SAE Paper 2002-01-0372

A Universal Heat Transfer Correlation for Intake and Exhaust

Flows in an Spark-Ignition Internal Combustion Engine
Christopher Depcik and Dennis Assanis
The University of Michigan
Copyright 2001 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

ABSTRACT

Nu = aRe

In this paper, the available correlations proposed in the

literature for the gas-side heat transfer in the intake and
exhaust system of a spark-ignition internal combustion
engine were surveyed.
It was noticed that these
b

correlations often are of the form Nu = aRe and differ

only by empirically fitted constants. This similarity
provided the impetus for the authors to explore if a
universal correlation could be developed. Based on a
scaling approach using microscales of turbulence, the
authors have fixed the exponential factor on the
Reynolds number and thus reduced the number of
adjustable coefficients to just one; the latter can be
determined from a least squares curve-fit of available
experimental data. Using intake and exhaust side data,
it was shown that the universal correlation
34

Nu = 0 .07Re can be used for engine manifold flows.

The correlation coefficient of this proposed heat transfer
model with all available experimental data is 0.845 for
the intake side and 0.800 for the exhaust side.

INTRODUCTION
Heat transfer is an important phenomenon in both the
intake and exhaust system of an internal combustion
engine. On the intake side, heat transfer affects the
breathing of the engine reducing the volumetric
efficiency. On the exhaust side, heat transfer robs the
flow of available energy.
With stricter emission
regulations, the ability to get the aftertreatment system to
the proper temperature during cold starts is crucial.
Losing energy will cause this system to take longer to
reach its maximum effectiveness and result in more
tailpipe emissions. Therefore, the ability to calculate
heat transfer as accurately as possible is necessary.
While researching correlations for use in modeling the
quasi-steady heat transfer in the piping of an internal
combustion engine, the authors noticed a number of
different types present in the literature for a sparkignition engine ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10],
and [11]). Of these correlations, the same fundamental
form exists but different coefficients are used:

In addition, the correlations presented are for the intake

or exhaust system separately. While this may seem like
a big difference, in actuality the same fundamentals exist
on the intake and exhaust side: turbulent pipe flow. So,
if this is the case, why are there so many different
correlations?
The reason there are so many different correlations is
that the geometry of each engine is unique. No two
engines will have the same flow patterns. Since flow is
the precursor to heat transfer, the same magnitude of
flow in two different engines can give two different heat
transfer values. In addition, frequencies based on valve
events, as well as pipe lengths, drastically alter the flow
patterns and change the heat transfer relationship.
These factors determine the turbulence of an engine,
which cannot be captured in the above quasi-steady
formulation. This explains why engineers typically like to
use heat transfer correlations based on their own
experimental data. The coefficients are tailored to the
flow and turbulence through their engine.
In the above quasi-steady formulation, simplification has
made it possible to specify only the mean flow rate as
being important. The fluctuating components have been
incorporated into coefficients which are fitted from
experimental data.
However, since the same
fundamental form exists, there might be the possibility to
fix one of the coefficients from physics and let the other
be fitted from experimental data. The exponential factor
on the Reynolds number is what will be targeted to see if
it can be physically fixed. The coefficient in front of the
Reynolds number would then become the geometric or
engine-dependent parameter.
An approach based on the microscales of turbulence
[12] was used by Arpaci et al. to successfully model the
heat transfer in the tailpipe of a pulse combustor. In
their paper, high rates of heat transfer were found as the
result of large flow oscillations caused by the acoustic
resonance of the combustor. Analogous to a pulse
combustor, an internal combustion engine has pulsating
flow in the intake and exhaust as mentioned before.
Because of this similarity, the scaling brought about

through the microscales of turbulence will be explored to

determine if it can be applied here.
Experimental data will be used to fit the physically based
correlation as previous authors have done.
The
experimental data in the literature comes from sparkignition engines of varying size and varying speed
ranges ([7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17],
and [18]). Therefore, the formulation of a universal
correlation is assumed valid for the entire range of
spark-ignition engines. As an initial step, different intake
and exhaust correlations will be developed because the
literature tends to keep these separate. Subsequently,
an attempt is made to present a universal correlation for
heat transfer in the intake and exhaust of an internal
combustion engine. This idea is similar to the universal
heat transfer correlation proposed by Woschni for
convective heat transfer in the cylinder [19].

