Industrial Utilization of Theory of Thermal Boundary

Layers
P M V Subbarao
Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
IIT Delhi
Design of Controllable Thermal Systems.
Analogy Among Momentum, Thermal & Concentration
Boundary Layers
Momentum : Blasius Equation:
0 ' ' ' 2 ' ' + f ff
Thermal : Blasius Equation:
x
fx
C
Re
664 . 0

0
2
Pr
' ' '
+ f
3 / 1
Re 332 . 0 pr
k
x h
Nu
x
fluid
x
x

Concentration : Blasius Equation:
0
2
Pr
' ' '
+ fC C
3 / 1 ,
Re 332 . 0 Sc
D
x h
Sh
x
fluid
x m
x

A single correlation, which applies for all Prandtl numbers,
Has been developed by Churchill and Ozoe..
100
0468 . 0
1
Re 338 . 0
4
1
3
2
3 / 1

1
1
]
1

,
_

x
x
x
Pe
pr
pr
Nu
x avg
Nu Nu 2
General Correlation for Laminar Thermal Boundary
Layers
Transition to Turbulence

When the boundary layer changes from a laminar flow to a turbulent

flow it is referred to as transition.

At a certain distance away from the leading edge, the flow begins to
swirl and various layers of flow mix violently with each other.

This violent mixing of the various layers, it signals that a transition

from the smooth laminar flow near the edge to the turbulent flow
away from the edge has occurred.
Flat Plate Boundary Layer Trasition
Important point:

Typically a turbulent boundary

layer is preceded by a laminar
boundary layer first upstream

need to consider case with
mixed boundary layer conditions!
Mixed Boundary Layer

In a flow past a long flat plate initially, the boundary layer

will be laminar and then it will become turbulent.

The distance at which this transitions starts is called critical

distance (X
c
) measured from edge and corresponding
Reynolds number is called as Critical Reynolds number.
If the length of the plate (L) is such that 0.95 X
c
/L 1,
the entire flow is approximated as laminar.

When the transition occurs sufficiently upstream of the

trailing edge, X
c
/L 0.95, the surface average coefficients
will be influenced by both laminar and turbulent boundary
layers.
1
]
1

L
xc
turb
xc
lam x
dx h dx h
L
h
1
0
Turbulent Flow Regime
For a flat place boundary layer becomes turbulent at Re
x
~ 5 X 10
5
.

The local friction coefficient is well correlated by an expression of the

form
7
x
5
1
,
10 Re Re 059 . 0

x x f
C
Local Nusselt number:
60 0.6 Re 029 . 0
3 / 1
5
4
< < pr pr Nu
x x
X
c
L
Leading
Edge
Trailing
Edge

'

+

L
x
x turb
x
x lam L avg
c
c
dx h dx h
L
h
,
0
, ,
1
3
1
5
1
5
4
0
2
1
2
1
,
0296 . 0 332 . 0 pr dx
x
dx u
x
dx u
L
k
h
L
x
x
L avg
c
c

'

,
_

,
_

On integration:
3
1
5
4
5
4
2
1
,
Re Re 037 . 0 Re 664 . 0 pr Nu
c
x L
c
x
L avg
1
]
1

,
_

+
3
1
5
4
,
Re 037 . 0 pr A Nu
L
L avg
1
]
1

For a smooth flat plate: Re
xc
= 5 X 10
5

3
1
5
4
,
871 Re 037 . 0 pr Nu
L
L avg
1
]
1

For very large flat plates: L >> X
c
, in general for Re
L
> 10
8
3
1
5
4
,
Re 037 . 0 pr Nu
L
L avg

Flat Plate Correlations are used in all those geometries where,
Pressure gradient in flow direction is nearly zero.
0

x
p
Industrial Convection Heat Transfer

Many thermal industries used the equipment, where

convection from cylinders in cross flow is present.

Super heaters, economizers in Power plant steam

generators.

Condensers and feed water heaters in a power plant.

Radiators in automobiles.

Condenser and evaporator in a refrigerator or air

conditioner.

Two most common equipment are:

Shell and tube heat exchanger.

Fin and tube heat exchanger.

