ENME 471 Heat Transfer Laboratory Conduction Block (CB) Experiment

(TA: Colin Hartloper [cjhartlo@ucalgary.ca])

Objectives: i) To demonstrate the principles of two dimensional conduction within a block (Chapter 4 of Incropera and DeWitt), and to learn about natural convection (Chapter 9) and radiation (Chapter 12) from free surfaces. To demonstrate the use of Microsoft Excel for simulating two-dimensional heat transfer problems.

ii)

Introduction: Two-dimensional conduction problems can be modeled using the Heat Diffusion Equation. As described in Section 4.2 of the course textbook, this equation is a partial differential equation that tends to be rather difficult to solve analytically. In order to come up with a solution, one first needs to characterize the nature of the problem (three dimensional, two dimensional, or one dimensional; internal heat generation; steady or transient) as well as the boundary conditions. The boundary conditions specify what is occurring on the external surfaces of the object. Potential boundary conditions include constant temperature, constant heat flux, zero heat flux (insulated boundary), convection, and radiation. The solution to the heat diffusion equation is the temperature T within the solid as a function of space and time (x,y,z,t). The heat diffusion equation is given in Eq. 1:

C p T 2T 2T 2T q 2 2 2 x y z k k t

The laboratory experiment considers heat conduction through a heated block that is heated from below and loses heat from its exposed surfaces to the surrounding environment, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The heated block has been instrumented using 11 thermocouples. Although heat transfer in this block is three dimensional, near the middle of the block where the thermocouples are located the heat transfer can be approximated as two dimensional. Given that there is no internal heat generation and the conditions (boundary conditions) do not change with time, the heat diffusion equation can be simplified to:

2T 2T 0 x 2 y 2

This equation is known as the Laplace equation, and it is a mathematical-physics equation common to a number of different fields including heat transfer, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, 1 ENME 471 #2: Two-Dimensional Conduction in a Block

and electromagnetics. It may be solved using a number of different techniques, however the approach taken here will involve the finite-difference method implemented using Microsoft Excel. Temperature distributions computed using Microsoft Excel will be compared to experimental temperature measurements and used to quantify the nature of the boundary conditions on the block.

Thermocouple Locations Thermocouple Holes Insulated Surfaces

Insulated Surfaces

12 Constant Heat Flux

4
Figure 1: Schematic of heated block.

Apparatus: The experimental apparatus consists of an aluminum block (k = 204 W/m.K) 12 inches long, 4 inches wide and 6 inches high. The lower half of the block has been insulated with fiberglass insulation, and a silicone rubber electrical resistance heater (Omegalux Model SRMU050412P) has been mounted to the bottom surface of the block. The heater is 4 inches wide, 10.16 inches 2 long, and it produces 5 Watts / in . Heat from the electrical resistance heater can conduct up into the block and also into the airspace below the block (the block has been raised off of the table level using metal standoffs). Thermocouple holes have been drilled into the block, enabling thermocouples to be placed in the central plane of the block. Thermocouples placed into the holes provide a measure of the temperature within the block. A schematic showing the thermocouple locations is given in Fig. 2. The thermocouple signals are fed into homebuilt thermocouple amplifiers, and the signals from these amplifiers are then fed into a National Instruments breakout board. A computer with a National Instruments analog-to-digital card is connected to the breakout board and it records the voltage outputs from the thermocouple amplifiers. The recorded voltages are processed and displayed using LabVIEW data acquisition and analysis software.

2 ENME 471 #2: Two-Dimensional Conduction in a Block

(0,5.875) (1.664,5.498)
5

(1.248,4.872)

(0.832,4.248)
4

(0,4) (0.416,3.624) (1.5,3.5)

3

(0,3)

(1.5,2.5)
2

(0,2.125)

(0,0.25)

0 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Figure 2: Thermocouple locations in block. Procedure: 1. Record the room temperature. 2. Record the temperatures in the block. 3. Measure the dimensions of the block, paying close attention to how high up the sides the insulation goes. 4. Pay attention as your TA shows you how to use the Excel module. 5. Take advantage of the remaining time to play with the Excel module and ask questions. Analysis: 1. Go to the course lab website and download the Excel module, entitled CB-Spreadsheet. 2. Go to the course lab website and download the temperature offset correction data for the CB experiment, entitled CB-Temperature_Offsets and correct your temperature data prior to processing. 3. Using the temperature data that you collect, quantify the amount of heat that flows from the electrical resistance heater up into the block. [Hint: conduction can be approximated as 1-D along the centerline (thermocouples 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)] 4. Develop a numerical model for the block using the Excel template and referring to the points at the end of this handout. Develop the first model using only the convection boundary condition on the upper exposed surfaces. Using the magnitude of heat flux determined in part #2, use your Excel model to estimate the magnitude of the natural convection coefficient on both the sides (hvert) and the top of the block (hhor). Assign one value of the convective heat transfer coefficient to the sides and a different value to the 3 ENME 471 #2: Two-Dimensional Conduction in a Block

top (vertical heated plate and horizontal heated plate). By adjusting the two convective heat transfer values, try to minimize the difference between experimental temperatures and numerical results. Compare the values of hvert and hhor to those listed in the course textbook (Section 9.6). 5. Develop a second numerical model using both the convection and radiation boundary conditions on the upper exposed surfaces. Estimate the emissivity using values from the textbook. Again, using the magnitude of heat flux determined in part #2, use your Excel model to estimate the magnitude of the natural convection coefficient on the sides of the block (hvert), the top of the block (hhor), and the emissivity of the Aluminum (). Minimize the difference between the eleven experimental temperature measurements and the numerical results. Compare your values of natural convection coefficient with those listed in the course textbook (Section 9.6). Compare your emissivity to that given in Figure 12.19, assuming that the aluminum surface is oxidized. 6. Discuss your results. Important points to remember when using the Excel Template: 1) On opening, click CANCEL to Circular Reference Error should one appear. 2) Go under Tools>Options>View>Formulas and turn them ON or OFF, depending on what you want to see in your grid. 3) Go under Tools>Options>Calculation>Iteration and set it to a number like 100 to start with. Once you have everything established you may want to set it to a larger number like 5000 in order to have a fully converged numerical solution. 4) Press F9 in order to keep iterating. 5) Begin by setting up your grid of cells that will model the block in two dimensions. 6) Fill your grid with a number to represent the temperature, 25 for instance. You may want to color code your block so that it is easier to identify. 7) Enter values for the boundaries under the appropriate boundary conditions given on the left side of the spreadsheet. Values that you will need are k, x, h, T00, , Tsurr, q_dot, q. 8) Copy and drag paste all of the boundary cells. For the radiation boundary, you will need to first enter k, x, h, T00, , Tsurr, q_dot, q and then click in the boundary cell with the #DIV/0!, then click in the formula bar and click enter. This will change the #DIV/0! into a number (very important!). For your block you will need a constant heat flux boundary for the bottom, an insulated boundary for the lower sides, and free convective boundaries with radiation for the upper sides and the top of the block. Is convection on the side of the block the same as convection from the top of the block? 9) Copy and drag past all of the interior nodes. 10) Make sure the solution has converged by pressing F9 and ensuring that the temperatures do not change further. 11) Graph the result.

4 ENME 471 #2: Two-Dimensional Conduction in a Block