside surface temperature
compared with the corresponding predictions of
the nonlinear radiation model. When interpreting
[0 + n)h + 4eFaT;]
the results of the linearized model, it should be
recognized that, in addition to the error intro- X[h(To - Too) + eFa(To4 - Too4 ) ] (73)
76 heat transler engineering vol. 18 no.2 1997
If n, m, and € are taken to be zero, Eq. (73)
reduces to Eq. (3), the classical case. If only € is
zero, it reduces to Eq. (41), the case of pure
natural convection. If m and n but not e are zero,
it reduces to
k
r 0, c = ""h-+-4":"""€--:P:=-a---=T:;"3
o
which represents the case of simultaneous convec-
tion and linearized radiation.
The simultaneous solution of Eqs. (37), (73),
and the energy balance,
+ €Faro,c(To4 - Too4)
gives the critical radius ro,c' Example 6, which is
taken from Simmons [12], illustrates the effect of
simultaneous radiation and natural convection,
Example 6. Consider the data of Example 4.
Assume that the outer surface of the insulation
loses heat by simultaneous radiation and natural
convecton. Find the critical radius of insulation,
the maximum heat dissipation, and the outer sur-
face temperature for each of the following four
cases:
(a) A constrant h = 8.52 W/m 2 K and zero radi-
ation (€ = 0)
(b) A variable h = 1.l09(To - Too)/r~/4 and zero
radiation (€ = 0)
(c) A constant h = 8.52 W/m 2 K with radiation
(€ = 0.90)
(d) A variable h = 1.l09(To - T"J/r~/4 with radi-
ation (€ = 0.90)
Solution:
( a ) The solution for r O,c is first obtained from Eq.
(3). Next, use of Eq. (5) gives qrnax' The criti-
cal radius is then computed from the energy
balance.
(b) In this case, the simultaneous solution of Eqs.
(37), (38), and (41) gives ro,c' qmax' and To.
(c) First, Eq. (74) is used to calcualte ro,c' Then,
Eq. (75) can be used to solve for To and qmax'
(d) This case requires the simultaneous solution
of Eqs. (37), (73), and (75).
A summary of the solution for cases (a), (b),
and (c) is given in Table 4. For case (d), the
heat transfer engineering
critical radius does not exist for the given data.
Figure 10 displays q / L as a function of thickness
of insulation (r o - r) for the four cases. The
effect of variable h or the inclusion of radiation is
to lower the critical radius and enhance the heat
flow.
(74) Example 7. Repeat Example 6 except with a
cable outside diameter of 0.3175 em.
Solution: The results for the cable diameter of
0.3175 em appear in Table 5. Because of the
smaller cable diameter, the critical radius also
exists for case (d), Figure 11 shows the heat flow
per unit length for all four cases. As in Example 6,
the effect of variable h or the presence of radia-
tion decreases r0, c and increases q maxi L.
2.7 Combined Radiation and Forced Convection
(75)
The analysis of Section 2.6 is applicable to this
case if n is set zero and m is chosen from Table 1
depending on the Reynolds number. The follow-
ing example, which is taken from Simmons [12],
illustrates the case of combined radiation and
forced convection.
Example 8. The data for this example are ri =
0,15875 em, T; = 65.6°C (338.6 K), Too = 21.2°C
(294.2 K), and k = 0.159 W/m K. The same infor-
mation as in Example 6 is required for each of the
following cases:
(a) Forced convection with constant h = 22.7
W/m 2 K and e = 0 .
(b) Forced convection with variable h =
3.246/r2.382 W/m 2 K and e = 0
(c) Forced convection and radiation with h =
22.7 W/m 2 K, and e = 0.90
(d) Forced convection and radiation, h =
3.246/r2.382 W/m 2 K and € = 0.90
Solution: The results for ro c' To, and qmax/L
are given in Table 6. The heat flows q/ L as a
function of (r o - r) appear in Figure 12. The
effect of variable h or the inclusion of radiation
on rand q max/L is similar to that in Examples
0, c
6 and 7. The effect of variable h or the presence
of radiation decreases rO,c and increases qmax/ L.
2.8 Combined Radiation, Natural Convection, and
Surface Heat Release
Besides the insulation of current-carrying con-
ductors and heated tubes, the concept of critical
radius of insulation is also relevant to small-diam-
vol. 18 no. 2 1997 77
eter refrigeration tubes under frosting conditions. <.D,- ,-- --.- ---. --,
The frost buildup is the result of the moisture in h = IlooTo - T;),4
.~
r.
the air solidifying and becoming deposited on the
surface of the tube. The heat release associated
with the change of phase from vapor to solid must
be taken into account in writing the energy bal-
ance. In analyzing the case of combined radiation,
natural convection and surface heat release, h = 8,52

TobIe 4 Solution for Cases (a)-(d) of Example 6

Case T. _ T.1/ 4
'",c (rn) qrn.,/L (W /m) h=l.l09~
r.
(a) 0,0183 316 21.2
(b) 0,0116 326 19.2
(c) 0,0100 325 28.6
(d) • critical
No solution exists

0 .0\5 .020
r<')
r" - r, m

0::> Figure 11 Heat dissipation from a cylindrical system of

N
inside radius = 0.15875 cm: comparison of results for natu-
ral-convection and natural-convection/radiation cooling.
<.D
N f::O.9 (Adapted from [12],)

