MIN 305 Heat & Mass Transfer

Tutorial Sheet 5: 1D unsteady conduction and 2D conduction

1. A steel ball [c = 0.46 kJ/kg · ◦C, k = 35 W/m · ◦C] 5.0 cm in diameter and initially at a uniform
temperature of 450◦C is suddenly placed in a controlled environment in which the temperature
is maintained at 100◦C. The convection heat-transfer coefficient is 10 W/m2 · ◦C. Calculate the
time required for the ball to attain a temperature of 150 ◦C. If it was a cube of steel of sides 5
cm will it cool faster or slower?
2. A steel sphere (AISI 1010), 100 mm in diameter, is coated with a dielectric material layer of
thickness 2 mm and thermal conductivity 0.04 W/m⋅K. The coated sphere is initially at a
uniform temperature of 500°C and is suddenly quenched in a large oil bath for which T∞ =
100°C and h = 3000 W/m2 ⋅ K. Estimate the time required for the coated sphere temperature to
reach 150°C. Properties of steel: ρ=7832 kg/m3, cp=559 J/kg.K, k= 48.8 W/m.K. Hint: Neglect
the effect of energy storage in the dielectric material, since its thermal capacitance (ρcV) is
small compared to that of the steel sphere.
3. The heat transfer coefficient for hydrogen flowing over a sphere is to be determined by
observing the temperature–time history of a sphere fabricated from pure copper(ρ=8933 kg/m3,
cp=384 J/kg.K, k= 399 W/m.K). The sphere, which is 20 mm in diameter, is at 75°C before it
is inserted into the gas stream having a temperature of 27°C. A thermocouple on the outer
surface of the sphere indicates 55°C, 97 s after the sphere is inserted into the hydrogen. Assume
and then justify that the sphere behaves as a space-wise isothermal object and calculate the heat
transfer coefficient.
4. A flaked cereal is of thickness 2L=1.2mm.The density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity
of the flake are ρ = 700 kg/m3, cp = 2400 J/kg⋅K, and k = 0.34 W/m⋅K, respectively. The
product is to be baked by increasing its temperature from Ti = 20°C to Tf = 220°C in a
convection oven, through which the product is carried on a conveyor. If the oven is Lo = 3 m
long and the convection heat transfer coefficient
at the product surface and oven air temperature
are h = 55 W/m2⋅K and T∞ = 300°C,
respectively, determine the required conveyor
velocity, V. An engineer suggests that if the flake
thickness is reduced to 2L = 1.0 mm the
conveyor velocity can be increased, resulting in
higher productivity. Determine the required
conveyor velocity for the thinner flake.
5. Consider the series solution, for the plane wall
with convection. Calculate midplane (x* = 0) and surface (x* = 1) non-dimensional
temperatures for Fo = 0.1 and 1, using Bi = 0.1 and 10. Consider only the first four eigenvalues.
Based on these results, discuss the validity of the approximate solutions
6. Consider an acrylic sheet of thickness L = 5 mm that is used to coat a hot, isothermal metal
substrate at Th = 300°C. The properties of the acrylic are ρ = 1990 kg/m3, c = 1470 J/kg ⋅ K,
and k = 0.21 W/m ⋅ K. Neglecting the thermal contact resistance between the acrylic and the
metal substrate, determine how long it will take for the insulated back side of the acrylic to
reach its softening temperature, Tsoft = 90°C. The initial acrylic temperature is Ti = 20°C.
7. During transient operation, the steel nozzle of a rocket engine must not exceed a maximum
allowable operating temperature of 1500 K when exposed to combustion gases characterized
by a temperature of 2300 K and a convection coefficient of 5000 W/m 2⋅K. To extend the
duration of engine operation, it is proposed that a ceramic thermal barrier coating (k = 10 W/m
⋅ K, = 6  10−6 m2/s) be applied to the interior surface of the nozzle. If the ceramic coating
 is 10 mm thick and at an initial temperature of 300 K, obtain a conservative estimate of the
maximum allowable duration of engine operation. The nozzle radius is much larger than the
combined wall and coating thickness.
8. A long iron rod (ρ =7870 kg/m3 , cp = 447 J/kg·K, k = 80.2 W/m·K, and = 23.1 × 10–6 m2/s)
with diameter of 25 mm is initially heated to a uniform temperature of 700°C. The iron rod is
then quenched in a large water bath that is maintained at constant temperature of 50°C and
convection heat transfer coefficient of 128 W/m2·K. Determine the time required for the iron
rod surface temperature to cool to 200°C. Solve this problem using analytical one-term
approximation method.
9. A D = 100 mm diameter solid sphere, initially at a uniform temperature of Ti = 50°C, is placed
in a flowing fluid at T∞ = 20°C. The sphere properties are k = 2 W/m ⋅K, ρ = 2500 kg/m3, and
cp = 750 J/kg ⋅K. The convection heat transfer coefficient is h = 30 W/m2 ⋅ K. At what time
does the sphere’s surface temperature reach 26°C? How much energy has been transferred from
the sphere at this time?
10. A large block of steel [k = 45 W/m·◦C, α =1.4 × 10−5 m2/s] is initially at a uniform temperature
of 35◦C. The surface is exposed to a heat flux (a) by suddenly raising the surface temperature
to 250◦C and (b) through a constant surface heat flux of 3.2 × 105 W/m2. Calculate the
temperature at a depth of 2.5 cm after a time of 0.5 min for both these cases.
11. In areas where the air temperature remains below 0°C for prolonged periods of time, the
freezing of water in underground pipes is a major concern. Fortunately, the soil remains
relatively warm during those periods, and it takes weeks for the subfreezing temperatures to
reach the water mains in the ground. Thus, the soil effectively serves as an insulation to protect
the water from sub- freezing temperatures in winter. The ground at a particular location is
covered with snow pack at -10°C for a continuous period of three months, and the average soil
properties at that location are k = 0.4 W/m·K and thermal diffusivity of 0.15X10-6 m2/s.
Assuming an initial uniform temperature of 15°C for the ground, determine the minimum burial
depth to prevent the water pipes from freezing.
12. A two-dimensional rectangular plate is subjected to
prescribed boundary conditions. Using the results of the
exact solution for the heat equation, calculate the
temperatures along the mid-plane of the plate (x = 1 m) at
y = 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 m by considering the first five
nonzero terms of the infinite series. Assess the error
resulting from using only the first three terms of the infinite series.
13. A two-dimensional rectangular plate is subjected to the boundary
conditions shown. Derive expressions for the steady-state
temperature distribution T(x, y) and the steady-state heat flux
distribution q′′(x, y = b) for 0 ≤ x ≤ a.
14. A metallic electrical wire of diameter d = 5 mm is to be coated with
insulation of thermal conductivity k = 0.35 W/m⋅K. It is expected that, for the typical
installation, the coated wire will be exposed to conditions for which the total coefficient
associated with convection and radiation is h = 15 W/m2 ⋅ K. To minimize the temperature rise
of the wire due to ohmic heating, the insulation thickness is specified so that the critical
insulation radius is achieved. During the wire coating process, however, the insulation
thickness sometimes varies around the periphery of the wire, resulting in eccentricity of the
wire relative to the coating. Determine the change in the thermal resistance of the insulation
due to an eccentricity that is 50% of the critical insulation thickness.
15. Two parallel pipelines spaced 2.0 m apart are buried in soil having a thermal conductivity of
0.5 W/m ⋅ K. The pipes have outer diameters of 300 and 200 mm with surface temperatures of
95°C and 5°C, respectively. Estimate the heat transfer rate per unit length between the two
pipelines.