LITERATURE SEARCH
A number of Nusselt number correlations have been
developed to describe the gas-side heat transfer in
turbulent pipe flow ([1] - [11]). These correlations are
usually of the form:
b

(1)

Nu = aRe Pr c

with the Nusselt number related to the Prandtl number

and the mean flow velocity in the form of the Reynolds
number. Some classical correlations, which are not
specific to internal combustion engines, exist for
turbulent pipe flow. One of the first equations developed
to compute the heat transfer coefficients in pipes is the
Dittus-Boelter equation [1]:
Nu = 0 .023 Re

45

(2)

Pr 0 .4

with the coefficient 0.023 recommended by McAdams

[20] (0.0243 originally). The above equation is a slightly
different version of the Colburn [21] equation:
Nu = 0 .023 Re

45

(3)

Pr 1 3

These equations are used for fully developed turbulent

flow in a smooth circular tube. For flows characterized
by large property variations [22], a correlation
determined by Seider-Tate [2] is used:
Nu = 0 .027 Re

45

Pr 1 / 3
s

0 .14

(4)

(f 8)(Re 1000 )Pr

1.07 + 12 .7 (f 8 ) (Pr 2 / 3 1)

Nu =

Nu =

(5a)

for 10 < Re < 5 x 10

(f 8)Re Pr

1.07 + 12 .7 (f 8 ) Pr 2 / 3 1
for Re < 104

(5b)

A simplification of this correlation can be made using an

approximation from the Blausius model for turbulent
flows in smooth pipes [23]:
f =

0 .3164
Re

1/ 4

for Re 105

(6)

Gnielinskis equations can be simplified into the same

format as the previous equations by first neglecting the
addition and subtraction terms on the bottom of equation
(5b) which makes it equal to 12.7 ( f 8) Pr 2 / 3 . Then
using the relationship for the friction factor previously
mentioned the following equation results:
Nu = 0 .016 Re

0 .875

Pr 1 3

(7)

Quite often, the internal combustion engine modeler will

neglect the Prandtl number dependence since for gases
it is near unity. This results in the following NusseltReynolds number relationship:
Nu = aRe

(8)

The coefficients in the above equation are then curvefitted with experimental data. Such data for the intake
and exhaust side and the correlations based on them
are presented in the following sections.
INTAKE CORRELATIONS
In this section, a number of intake correlations detailed
in the literature are presented. These correlations were
created to capture the experimental data that were
acquired by various researchers and are shown in
Figure 1.
Martins and Finlay [9] found that steady flow heat
transfer in the inlet port could be correlated as:
Nu = 0 .0675 Re

0.713

(9)

Shayler, et al. [10] found this relationship to be:

where and s are the viscosities determined by the
bulk and surface temperatures, respectively. In most
cases, this correction term is neglected leaving just the
Nusselt-Reynolds/Prandtl number relationship. In order
to account for the effects of wall roughness, Gnielinski
[3] included the friction factor f as follows:

Nu = 0 .135 Re

0 .713

(10)

10

10

Nusselt Number

Nusselt Number

10

Bauer Straight 98
Shayler
Bauer Curved 98
EDE
Martins
Bauer 97

10

10

10

Experimental
Martins & Finlay
Shayler
Bauer Straight
Bauer Curved
Bauer 97

10

10

10

10

10

Figure 1: Available experimental data in the intake of an

internal combustion engine detailing the relationship
between the Nusselt number (heat transfer) and the
Reynolds number (flow velocity).
Bauer, et al. [8] determined the correlations for straight
and curved intake pipes under steady flow conditions as:

Nu = 0 .14Re

0. 73

0. 66

straight

(11)

curved

(12)

Bauer, et al. [11] also determined the following

correlation in an earlier paper:
Nu = 0 .521Re

0 .561

Figure 2: Intake correlations proposed by various

authors plotted with experimental data as a function of
Reynolds number.