<t
N Table 6 Solution for Cases (a)-(d) of Example 8

-a
~
0'1..,
N
N
Case
(a)
(b)
r; (rn)
0.00686
0.00338
To (K)
312
325
qrn,,/L (W/m)
17.7
18.4
0 (c)
N (=0 0.00536 315 19.4
(d) 0.00280 327 21.0
0::>

T. - T.l/t
Kuehn wrote the energy balance as
U) h=1.109~-
r. • critical
27TkL(To - T)
q=
<t In(,o/')
-0 .020
r,,-rj (m)
= h(27T'oL)(Too - To)
Flgure 10 Heat dissipation from a cylindrical system of + (27T'oL)eaP(C - To4 )
inside radius = 0.3175 ern: comparison of results for natural-
convection and natural convection/radiation cooling. 27T'oLh(Xoo - X)I'
(Adapted from [12],) +----=----- (76)
Le Cpt
where the heat flow is assumed to be from the
TobIe 5 Solution for Cases (a)-(d) of Example 7 surroundings to the inside of the tube. The last
term in Eq. (76) accounts for the heat release due
Case '",c (rn) to the phase change. The symbols X, 1', Le, and
(a) 0.0183 307 12.6 Cpt denote the mole fraction of the moisture, the
(b) 0.0137 314 11.3 latent heat of sublimation, the Lewis number, and
(c) 0.0107 310 14.8 the specific heat of air, respectively. For saturated
(d) 0.0083 315 14.3 air, the concentration difference (Xoo - X) is pro-
78 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
 ~r----r----r----r-------, the equation that represents h for natural convec-
tion from a horizontal cylinder,
~h=3.246;r:.382 W/m'-K

2hr o [
h = 22.7 W/m'-K - = 2/ln 1 + 2/
kf

-5/12 15
{(0.518 Ra
l / 4[1 + (0.559/Pr)3/5j )
en

-e..,
~
+(0.1 Ra l / 3)15
}
1/15]
(79)

~
- r--
has been reported by Kuehn [13] for three sets of
values of R, B, and G. Figure 13 shows his results.
The curve marked R = B = G = 0 represents the
<.D case of pure natural-convective cooling (Section
2.4). The curve labeled R = B = 1, G = 0, repre-
• critical sents a case of combined radiation and natural
convection. Finally, the curve R = B = G = 1 is
representative of combined radiation, natural con-
.002 .004 .006 vection, and heat release due to phase change.
This last curve clearly shows that the presence of
phase change lowers the critical radius signifi-
Figure 12 Heat dissipation from a cylindrical system of cantly.
inside radius = 0.15875 em: comparison of results for For a typical frost-buildup situation in a hori-
forced-convection and forced convection/radiation cooling. zontal refrigeration tube, Kuehn [13] assumed the
(Adapted from [12].)
data

ri = 0.3175 cm
portional to the temperature difference, (Too - To),
that is, X; - X; = ur; - T), where b is a T, = -woe
constant.
Replacing (Xoo - X) by b(Too - To) and repeat-
ing the analysis of Section 2.6, the expression for
the critical radius is found to be
hr; c (1 - m)(1 + G) + R
--=
k [(1 + n)(1 + G) + b][l + G + R]
(77)

where
R=B=l,G=O

R=8=G=1
(78)
h
bl'
G=--
Le cpf
loglORa
For no surface heat release, G = 0 and Eq. (77)
Figure 13 Critical Biot number for a cylindrical system:
reduces to Eq. (73).
comparison of results for natural-convection, natural convec-
The solution for hr; elk obtained from the tion/radiation, and natural-convection/radiation/phase-
simultaneous solution of Eqs. (76) and (77) and change heat release conditions. (Adapted from Kuehn [13].)
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 79
 where R T is the sum of conduction and convec-
tion thermal resistance. The expression for R T is
k* = 5 W/mK

F=l (81)
b = 2.S2 X 1O- 4C- 1
For q to be a maximum, R T must be a mini-
and for the frost layer, mum. Setting dRrld,o = 0 in Eq. (81), the critical
radius '0, e is obtained as
E = 0.95
2k
and found 'o.e to be 2.23 cm for pure natural
,
o;c
=-
h
(S2)
convection (Section 2.4), 1.17 cm for combined
radiation and natural convection (Section 2.6),
When r o = r o , <, the second derivative of R T is
0.S6 cm for radiation and natural convection with
h given by Eq. (79), and 0.43 em for combined
radiation, natural convection, and heat release 1
(this section). ----=- >0 (S3)
41Tk';,e

and hence R T at '0

2.9 Effects of Radiation, Inclination, and Insulation
Opacity
Habib [14] pointed out that when the cylinder is
inclined, the convective heat transfer coefficient
varies along its length and the critical radius of
insulation increases with the distance along the
cylinder. Moreover, the effect of increasing the
inclination of the cylinder is to increase the criti-
cal radius, with the highest values associated with
the cylinder in a vertical orientation.
Furthermore, if the insulation is transparent,
the critical radius also depends on the absorption
coefficient of the material, and Habib [14] found
that, for a horizontal cylinder, opaque insulation
with surface radiation yielded the lowest value for
the critical radius. As the opacity of the insulation
was reduced, the value of the critical radius in-
creased. For quantitative results, the reader should
refer to Habib's article.
= ro c is a minimum or q is a
maximum.
Combination of Eqs. (SO) and (S1) with subse-
quent rearrangement gives the dimensionless heat
transfer rate Q as a function of P = rolr; and
Bi, = hrjk obtained as
1
1 - (lIP) + (11 p 2 Bi e )
(S4)
Figure 14 is a plot of Q as a function of P for
selected values of Bi; 1 = k I hr.. The plot exhibits
the same features as exhibited in Figure 2 for the
cylindrical insulation. The remarks made with re-
gard to Figure 2 also apply to Figure 14.
Example 9. Repeat Example 1 with the data
applied to a spherical system.
Solution: The critical radius of insulation,o.e is

