Heat transfer coefficient units

I ewton s Cooling L w of Heat Convection. The heat-transfer rate per unit area by convection is directly proportional to the temperature difference between the soHd and the fluid which, using a proportionaUty constant called the heat-transfer coefficient, becomes... 

In the macroscopic heat-transfer term of equation 9, the first group in brackets represents the usual Dittus-Boelter equation for heat-transfer coefficients. The second bracket is the ratio of frictional pressure drop per unit length for two-phase flow to that for Hquid phase alone. The Prandd-number function is an empirical correction term. The final bracket is the ratio of the binary macroscopic heat-transfer coefficient to the heat-transfer coefficient that would be calculated for a pure fluid with properties identical to those of the fluid mixture. This term is built on the postulate that mass transfer does not affect the boiling mechanism itself but does affect the driving force. 

Since each ratio is dimensionless, any consistent units may be employed in any ratio. The significance of the symbols is as follows t = temperature of the surroundings tb = initial uniform temperature of the body t = temperature at a given point in the body at the time 0 measured from the start of the heating or coohng operations k = uniform thermal conductivity of the body p = uniform density of the boc c = specific heat of the body hf = coefficient of total heat transfer between the surroundings and the surface of the body expressed as heat transferred per unit time per unit area of the surface per unit difference in temperature between surroundings and surface r = distance, in the direction of heat conduction, from the midpoint or midplane of the body to the point under consideration / = radius of... 

Heat transfer by nucleate boiling is an important mechanism in the vaporization of liqmds. It occurs in the vaporization of liquids in kettle-type and natural-circulation reboilers commonly usea in the process industries. High rates of heat transfer per unit of area (heat flux) are obtained as a result of bubble formation at the liquid-solid interface rather than from mechanical devices external to the heat exchanger. There are available several expressions from which reasonable values of the film coefficients may be obtained. 

It is assumed that process conditions and physical properties are known and the following are known or specified tube outside diameter D, tube geometrical arrangement (unit cell), shell inside diameter D shell outer tube limit baffle cut 4, baffle spacing and number of sealing strips N,. The effective tube length between tube sheets L may be either specified or calculated after the heat-transfer coefficient has been determined. If additional specific information (e.g., tube-baffle clearance) is available, the exact values (instead of estimates) of certain parameters may be used in the calculation with some improvement in accuracy. To complete the rating, it is necessary to know also the tube material and wall thickness or inside diameter. 

FIG. 11-21 Heat- transfer coefficients in LT - seawater evaporators, = ( F — 32)/l,8 to convert British thermal units per hour-square foot-degrees Fahrenheit to joules per square meter-second-kelvins, multiply hy 5,6783,... 

The thermal performance of cylindrical rotating shell units is based upon a volumetric heat-transfer coefficient... 

FIG. 11 96 Balance points of compressor and condenser determines performance of condensing unit for fixed temperature of condenser cooling fluid (flow rate and heat-transfer coefficient are constant). 

The most common evaporator design is based on the use of the same heating surface in each effec t. This is by no means essential since few evaporators are standard or involve the use of the same patterns. In fac t, there is no reason why all effects in an evaporator must be of the same type. For instance, the cheapest salt evaporator might use propeller calandrias for the early effects and lorced-circiilation effects at the low-temperature end, where their higher cost per unit area is more than offset by higher heat-transfer coefficients. 

Results of diying tests can be correlated empirically in terms of overall heat-transfer coefficient or length of a transfer unit as a function of operating variables. The former is generally apphcable to all types of dryers, while the latter applies only in the case of continuous diyers. The relationship between these quantities is as follows. 

Heat-transfer coefficients in steam-tube dryers range from 30 to 85 J/(m s K). Coefficients will increasewith increasing steam temperature because of increased heat transfer by radiation. In units carrying saturated steam at 420 to 450 K, the heat flux UAT will range from 6300 J/(m s) for difficult-to-diy and organic solids and to 1890 to 3790 J/(m s) for finely divided inorganic materials. The effect of steam pressure on heat-transfer rates up to 8.6 X 10 Pa is illustrated in Fig. 12-71. 

Both reactors used 38.1 mm 0 tubes. The commercial reactor was 12 m long while the length of the laboratory reactor was 1.2 m. Except for the 10 1 difference in the lengths, everything else was the same. Both reactors were simulated at 100 atm operation and at GHSV of 10,000 h-1. This means that residence times were identical, and linear gas velocities were 10 times less in the lab than at the production unit. Consequently the Re number, and all that is a function of it, were different. Heat transfer coefficients were 631 and 206 in wattsWK units for the large and small reactors. 

Thermal conductivities for gaseous compounds are important in unit operations involving heat transfer coefficients. Thermal conductivities can be readily computed from an empirical polynomial expression that has the following form ... 

Overall heat-transfer coefficient The heat flow per unit area for a given construction for an overall temperature difference of 1 K,... 

A fire tube contains a flame burning inside a piece of pipe which is in turn surrounded by the process fluid. In this situation, there is radiant and convective heat transfer from the flame to the inside surface of the fire tube, conductive heat transfer through the wall thickness of the tube, and convective heat transfer from the outside surface of that tube to the oil being treated. It would be difficult in such a simation to solve for the heat transfer in terms of an overall heat transfer coefficient. Rather, what is most often done is to size the fire tube by using a heat flux rate. The heat flux rate represents the amount of heat that can be transferred from the fire tube to the process per unit area of outside surface of the fire tube. Common heat flux rates are given in Table 2-11. 

Tank diameter, ft, or L (consistent units). Figure 5-34 = Residence or holding time, sec, or time of mixing = Overall heat transfer coefficient, bulk mixing liquid to transfer fluid on opposite side of heat transfer wall (coil, plate, jacket), Btti/hr/sq ft/°F = Velocity of mixed fluids through mixer, ft/sec = Volume, consistent units... 

The percentage effect of the fouling factor on the effective overall heat transfer coefficient is considerably more on units with the normally high value of a clean unfouled coefficient than for one of low value. For example, a unit with a clean overall coefficient of 400 when corrected for 0.003 total fouling ends up with an effective coefficient of 180, but a unit with a clean coefficient of 60, when corrected for a 0.003 fouling allowance, shows an effective coefficient of 50.5 (see Figure 10-39). 

Figure 10-154. Finned transfer efficiency is never as great per unit area as the bare pipe therefore, fin efficiency must be calculated to arrive at correct h , shell-side heat transfer coefficient. (Used by permission Technical paper. Brown Fintube Co., A Koch Engineering Company, Houston, Texas.)...

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