Malchow [5] and Shayler [6] also fitted experimental data

to find respectively:
Nu = 0 .0483 Re
Nu = 0 .14Re

In this section, a number of exhaust correlations detailed

in the literature are presented. These correlations were
created to capture the experimental data shown in
Figure 3.
Experimental work aimed at calculating the heat transfer
coefficients in the takedown section of a real exhaust
system was done by Sachdev [14] and the coefficients
correlated by Meisner and Sorenson [4] to yield the
following relation:
0.769

(14)

(15)

0. 68

Nu = 0 .027 Re

45

Pr

1/ 3

(16)

0.14

C entr

(17)

The Centr term was included by Wendland to account for

separation effects of the fluid from the wall when it
initially enters the pipe.
C entr = 0.892 +

EXHAUST CORRELATIONS

0.783

Wendland [7] took the Seider-Tate correlation and made

some adaptations based on the physical processes
encountered:

(13)

Placing these correlations on the same graph as the

experimental data (Figure 2) shows a large deviation
between the theoretical and actual values.

Nu = 0 .0774 Re

10

Reynolds Number

Reynolds Number

Nu = 0 .062Re

2.02
L d

(18)

where d is the pipe inside diameter and L is the entrance

length. The entrance multiplier can be as high as three
for short entrance lengths ((L/d) < 1). In addition to the
above corrections, a Convective Augmentation Factor is
included to account for the fluctuation of the exhaust
flow:
Nu = (CAF )0.027Re

45

Pr

1/ 3

0.14

C entr

(19)

Nusselt Number

Nusselt Number

10

10

Sachdev
Wendland (takedown)
Konstantinidis
Caton
Shayler
Kandylas (2.0 - manifold)
Kandylas (1.1 - manifold)

10

10

10

10

Experimental
Dittus-Boelter
Colburn
Seider-Tate
Meisner-Sorenson
Malchow
Shayler
Gnielinski
Wendland

10
3

10

10

Reynolds Number

Where:
Nu actual
Nu ideal

Figure 4: Exhaust correlations proposed by various

authors plotted with experimental data 1 as a function of
Reynolds number.
However, they concluded that the above equation is
completely empirical and the fundamental mechanism
producing the deviation from the steady state is
unresolved. While this paper does not go into modeling
the transient effects of turbulence, it was important to
mention the deviation that it brings.

(20)

CONCEPTUAL HEAT TRANSFER MODEL

The values for the CAF range from two [5] to three [24].
There are a number of other correlations presented in
the literature ([25] and [26] for example) that try to
describe the Nusselt-Reynolds/Prandtl relationship.
These correlations were placed on the same graph as
the experimental data (Figure 4), once again showing
the wide discrepancy between theoretical and actual
values.
The reason the experimental data, as well as the quasisteady correlations, vary significantly is that the effects
of turbulence are somewhat neglected. Turbulence is a
large factor when it comes to heat transfer in the piping
of an internal combustion engine because it greatly
multiplies the amount of heat transfer to the walls.
Of the correlations mentioned above, only Wendland
realized the importance of turbulence and added an
augmentation factor to consider the effects of
turbulence. However, all this factor does is multiply the
heat transfer by a constant without involving any
turbulent flow physics. Shayler, et al. [13] also realized
the inaccuracy of the quasi-steady model and
characterized the heat transfer by:

t
t
Nu t = Nu i exp + Nu ss 1 exp

10

Reynolds Number

10

Figure 3: Available experimental data in the exhaust of

an internal combustion engine detailing the relationship
between the Nusselt number (heat transfer) and the
Reynolds number (flow velocity). The data was taken at
steady-state conditions.