2k
3 BASIC THEORY FOR SPHERICAL
r:: = h
INSULATION
(2)(0.17)
Figure 1 may also be considered to represent a 3
spherical system. For constant heat transfer coef-
ficient h, heat flow through the system is [1, 2] = 0.1133 m or 11.33 cm.

Because ro,e > r; (2 ern), the addition of insulation

q= (SO) will increase the heat dissipation from the sphere.
The critical thickness is 11.33 - 2 = 9.33 cm.
80 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
 The maximum heat dissipation, qrnax can be than three times the heat dissipated from the
obtained from Eq. (84) by letting P = Pc = ro,c/rj' uninsulated sphere.
Thus
47T k,,( T, - T~)
.qmax = -=-1------;(l:-/-:':p=-'c:-)""'+-(7':I-/::=pc",2::=B::7i) 4 REFINED ANALYSES FOR SPHERICAL
INSULATION
(47T )(0.17)(0.02)(80 - 20)
I - (2/11.33) + (2/11.33)2[(0.17)/(3)(0.02») The basic theory presented in the preceding
section has been modified to allow for a variable
= 2.81 W
heat transfer coefficient in the form of Eq, (37),
The heat dissipation from the bare sphere is pure radiative cooling, and combined natural con-
given by vection and radiation. These modifications are
discussed in this section.
qbare = h(47Tr?)CT; - Too)
= (4)(47T)(0.02)2(80 - 20)
4.1 Natural Convective Cooling
= 0.9W
It is useful to note that the sphere covered with Sparrow [7] considered the natural-convection
insulation to the critical radius dissipates more heat transfer coefficient, h, of the form of Eq, (37)

O.""l:-----<--+-~-+------:I--~-+---+---_~__1
To
p=-
To
Figure 14 Variation of heat dissipation with radius ratio for a spherical system.
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 81
and showed that the critical radius ro e is given by Introduction of the dimensionless quantities cPo,
cPoo' Bi,; and P, defined as
r
o,e
= ( 1-
1+n
im )(2kh ) (85) _E_u _T.:....
/ .:....
r;
Bi, =
k
The derivation of Eq. (85) parallels that given in
(92)
Section 2.4. By solving Eqs. (37) and (85) and the
heat flow equation,
allows Eq. (91) to take the form

(86) (93)

simultaneously, one can obtain ro c s To' and q. The conduction heat transfer q is
Balmer [10], however, used the' correlation

C1 (T0 - T..)1/4 q= (94)

00

h = - + C2 1/4 (87)
ro ro
or, in dimensionless form,
and derived for ro,e'

(95)

The critical value of P can be found by finding

the extremum of Q [Eq. (94)] subject to the con-
straint of Eq. (93).
(88)

4.3 Constant-b Convection and Radiation

where
Assuming the sink temperature to be the same
_ [8 g{3(To - 7:) ]1/4 for both convection and radiation, Eq. (91) can be
C - 0.196k f 2 (89)
/I modified by adding a convection term so that it
may be written as

4.2 Pure Radiative Cooling q=

A simple approach to the. problem of pure
radiative cooling is in the use of the radiation heat (96)
transfer coefficient h" given by Eq. (63), in Eq.
(82), which gives Defining

. hr.I
2k B1 =-
r
o.e
= ---=-
4EUT3
(90) e k
o

For the analysis that treats the nonlinear radia-

tion exactly, an energy balance is employed.
Equating the conduction heat transfer through
the insulation with the radiation heat transfer Eq. (96) can be cast into the dimensionless form
from the surface gives
l-cP
-P-------=.l° = Bi , P( cPo - cPoo) + Bi, p( cP: - cP~)
(91)
(97)

82 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997

 In this case, the extremum of Q [Eq. (95)] is to ea1;\
be found subject to the constraint of Eq. (97). Bi r = --k-
Example 10. The following data apply to an
insulated spherical system as shown in Figure 1. (0.8)(5.67 X 10- 8)(330)3(0.01)
1; = 330 K rj = 1 em k = 0.16 W/mK 0.16
h = 15W/mK Too = 295 K e = 0.8 = 0.1

Find the critical radius of insulation, the maxi- Substitution of cPoo and Bi, into Eq, (92) leads
mum heat dissipation, and the outside surface to
temperature when the surface heat loss is by pure
convection with constant h, pure radiation, and by 1- cPo
a combined mode with convection with constant h cP: - 0.6274 = O.IP(P - 1) (98)
and radiation.
Solution: For convection with constant hand
no radiation, Eq. (82) gives and after reading the library extrema in Maple and
then using the command extrema, the extremum
2k of Eq. (95) subject to the constraint of Eq. (98)
ro ;c =-
h gives