Convective Superheater (Pendant)
S
1
S
2
Cylinder in Cross Flow
0 <

x
p
0 >

x
p
Generally the overall average Nusselt number for heat transfer with
the entire object is important.
As with a flat plate, correlations developed from experimental data
to compute Nu as a f(Re
m
,Pr
n
)
Overall Average Nusselt number
1
]
1

< <
< <

,
_

6
4 1
3 1
10 Re 1
500 Pr 7 . 0
: for Valid
Pr
Pr
Pr Re
D
s
m
D D
C
k
D h
Nu

All properties are evaluated at the freestream temperature, except

Pr
s
which is evaluated at the surface temperature.
Values for C and m
Expect an accuracy within t 20% with these correlations
Re
D
C m
1 -40 0.75 0.4
40 - 1000 0.51 0.5
1000 2X 10
5
0.26 0.6
2X 10
5
- 10
6
0.076 0.7
Cylinder in Cross Flow
3 / 1
Pr Re
m
D
D
C
k
D h
Nu
The empirical correlation due to Hilpert
Re
D
C m
0.4 -4 0.989 0.330
4 - 40 0.911 0.385
40 -- 4000 0.683 0.466
4000 -- 40000 0.193 0.618
40000 -- 400000 0.027 0.805
All properties are evaluated at the bulk mean temperature ,T
b
.
2
freestream surface
b
T T
T
+

Square Cylinder in Cross Flow

D
3 / 1 588 . 0
Pr Re 246 . 0
D
D
k
D h
Nu
Valid for 5 X 10
3
< Re
D
< 10
5
D
3 / 1 675 . 0
Pr Re 102 . 0
D
D
k
D h
Nu
Valid for 5 X 10
3
< Re
D
< 10
5
Hexagonal Cylinder in Cross Flow
D
3 / 1 638 . 0
Pr Re 160 . 0
D
D
k
D h
Nu
Valid for 5 X 10
3
< Re
D
<1.95X10
4
3 / 1 782 . 0
Pr Re 0385 . 0
D
D
k
D h
Nu
Valid for 1.95X10
4
< Re
D
< 10
5
D
3 / 1 638 . 0
Pr Re 153 . 0
D
D
k
D h
Nu
Valid for 5 X 10
3
< Re
D
< 10
5
Vertical Plate in Cross Flow
D
3 / 1 731 . 0
Pr Re 228 . 0
D
D
k
D h
Nu
Valid for 4 X 10
3
< Re
D
< 1.5 X10
4
Convection heat transfer with a sphere
External flow and heat transfer relations are similar to those
around a cylinder.
Numerous correlations proposed from lab experiments, one
being:
1
1
1
1
]
1

<

,
_

<
< <
< <

,
_

+ +
2 . 3 0 . 1
10 6 . 7 Re 5 . 3
380 Pr 71 . 0
: for Valid
Pr ) Re 0.06 Re (0.4 2
4
4 1
4 . 0 3 2 2 1
s
D
s
D D D
k
D h
Nu

All properties except

s
are evaluated at T

.
Special case: Free falling liquid drops
3 1 2 1
Pr Re 0.6 2
D D
Nu +
Convection heat transfer with banks of tubes
T
S

Typically, one fluid moves

over the tubes, while a second
fluid at a different temperature
passes through the tubes.
(cross flow)

The tube rows of a bank are

staggered or aligned. The
configuration is characterized
by the tube diameter D, the
transverse pitch S
T
and
longitudinal pitch S
L
.

For tube bundles composed of 10 or more rows

3 / 3
3
Pr Re 33 . 3
max ,
m
D
D
C Nu
1
1
1
]
1

< <
33
. 00 r
33 3 Re 3333
: for valid
3
max ,
L
D
N
P
All properties are evaluated at the film temperature.

For Reynolds number

D V
D
max
max ,
Re
V
D S
S
V
T
T

max
V
D S
S
V
D
T
) ( 2
max

If staggered and
2
D S
S
T
D
+
<
or
If number of tubes are less than 10, a correction factor is applied as:
) 10 (
2
) 10 ( <

L L
N
D
N
D
Nu C Nu
And values for C
2
are from table

More recent results have been obtained by Zhukauskas.

4 / 1
36 . 0
Pr
Pr
Pr Re
max ,

,
_

s
m
D
D
C Nu
1
1
1
]
1

< <
< <
20
500 r 7 . 0
10 2 Re 1000
: for valid
6
max ,
L
D
N
P
All properties except Pr
s
are evaluated at the arithmetic mean of the
fluid inlet and outlet temperatures.
Values for C and m.
) 20 (
2
) 20 ( <

L L
N
D
N
D
Nu C Nu