CAF =

10

In the previous section, a number of different heat

transfer correlations were presented in order to explain
turbulent pipe flow. These correlations varied from those
physically based to empirical curve-fits. In this section,
the authors present a correlation derived from the
microscales of turbulence to explain this phenomena
from a physical standpoint. Microscales of turbulence
have been successfully used to explain heat transfer in
pulsed combustors [12]. Pulsed combustion events are
quite similar to the intake/exhaust processes in internal
combustion engines, due to varying frequencies of the
flow occurring from valve events. The fundamental
physics behind this method are detailed in [27], and the
reader should refer to this book for a further
understanding of the following model.
Let the sublayer of a turbulent flow next to a wall be
characterized by , and the entire dissipation be
confined to this layer. Then, the usual definition of skin
friction, written in terms of the instantaneous velocity,
u ~ U + U 0 (mean velocity and amplitude), and gives:

f =

(21)

where Nui is the initial value of the Nusselt number

following the change in operating conditions, and Nuss is
the corresponding value to which this tends when quasisteady thermal conditions are established.

w
~
1 2
1 2
u
u
2
2

(22)

In the correlations where a Prandtl number is important, a value of

0.76 is used based on a chemical equilibrium calculation by the NASA
program CEA taking a value of 2 bar and 900 K for an Isooctane fuel at
stoichiometry.

The Reynolds number based on this velocity and the

Integral scale, l , is:
ul u l
Re =
=

Including a coefficient to eliminate the approximate sign,

the quasi-steady model then becomes:
Nu = C 0 Re

(23)

Physical scaling utilizing the Taylor microscale and

Integral scale, along with a model proposed by
Tennekes [28] for the intermittency of vortex tubes (also
[29]) combined with the equation for the kinetic energy of
random fluctuations results in the following relationship:

34

Pr 1 3

(31)

This correlation is similar to those previously presented,

but with the major difference in that the exponential
factor of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers are now set
by the physics involved instead of empirical curve-fits.

DETERMINATION OF COEFFICIENTS
1

l
f ~ Re 1 4 1 +

2
u

3 4

(24)

In the limit of quasi-steady flow ( 0) this result is

known to correlate turbulent flow data on flat plates. Let
the heat transfer be expressed in terms of a thermal
Kolmogorov scale as:

At this point, we have a generalized form of a correlation

based on the physics of turbulent flows. Using the
intake data and exhaust data separately, the coefficient
C0 was determined using a least squares curve-fit of all
available experimental data in order to determine a
general relationship.
INTAKE COEFFICIENT

l
Nu ~

(25)

In an oscillating flow, it was determined that the ratio of

the momentum and thermal scales is:

~ F(, Pr )
(26)

When the momentum and thermal energy are similar

(both the governing equations and boundary conditions):

~ Pr 1 3

If we are dealing only with gaseous flows ( Pr 1 3 ~ 1 ), we

find from a least squares curve-fit of experimental data
(Figure 1) that:
Nu = 0.0694Re

34

(32)

This correlation was then placed on the same graph

(Figure 5) as the other correlations and experimental
data. Looking at the graph, it seems that this correlation
essentially divides the experimental data in half.

(27)

10

l
Nu ~ Re 3 4 1 +

34

F ( )Pr 1 3

(28)

Substituting the instantaneous velocity with the mean

and amplitude components, assuming quasi-steady flow,
along with the postulation that F() ~ constant ([12]) it
was found that:
Nu ~ Re

34

Pr 1 3

Ul

102

Experimental
Martins & Finlay
Shayler
Bauer Straight
Bauer Curved
Bauer 97
Authors

101

103

(29)

where the Reynolds number is now defined by the mean

velocity of the flow:
Re =

Nusselt Number

This is known to hold for steady laminar and turbulent

flows. It was determined in [12] from the above relations
and additional scaling that:

(30)