(2)(0.16) P, = 6.89 cPo = 0,8987 Q rnax = 0.1185

(15)
Thus
= 0.021 m or 2.1 em
r
The maximum heat dissipation can be found by ~ = 6.89
combining Eqs. (80) and (81) and letting r o = r o c ' r,
Th~~Ws '
or

qrnax = [(ro,c - r)/krjro,cl + (l/hr,;,J ro c = 6.89rj = (6.89)(1) = 6.89 em

= (41T )(330 - 295)/ Equation (94) gives qrnax as

[(0.021 - 0.01)/(0.16)(0.01)(0.021)]

+ [1/(15)(0.021)2]
= (0,1185)(41T )(0.16)(330)(0.01)
= 0,92 W
= 0.77W
The temperature To corresponding to qrnax can be
found from Eq. (94): By definition;

To
-
T = A,
'1'0
= 08987
•
,
(0.92)(0,021 - 0.01)
= 330 - ...,....---,--,--...,....,-------,-,----,- or
(41T )(0.10)(0.021)(0.01)
= 306K To = 0.89871'; = (0.0987)(330) = 296.6 K

For the case of pure radiative cooling, first For combined convection and radiation, first
compute cPoo and Bi: evaluate Bi c :
Too 295
~ = - = - = 0.89 hr (15)(0,01)
00 1; 330 Bi = - ' = = 0.94
c k 0.16
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 83
 Substitution of cf>", = 0.89, Bi, = 0.1, and Bi, = 5 EQUILATERAL POLYGONAL INSULATION
0.94 in Eq. (97) gives
The focus of the previous sections has been on
1 - cf>o circular insulation in the form of either a cylindri-
-P---1 = 0.94P(cf>o - 0.89) cal annulus or a spherical annulus. The circular
shape permitted the use of a one-dimensional
+ O.lP( cf>: - 0.6274) (99) conduction model except when the circumferen-
tial variation of h was taken into account (Section
and after reading the library extrema in Maple and 2.3). In some applications, insulation shape other
then using the command extrema, the optimiza- than annular are encountered. For example,
tion of Q, that is, Eq. (95) subject to the con- heated pipes in a flat-plate solar collector are
straint of Eq. (99), gives sometimes housed in square channels forming a
square insulation around a circular pipe ..
Pe = 1.5694 cf>o = 0.9420 Q rnax = 0.1598 With equilateral polygonal insulation covering a
circular conductor or pipe, heat conduction be-
Thus comes two-dimensional even if the convection heat
r transfer coefficient is assumed to be uniform and
~ = 1.5694 constant. With two dimensional conduction, the
r, outside surface temperature To no longer remains
uniform.
or The problem of critical thickness of a square
insulation on a circular conductor or pipe was first
ro,e = 1.5694r; = 1.5694(1) = 1.5694 cm analyzed by Hsieh [15]. Considering two-dimen-
sional conduction in the insulation and using a
Equation (95) gives qrnax as finite-difference approach, he found that the criti-
cal half-width we of the square is given by

= (0.1598)(47T )(0.16)(330)(0.01) k
we = 079-
• h (101)
= 1.06 W
Using the definition of cf>o' In a commentary on Hsieh's paper, Aziz [16]
suggested the use of the conduction shape factor
T"
- = cf>o = 0.9420
for a circular cylinder in a square to obtain a
r, simple analytical. solution. He wrote the steady-
state heat flow through the system as
or
q T; - Too
T" = (0.9420)(330) = 310.9 K (102)
L (1/Sk) + (l/8hw)

4.4 Combined Radiation and Natural Convection where, S, the conduction shape factor for the
configuration is given by Krieth and Black [17],
The analysis for this case parallels that of Sec-
tion 2.6 for the cylindrical geometry. The final 27T
S =-,----...,.- (103)
result for ro,e is In(1.08w /r.)

'"" = 2k[(1 -m/2)h(T" - Too) + 4

Eu(T,,4 - Too )l!
Using Eq. (103) in Eq. (102) and setting dRrl
[(I + n)h + 4E<I'Tj] dw = 0 for the extremum of q, the critical half-
width we is obtained as
(lOO)

Simultaneous solutions of Eqs. (37), (96), and (100) (104)

