A Numerical Solution to

imensional

OCTAVE LEVENSPIEL,NORMAN J. VEINSTEIN, AND JEROME C. R. LI

Oregon State College, Corvallis, Ore.
RITERIA in the choice of methods employed in arriving
a t the solution to problems in the applied sciences arc simplicity, reliability, accuracy, economy, and applicability to
available computing tools. As new calculating devices become
readily available, new procedures for problem solutions should
he developed, if they afford advantages not met by usual methods
of solution.

applicable where one dependent vdriable is a linear function oi

any number of independent variublcs. Therefore, this tcclinique may be used for finding the constants in any equation 1%hcir
a transformation to linear form ie possible. Its application to tlir
general solution of problems in dirnemionai analysis is strnightforward.
METHOD

~~

The familiar form of an equation resulting from diniensioiiel

analysis is:

Engineers who are curious about

automatic calculators and statistical design have an opportunity to
see how these tools sperate on Q
series of experimental data, with
real time- and labor-saving advantages

U ( D ~ ) ( D Z ).*.(Dii)bk
~.

(1)

in which D,D1,D 2 > . ., Dk are dimensionless groups and a, b l

bz,. , ., b k are constants m-hich are to be estimated. Ry a logarithmic transformation, Equation 1 becomes

NOWlet y = log D, 51 = log Di,x2 = log Dz,. .

bo = log a. Then Equation 2 beconics

= bo

+ b i ~ i+ b a ~ z+ . . . +

.)

xk

log k , a11t1

(3)

bkxk

It remains to find the values of bo, bl, bs,. . b k . These X: 4 I

constants resulting from the dimensionless groups are found by
the method of least squares-that is, by solving the follon in,:
kl
1 simultaneous equations:

Today electric desk calculators w e found in most engineering

laboratories, justifying the utilization of methods peculiarly
fitted to their use. One such method is presented here a? a
solution to a familiar problem, that of fitting a dimensionless
equation t o a set of experimental data.
The authors do not claim originality in developing the numerical solution presented. In fact, this is a well known method of
multiple regression and is described in many books on statistics
( g , 6, 7). The intention of the authors is not only to introduce a
useful technique to engineers who may not already be familiar
Kith it, but also to stimulate interest in the application of this and
other statistical methods to the fields of engineering and
chemistry.

.)

where the summation is over S, the number of runs.

The following is an outline of the procedure, which is ne11
adapted t o desk calculator use.
Procedure. From the data of a series of experiments, calculate
the values of the dimensionlesq groups for each run and tabulate
them.
Find the logarithm of each dimensionless group. These
logarithms become the variablep, u, 5 , ) 2 2 , . , ., xk, as shown in
Table I.

THE PROBLEM

I n analyzing phenomena \\-here complexity or insufficient information does not allon- a rigid theoretical treatment) dimensional analysis is often employed. Hop-ever, in most cases the
estimation of constants in the equations thus derived involves
considerable time and effort, as the method used in engineering
is essentially the determination of the interrelationships of the
variables two a t a time, with the remaining variables held constant. The interrelationships are found either graphically or
numerically by the methods of least squares or group averages ( 9 ) .
This paper presents a numerical solutio11 to such problems,
which is objective and rapid, and which, based on sound statistical theory, provides reliable estimates of the true values for
the constants in the dimensionless equations. The method,
which is known in statistics as multiple regresqion, is generally
1

Table I.
Run

Illustration of Procedure
?I

51

X8

8
2x1

z;r*

S
5

10
6

Sum
Notation

Present address, Buoknell University, Lewsburg, Pa

324

7
36

rz/

1I

INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY

February 1956

325

Find the sum and the sum of the squares of each variable.
Find the

*p

sums of products of all combinations of vari-

ables, taken two at a time. The summation is t o be taken over

all the N runs, as shown in Table 11.

Example. As an example of the application of the

method, the equation and data of Sieder and Tate
(10) for heat transfer of liquids in tubes have been
chosen.

NU
Table 11. Details of Computation
Run

x2u

m2/

21 2

22

XI22

Zy

ZXi
ZX,

Z(YX1)
Z(yX2)
Z(yX3)
Z(X1X2)
Z(X1Xs)
Z(XzX3)
Z(X12)
Z(~22)
Z(X3z)

5 bo

bi

+ 11 b, = 36

bo
bl
be
ba

bi

Solving the above equations simultaneously, one finds

=
=
=
=

=
=
=
=

=
=
=

-0.011848
0.288054
0.242888
0.142379

Since bl = log a, then a

resulting equation is

I n Table I1 only the quantities in the last row are needed as

coefficients in Equations 4. As these quantities can be obtained in one continuous operation, the individual squares and
products need not be tabulated. They are listed in Table I1
only as an illustration of the computing procedure.
Equation 5 is a modification of their recommended equation,
with ( L / D ) - l J $included in the constant 0.402, as the original
data do not include this group as a variable.

0.97308, Therefore the

as compared to the result of Sieder and Tate :

Nu

0.402 (Re)13(Pr)l3

(:)*

Because Sieder and Tate did not actually determine the esponent of the Prandtl group, but assumed it t o be 1/s as found by
previous investigators, the constants found in Equation 5 are
somewhat different from those of Equation 6. Figure 1 shows
that the results obtained by Equation 6 agree very closely with
those calculated from Equation 5. However, this is the result
of the use, by Sieder and Tate, of a trial and error method of
least squares. They tried a number of coefficients until they
found a set of constants which gave a minimum deviation. Thus,
their equation is the result of a considerable amount of careful
work. Of course, by the nature of the least squares method, the
constants given in Equation 5 show a minimum root mean square
deviation of log Nu, which for Equation 5 is st0.0469 versus
10.0535 for Equation 6. These two values are measures of the
per cent deviation of the calculated from the observed Nu values.
Of interest is the root mean square deviation for Nu, which for
Equation 5 is 1 2 . 5 8 and for Equation 6 is 1 2 . 9 6 .