104

105

Reynolds Number

Figure 5: Proposed Nusselt number correlations

proposed and turbulent microscales correlation plotted
against available experimental intake manifold/port data.
The authors data was given a symbol to improve its
visibility against the other correlations.
Performing a correlation coefficient study, we find our
correlation has an r-value of 0.846. This ends up being

the best fit to the experimental data proving that the

physical formulation does have some validity as shown
in Table 1.
Table 1: Calculated correlation coefficients of Nusselt
number correlations (Intake).
Correlation
r
Martins and Finlay
0.727
Shayler
0.637
Bauer (straight)
0.765
Bauer (curved)
0.824
Bauer (1997)
0.815
Authors
0.846

Table 2: Calculated correlation coefficients of Nusselt

number correlations (exhaust).
Correlation
r
Seider-Tate
0.646
Meisner-Sorenson
0.603
Shayler
0.822
Malchow
0.787
Wendland
N/A
Gnielinski
0.715
Dittus-Boelter
0.583
Colburn
0.589
Authors
0.798
UNIVERSAL CORRELATION

EXHAUST COEFFICIENT
Similar to the intake side, we find from a least squares
curve-fit of experimental data (Figure 3) that:
Nu = 0.0718Re

34

(33)

This correlation was then included on the same graph

(Figure 6) as the other correlations to demonstrate its
similarity.
3

10

By inspecting the intake and exhaust correlations, we

see that the coefficient C0 is nearly the same. This is
because the same phenomenon is being explained on
the intake side as the exhaust side. Turbulent pipe flow
is occurring, just with varying degrees of velocity.
Therefore, the authors propose a universal, quasi-steady
correlation that could be used to determine the heat
transfer in the intake or exhaust of an internal
combustion engine. This correlation would be of the
form:
Nu = 0 .07Re

34

(34)

Nusselt Number

The correlation coefficient of this model with all available

experimental data is 0.845 for the intake side and 0.800
for the exhaust side.
102
Experimental
Colburn
Dittus-Boelter
Seider-Tate
Meisner-Sorenson
Malchow
Shayler
Gnielinski
Wendland
Authors

101

10

10

CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a universal, quasi-steady heat transfer
correlation for the intake and exhaust flow of an internal
combustion engine is presented:
Nu = 0 .07Re

34

(34)

10

Reynolds Number

Figure 6: Previous Nusselt number correlations

proposed and turbulent microscales correlation plotted
against available experimental data. The authors data
was given a symbol to improve its visibility against the
other correlations.
Again performing a correlation coefficient study of the
models presented, we find our correlation has an r-value
of about 0.8. This ends up being the second best fit to
the experimental data proving once again that the
physical formulation does have some validity as shown
in Table 2.

This correlation was developed from the microscales of

turbulence in an attempt to simplify the quasi-steady
formulation and allow for only one engine-dependent
parameter. The authors do realize that there are
constraints in establishing a universal correlation for the
intake and exhaust side of gas flow in an internal
combustion engine. This is because while the physics of
the gas flow is the same, turbulent pipe flow, there are
processes that vary between the two sides of the engine.
For instance, in a port-injected spark-ignition engine
there will be an additional cooling component from the
vaporization of the fuel on the pipe wall. Also, on the
exhaust side, the effects of turbulence are greatly
multiplied due to the high velocity through the exhaust
valve into the manifold. This will have the effect of
increasing the heat transfer to the ambient.
What has been detailed in this paper is that the overall
phenomenon of heat transfer in the intake/exhaust

piping of a spark-ignition engine has some universality.

This is because a single correlation has been shown to
describe available intake and exhaust side heat transfer
data, obtained or a wide number of engines, within an
accuracy of 80%.
However, the correlation can be
further improved by accounting for unsteady effects,
including frequency and velocity fluctuation terms.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge Professor Vedat
Arpaci for introducing them to the physics of the
microscales of turbulence which form the theoretical
foundation for this study.

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