gives ro,e> To, and qrnax'
84 heattrensfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
which is virtually identical to Hsien's result of
Eq. (101).
The perimeter of the square insulation calcu-
lated from Eq. (104) is 8wc = 27Tk/h, and be-
cause k/h = ro,c for cylindrical insulation [Eq.
(3)], it is seen that the critical perimeter for a
square insulation is identical to that for a circular
insulation [18]. This conformity, despite the fact
that Eq. (104) is based on the assumption of
uniform To while Eq. (101) is not, prompted Hsieh
to seek an explanation of the conformity.
Hsieh and Yang [19] considered a circular pipe
of radius r, with a uniform temperature, ~, as
shown in Figure 15. The pipe is covered with
polygonal insulation. The surface heat dissipation
is characterized by convection with a constant h
to an environment at temperature Too. Because of
thermal symmetry, only a section of the insulation
as shown in Figure 15 requires analysis.
Hsieh and Yang [19] solved the two-dimen-
sional heat conduction equation in rand () for
the region shown in Figure 15 for two types of
boundary condition at the outer surface:
constant-h convection to an environment at tem-
perature Too
A uniform temperature To on the outer surface
For both cases, the other three boundary condi-
tions were generated by assuming a uniform tem-
perature T, at the circular boundary and adiabatic
condition at surfaces of thermal symmetry. It is
interesting to note that it was found that the
necessary condition for the extremum of Q, the
condition of critical insulation, was independent
of whether an isothermal (T) condition or a con-
vective condition th, TJ was used. This means that
the conduction shape factor approach, which stip-
ulates a uniform temperature To on the outer
surface, is indeed valid even when a convective
boundary condition prevails and can therefore be
used to optimize polygonal insulations.
For a polygon, the conduction shape factor S
can be expressed in a general form [20-22],
27T
S = .,....--;----:-----:-:: (105)
In(ro/r) - N
where r o is the radius measured from the center
to any corner of the polygon (see Figure 15) and
N is a function of the number of sides of the
polygon, n. Figure 16 displays the function N. The
value of N decreases from 0.5696 for a triangle to
0.03538 for a decagon. In the limit n -+ 00 (circle),
N -+ 0, and Eq. (105) reduces to the classical
expression for the conduction shape factor for a
cylindrical annulus.
In view of Eq. (105), the total thermal resis-
tance per unit length of a polygonal system can be
expressed as
1 1
RT = +-- (106)
27Tk/[ln(ro/r) - N] h2nw
0.6 r----r-r----r-r----r-r----r--,
I I I I I I I

0.4 - -

:<;
-
• (square)