40

30

20

IO
9

=
=
=

84.5616
148.1025
201.3341
43.6002
190.717107
251.789129
44.518615
422.295834
- 100,993332
- 133.940573
362.017620
624.159862
116.512330

where y = log (Nu); x1 = log (Re); xz = log(Pr);

x3 = log ( p a / p W ) . The substitution of these values
in Equations 4 and the solution by the abbreviated
Doolittle method (1,4 ) gave the following b values :

+ 14 + 18 b? = 58
I1 bo + 18 bl + 27 ba = 74
8 bo

b3

By means of a calculator the following summations

were obtained :

ZX3

Substitute these values in the k

1 simultaneous Equations 4
and solve for the b values.
A simple illustration is shown in Table I and the details of the
computation are shown in Table 11.
Substituting the values obtained in Table I1 in Equations 4,
one has

(E)

U(Re)b,(Pr)bz

SUGGESTIONS AND CAUTIONS

8 9 IO

20

30

40

50

NU observed
Figure 1. Application of method of calculation

In order t o avoid unwarranted extrapolation, the dimensionlesv

groups used in calculating the constants should be allowed to
take extreme values in the range for which the equation is t o be

326

I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E MI S T R Y

used. Using extreme values also assures gyeatest accuracy of

the estimates of the bs ( 4 ) .
Better results may be obtained by the use of efficient experimental designs ( 2 , 3). The technique of multiple regression or
any other statistical method does not overcome the disadvantages
of haphazard selection of experimental data.
If a number of calculations are to be done, it may be advantageous to learn and employ the abbreviated Doolittle method
(1, 4 ) involving matrices for solving the k $. 1 simultaneoue
Equations 4. However, as the solution to the simultaneous
equations involves differences of numbers which are small
compared to the numbers themselves, the calculations should
be carried to three more decimal places than required in the
b values in problems involving up t o six dimensionless groups
(6).
This method in no way answers the question of whether the dimensionless equation is an adequate generalization of the facts or
is of the right type. It determines the constants in Equation 1,
once the type of equation has been chosen and decided upon.
The use of the method minimizes t h e root mean square deviation of the logarithm of the dimensionless group rather than of
the variable itself.
ADVARTTAGES

Use of a graphical method for determining the constants in a

dimensionless equation involves either a trial and error solution
such as that outlined by Kern (8) or varying the dimensionless
groups two a t a time while keeping the others constant. The
trial and error solution entails a considerable amount of work
even for three variables and becomes too complex t o handle
for more than three. The practice of varying two groups a t a
time requires consideriible experimental control and the accumulation of large quantities of data for reasonable accuracy. For
comparable accuracy the method presented here requires less
experimental data and control.
Given a set of data, this method can be shown t o give a reliable estimate of the constants in the dimensionless equation,
minimizing the per cent deviation of the dimensionless groups
according to the root mean square criterion ( 7 ) .

Vol. 48,No. 2

The computations are completely objective, vhereaa the success

of the graphical method involving curve fitting depends on experience and is subject to unavoidable bias.
The computing method is straightforward and, after k i n g
outlined, can be done by nontechnical personnel. It has real
labor-saving advantages, although results almost as good can
be obtained by very careful graphical analysis.
The computations involved can be useful in appropriating
statistical developments for more complete analysis of the experimental data if desired.
Coii-cLusioN

The method is useful because it is rapid, straightforward, and

objective; economical as it alloms for better experimental dwign,
resulting in the elimination of a large fraction of experimental
work; efficient because it obtains the most reliable information
from the available data; and progressive because it is the starting
point for statistical analyses that will be used more and more in
engineering as increased accuracy of result is demanded of experiment a1 equipment.
LITERATURE CIIED

(1) Anderson, R. I,., and Bancroft, 11. A., Statistical T ~ C O Iin

,J,
Research, pp. 168-206, RlcGraw-Hill, New York, 1952.
(2) Bennett, C. A . , and Franklin, N. L., Statistical Analysis in
Chemistry and the Chemical Industry, Chap. 6 arid 8 ,

Wiley, New York, 1954.

(3) Cochran, W. G., and Cox, G. M , Experimental Designs,
Wiley. Sew York, 1950.
(4) Dmyer, P. S., Psychometrika 6, 101-29 (1941).
(5) Hald, d.,Statistical Theory with Engineering Applicatioiis,
Chap. 20, TViley, Sew York, 1952.
(6) Hotelling, H., Ann. Math. Stat. 14, 1-34 (1943).
(7) Kendall, bI. G., Advanced Theory of Statistics, Vol. I . Chap.
15, Charles Griffin, London, 1946.
(8) Kern, D. Q . , Process Heat Transfer, Chap. 111, b 1 ~ G i . a ~ Hill, hew York, 1960.
(9) Ifackey, C. O., Graphical Solutions, 2nd ed., Chap. 5, p. 105,
Wiley, Sew kork, 1944.
(10) Sieder, E. X., and Tate, G. E., IND.ESG. CHEM.28, 1429-38
(1936).
RECEIVED
for review February 12, 1055.

. ~ C C C I ~ T E September
D

18, 1955.