0.2 - -
0
• h, Too
- 0
0
-
0
0 0
-~:==w_--""r~-l......
~~~.- 0=0 ... x 0'-
Circular
Limit
,
a ~ 3 5
I
7
I
9
I I
rI
ro I n
~
Figure 16 Parameter N as a function n for polygonal insu-
Figure 15 Polygonal insulation on a circular pipe. lation. (From [19].)
heat transfer engineering vol. 18. no. 2 1997 85
Setting dR-rldw = 0 in Eq. (106) gives For a square insulation, the critical half-width
we follows from Eq. (109):
wc = n'7T(~)
h
(107)

and

(108)
= ; (0~~6)
= 0.01257 m or 1.257 em
From Eq. (106), the critical perimeter P, fol-
lows as Each side of the square is 2 X 0.01257 = 0.025 m
or 2.5 em, and the conduction shape factor S is
given by Eq.(l05):
(109)

Thus the critical perimeter is a more general

concept characterizing the maximum heat dissipa-
tion. It applies to circular as well as equilateral
polygon shapes of insulation. For a square,
Example 11. A 100-mm-diameter conductor at-
tains a temperature of 80°C while operating in a ro,e = fiw e = 12(0.01257)
convective environment at 20°C. The convective
heat transfer coefficient is 10 W1m2 K. The con- = 0.01778 m or 1.1778 m
ductor is to be covered with an insulating material
having a thermal conductivity of 0.16 W1m K. Figure 16 gives N = 0.273 for n = 4 (square).
Find the critical thickness or the critical width of Thus
insulation if the insulation is circular, square, and
triangular. Find the maximum heat dissipation per 2'7T '
S = ---,-------
unit length in each case. Compute the heat dissi- In(1.778/0.5) - 0.273
pation per cubic centimeter of insulation used for
each of the three shapes. Which shape augments = 6.31
the heat dissipation in the most cost-effective
manner? Now qmllX/L can be evaluated.
Solution: For circular shape, the critical radius
IS qmllX T; - To>
--=
L (1/Sk) + (1/8hwe )
k
ro,c = h 80 - 20
0.16 [1/(6.31)(0.16)] + [1/(8)(10)(0.01257)]
=--
10
= 30.23 W/m
= 0.016 m or 1.6 em
For triangular insulation, the critical half-width,
The maximum heat dissipation from Eq. (1) is We is

qmllx T; - To>
--=
L In((ro,clr)/2'7Tk) + [1/h(2'7Tro)]

= (80 - 20)j[Jn(1.6/0.5)j2'7T(0.16)]
+ [l 1(10) (2'7T )(0.016)]
= 27.88 W/m = 0.01676 m or 1.676 em
86 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
The critical a c (Figure"15) follows from Eq. (108): The maximum heat dissipation per cubic centime-
ter for each shape is

«. = ; (~ ) cot( ;) Circle: q~ax =

(27.88)(0.01)
57 = 0.0384 W/mc 3
7.2

= ; ( 0~~6 ) cot] ;) Square: q~ax =

(30.23)(0.01)
5.535 = 0.0546 W/cm
3

= 0.00967 m or 0.967 ern (33.82)(0.01)

Triangle: q~ax =
3
4.074 = 0.0830 W/cm
and
The triangular shaped insulation gives the high-
est heat dissipation per cubic centimeter of insula-
tion volume and is therefore the most cost-effec-
= (1.676 2 + 0.967 2 ) 1/ 2 tive. Compared with the circular insulation, the
square and the triangular insulation, respectively,
= 0.935 ern dissipate 42% and 116% more heat. As remarked
by Hsieh and Yang [19], the protruding corners of
Figure 16 gives N = 0.5696. The shape factor the triangle behave like cooling fins for the heat
from Eq. (104) is source and augment the heat dissipation more
than any other polygonal shape.
27T
S = -----,--:---
In(ro c/r) - N
6 RECTANGULAR INSULATION
27T
In(1.935/0.5) - 0.5696 Because the theory described for the polygonal
insulation in the last section also applies to rect-
= 8.018 angular insulation [19], the conduction shape fac-
tor approach can be used to establish the dimen-
The maximum heat dissipation per unit length can sions of the rectangular insulation that maximize
now be found. the heat dissipation.
Figure 17 shows rectangular Insulation wrapped
qmax T; - Too around a circular conductor. Because of thermal
L (1/Sk) + (1/h(6wc )) symmetry, only a quarter of the system needs to
be considered for analysis, The conduction shape
80 - 20
[1/(8.018)(0.16)] + [1/(10)(6)(0.01676)]

= 33.82 W/m

The volume of insulation used per centimeter of

y • h, Too
length for each shape is
= tan- 1 ~ =
Circle: V = 7T(1.60 2 - 0.50 2)(1) = 7.257 ern" .r--------,.'
/
1 (J
a
Q

b 9 • h, Too
Squares: V = [2(1.257)f - 7T(0.50)2

= 5.535 cm'
/2
1 [ 2 (3.35 )2]1
Triangle: V = 2'(3.35) (3.35) - -2-

- 7T(0.50)2 = 4.074 ern? Figure 17 Rectangular insulation on a circular conductor.

heattransfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 87
factor S for a cylinder covered with rectangular 1.5.------,------.---.----,
insulation is given by Hahne and Grigull [20]:

27T
S = .,........,.----,---- (1lD)
In(4aj7T') - X

where X is the hyperbolic secant series,

cc '" (_1)n+ I nsrb

X = 2 E E sech(2m+l) - - (111)
m-O n-I (2m + 1) a

Equation (1lD) can be recast into theform of Eq.

(105) and written as

27T
S = -----,---------
In(,,,j') - [X- In«4cos a)j7T)]

(112)
Figure 18 Parameter N and X versus b/ a for rectangular
insulation, (Adapted from [19].)
where

N ~ X - In (
4 cos
7T
a) tiated with respect to a and set equal to zero. This
gives the critical a as

7Tk
and a = -.,------ (115)
c 2h[1 + (bja)]
b
a = tan- 1 - The corresponding expression for 'o,c then be-
a comes

Both X and N are plotted against the aspect ratio 7Tk

bja in Figure 18. '0, c = -...,--------,- (116)
2h(sin a + cos a)
With the use of Eq. (112), the total thermal
resistance of the system of Figure 17 can be Because the perimeter of the rectangle is
expressed as
P = 4(a + b) = 4,o(cos a + sin a) (117)
In('oj,) - N 1
RT =
27Tk
+ ----
4(a + b)h
(113) For the critical condition, that is, = 'o,c' the'0
cr!tical perimeter Pc follows from Eq. (117):
With '0 = a[1 + (ajb)2]1/2, Eq. (113) becomes k
P
c
= 27T-
h
(118)

which is identical to Eq. (109).

Example 12. Consider the physical configura-
tion described in Example 11. Determine the di-
1
+ ----,------,----,- (114) mensions of rectangular insulation of aspect ratio
4ah[1 + (bja)] 2 that will maximize the rate of heat loss from the
conductor. What is the maximum heat dissipation
Holding b/ a fixed and noting that N, being a per unit length and per cubic centimeter of the
function of b/ a, is thus fixed, R T can be differen- insulation material?
88 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997
 Solution: The critical half-width a., is given by Hence
Eq. (115):
7Tk 34.45(0.01)
q ",
max
=
2h[1 + (b/a)] (4.8325)

(7T )(0.16) = 0.0713 W/cm 3

(2)(10)(1 + 2)
= 0.00838 m = 0.838 cm 7 ECCENTRIC CIRCULAR INSULATION
Because b r« = 2,
Hsieh and Yang [19] also examined the situa-
tion when the conductor or the pipe sits eccentri-
= 2(0.838) cally within circular insulation as shown in Figure
19. However, they found that the condition for the
= 1.676 cm extremum of heat loss was no longer independent
The value of N for b/ a = 2 is read as 0.57 from of the boundary condition (convective or isother-
Figure 18. This value of N together with other mal), as was the case with the equilateral polygo-
data can now be used to calculate R T min from Eq. nal and the rectangular insulation. This means
(114). ' that the concept of conductor shape factor, which
presupposes an isothermal boundary, cannot be
2} used to establish the optimum configuration for
In{(a/r)[l + (b/a)2r - N
the eccentric geometry.
R Tm in =
27Tk Therefore, the maximum heat loss and the cor-
responding optimum insulation configuration must
1
+ ---::----,---------=- be found from the solution of the two-dimensional
4ab[1 + (b/a)] heat conduction equation with convective bound-
ary condition imposed on the outside surface of
In{(0.838/0.5)(1 + 2 2)1/2} - 0.57 the insulation. Figure 20 shows the results for the
(27T )(0.16) heat loss, q/Lh(T; - Too), as a function of hro/k
for eccentricities e = 0, 0:2, and 0.3. These results
1 are based on rj = 0.1 and h/k = 1. The units are
+ (4)(0.00838)(10)(1 + 2) not specified, and the results must be interpreted
= 0.7469 + 0.9947 on the basis of consistent units. For example, for
concentric insulation (e = 0), Eq. (5) for qmax can
= 1.7416 mK/W be rearranged to read
The maximum heat dissipation per unit length can
now be found as 27T(k/hr)ri
(119)
1 + In(k/hr)

• h, Too
80 - 20
1.7416
{J
= 34.44 W/m
The volume of insulation per centimeter length
is

= (4)(0.838)(1.676) - (7T )(0.5)2

= 4.8325 crrr' Figure 19 Eccentric circular insulation arrangement.
heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. 2 1997 89
 g acceleration due to gravity, m/s 2
G heat release parameter, dimensionless; a
2.00 function defined by Eq. (78)
h convective heat transfer coefficient,
W/m 2 K
h(O) convective heat transfer coefficient at an-
gie 0, W /m 2 K
h* convective heat transfer coefficient de-.
;:s
1.95 fined by Eq. (42), W /m 2 K
...
.. I

k thermal conductivity of insulation mate-

~
rial, W/mK
thermal conductivity of fluid, W /m K
ratio of thermal conductivities (= k/k!),
dimensionless
1.90 I' latent heat of sublimation, W /kg
L length of cylindrical insulation, m
Le Lewis number (= Pr/S), dimensionless
m exponent in convection correlation, di-
0.5 1.1 mensionless
hr.
T n number of sides of a polygon, dimension-
less; exponent in convection correlation,
Figure 20 Heat dissipation from an eccentrically insulated
dimensionless
pipe with constant h surface convection. (Adapted from (19).)
function of n
Nusselt number based on h( 0), dimension-
With 'j
= 0.1 and h/k = 1, qrnaxlLh(T; - Too) =
P
less
outside perimeter of insulation, m; radius
OJ 902, which corresponds to the peak heat loss on
the curve marked e = 0 in Figure 20. ratio (= '0/';)' dimensionless
The effect of increasing eccentricity is to shift Pr Prandtl number, dimensionless
the heat loss back to a smaller Biot number q heat dissipation through the insulated sys-
(h'o/k). While for the concentric insulation tem, W
(€ = 0), Bi, = h'o,clk = 1, the corresponding val- q' heat flow at the outside surface of insula-
ues of Bi, for e = 0.2 and 0.3 are 0.9 and 0.8, tion, W
respectively. Figure 20 also shows that qrnax in- q'" heat dissipation per cubic centimeter of
creases as e increases. insulation, W /m 3
Q dimensionless heat dissipation
r radial coordinate or radius, m
NOMENCLATURE R ratio of radiative and convective fluxes at
outside surface, dimensionless
a half-width of a polygon or rectangle, m; a Ra· . Rayleigh number based on inside surface
','
constant, Eq. (52), dimensionless temperature and inside radius, dimension-
b half of the side of a rectangle, m; a con- less
stant, Eq. (53), dimensionless Ra. 0 Rayleigh number based on inside surface
"
B radiation-convection parameter, Eq. (78), temperature and outside radius, dimen-
K sionless
Bi Biot number, dimensionless Rao,o Rayleigh number based on outside surface
cp ,! constant-pressure specific heat of fluid, temperature and outside radius, dimen-
J/kgK sionless
CI a constant, dimensionless Re Reynolds number, dimensionless
c2 a constant, dimensionless Rr total thermal resistance, K/W
C a constant appearing in convection corre- S conduction shape factor, m
lation, dimensionless Sc Schmidt number for the surrounding fluid,
F radiation view factor, dimensionless; a dimensionless
function of 4>, dimensionless T temperature, K
90 heat transfer engineering vol. 18 no. Z 1997
 veloci~,m/s;
CT(PSS~~OW volume of insenla- liorizontal Qlinder, In{. J, Head i%.$cz,~~~ Transfir, voX, 18,
tiors, cm" p. 1049, 1975.
mole fraction of the vapor (moisture) in [I21 Simmons, E,, D., Critical Thickness of Insufation Ae-
counting for Variahie Convection Coefficient and Radia-
the surrounding fluid, dimensionless; hy- tion Loss, 9, Heat Trlxnsfer, vol. 98, p, 150, 1976,
perbolic secant scrics, Eq. ( 1 11) IB33 Kuehn, T, W,,Radial Heat Transfer and Critical BtI~gt
thermal difEusivity of fluid, m2/s Number with Radiation, Unlfg3rm Surface Heat Geaera-
coefficient of volumetric expansion, K- " tion, and Cuwataare Effects in Cs9avcetion, J , Heab
surface emissivity, dimensionless Tralasfar, voX, I@, p, 374, 1978.
angular coordinate, deg or rad [I131 Habib, I, S., The Effects sf Radiation, Inclination and
Insulation Opacity on the Criticaf Radius ft~rRadial
real root of Eq. (51) Neat Traa~fer,h t * $* I".!e@P mxb.fa~~ Trlztz$fer, vaB, 25, p,
kinematic viscostiy of fluid, m2/s 1607, 1982,
Stefan-Boltzmann constant, ~ / m % ' 1151 %4sieh,C, K., Critical Thickness af insulation of a Square
dimensionless temperature Cross Sec~ion,S O ~EGr ~~e wvole ~ , 25, p, 566, 1986,
[I61 k i z , A,, C c ~ ~ ~ m eon
n t ""Critical
s Thickness of lnsul~tion
Szcbscripts of a Squztre Cross Section," Solar Efsew, vot, 3tB, p. 1391,
1983,
c critical %>rcgjnveetive [ 13 leiteiah, F., and Black, W, ZPn,, Bg~icHeat 1%rans1;@r, Warpcr
f film or fluid & Rc3w, New York, 19%tBa
1 iasside surface [I81 Hsieh, C. K,, Response to Prof* A, k i z 7 3 Lettcr, Solar
;an= ;anmimum Enew, vol, 30, p- 491, 1983,
o outside surface [19] Hsieh, C, M., and Yang, S, L., A New Theay of Critical
r radiative 'Fi~ickessof InsuXatiors, J. Heat Tr~nsfe,vol, 106, p,
32 surroundings 648, 1984.
[2O] Wahnc, E., and GrigZI, U., Shape Factg.fr and Shape
8 angular coordinate Resistance for Steady Multidimensional Meat Conduc-
B ' ~ vol, 18, p, 751, 1975,
tican, k t , I , Haat M ~ I ~Tra~~sfar,
f211 Smith, J, C,, L i d , J , E,, and $&ermond,TS. 3-, Shape
Factars fag: Cond~ctiveHeat Flow, AIClxE lJ,, V B ~ , 4, p,
330, 1950,
111 Bejan, A,, Hear Trczasfer, John Wiley, New York, % 993. 1221 Balcer~t7%ak, M. J,, and Raynor, S,, Steady S ~ a t eTempera-
[", lnc~apera,F, P,, and Bewitle, D. I?., %~atrr;9d&cfi~ra $0Heal tare Distributinn and Wcat 121.0win Prismatic Bars with
Ikansfer, John Wiley, New York* 1992, Isothermal Bsunday Conditions, hg, J, He@f gWa,p,k
[4] Schncider, R, J,, C~dndzgcrfion Neal pSrayI1.rfer, Addison- Tratzsfer, ~01.3, p, 113, I 961,
Wesley, Reading, MA, 195&,
143 Mussu%marr%, R, I,,, and Warrington, R, a,,Critical Xnsu-
iation Thickaess for Radial Heat Transfer, ASME Paper
84-WA/IIT-56, 1983. 8,k i z is currently Prcsfess~.)r~f Mechaxsical
[sf Eckert, E. R, G,, and Ssgehngen, E,, Distribution of Heal Engi~eeringat C;oz~agaUniversiv, Spclkdne,
T ~ ~ n s fCoeft9cient
er around Circular Qlinders in Gross- Wasl~ington,He served as department chair
flow at Reynolds Numbers from 20 to 5m, T~rry~s, ASME, from 1985 to 8989, &iz received his B E ,
(meckanical and eleefrjcai) degree from the
VOI, 74, p. 343, X952,
NEB Engineering College, Unive~iQ csf
[&I Sparrow, E, M,, and Prata, A. T., EEecr of Circunnfcren- Karachi, Pakistasr, in 1963, and his P$a.B. in
tiai Cc2nductiofm on the Critical Radius of Insulation for mecha~icalerngineering from the Uaivers.si@
Forced Convection Crossnow, J, He@$Trg~~fer, va1, f 07, of Leeds, E ~-g l m d in
, 196X Prior to jaisrixsg
p. 9@l, 1985, Gomaga %Jmriversi~~ he was a pprfessor of meehanicaX engineeriatg at
[7] Sparrow, E. M,, Re-ex~miaratisfaarnd Correction of the the Uni~ersityof Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, His emxgianeering exprience
Critical Radius far Raadiaj Heat Conduaion, AJChE J., includes wcark as ara assistant engineer with Karachi Electric Supply
~ 0 116,
, p, f 49, 1933, Curpc3ratian, and as an aeradpamicist/mmbwt:ion speeiafisk with
181 Bejan, A,, SoXilttir;9yIsMaazgcirtd, Hegt 'Pmasfer, John Wiley, Babcmk & Wileox Company, Renfrew, Seodand, daziz is the author
New Yg.frk*1993- or co-author of 72 articles, a tesbaok a n P ~ & ~ P . ~ @ Met#lc~~hr
~ ~ c P f[PI
Pz
Meat T r a ~ + f(Wemispherel,
~r and a eonbribu$sr t c ~the HerndEsdpok nf
[$I AbelB, M, L,, and Braselton, J, P,, Mapie V by Exan~pie~ Nzrrie~ccrbHear Tra~qfer(Wiley), His research :aterest irneludcs ex-
A. P, Professional, Can~bridge,MA, 1984, tended ssrface heat tsaa~lsfer,freezing and melting, ~fzrrmericalheal
[10] Baimer, R, T, The critical radius egect with a variable traasfer, pertarbabican techniques, and optinnizatic~ncaf IherrrlaX sys-
heat transfer ese-fficient,AIC:hE J., vof, 14, p, 547, 1978, tems, &iz is a F~cllic~wul" tbe ASME aad sewes a n its K-12 Commit-
1111 Churchill, S, W*,and Chu, H, H,, Correlatiing Equations tee can Aerospace Heat Transfer, He is also active in the ASEE axld
for Laminar and Tuir$uBeast Free G'o~xvectionfroarm a sewed as the chair aP the Padfie Northwest Scdion, 199f -1 992.

hear trangfer gngirmsgrirmgs vale f 8 na. 2 1997