Process Heat Transfer

Question Bank

1. What are the different modes of heat transfer ? Define the laws governing
them.

2. Define – a) Fourier law b) Newton’s law c) Stefan Boltzman law

3. Define thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient.

4. Derive an expression for the evaluation of heat loss from a pipe carrying hot
fluid and having two layers of insulation of thickness x 1 and x2 with thermal
conductivity of k1and k2 .

5. What do you understand by log mean area , log mean radius and log mean
temperature?

6. Derive the expression for heat flow through a multilayer hollow cylinder.
State all the assumptions.

7. Derive an expression for heat transfer by conduction through a multilayer

spherical wall.

8. Calculate the heat loss taking place in a multilayered cylindrical wall with
inside and outside temperatures as Ti and To , respectively.

9. A 150mm O.D pipe is covered with 50mm of insulation of k = 0.093 W/m- oK

and a 40mm of insulation of k = 0.07 W/m- oK. Calculate the heat loss for
100m length of pipe if inner and outer surface of insulation are at 400 oC and
30 oC .

10. A liquid methane carrier is of rectangular shape .The wall is made up of two
layers-one of steel, 20mm thick having k = 25 kcal/m-hr- oC and the other
50mm thick magnesia powder cover having k = 2 kcal/m-hr- oC. If the boiling
point of methane is -161.5 oC, find the amount of vapor formed when
the carrier is exposed to a surrounding temperature of 30 oC. Derive the
equation used. The latent heat of vaporization of liquid methane is 90
kcal/kg.

11. It is desired to limit the heat loss through a boiler furnace wall to 2000 W/m 2.
Wall is to be constructed using burnt brick having a mean thermal
conductivity of 1.15 W/m- oC. If the inner surface is exposed to 1100 oCand
outer to 370 oC , what is the thickness of bricks to be used?
12. A furnace wall is constructed of a 4.5 inch layer of refractory brick with a
thermal conductivity of 0.08 Btu/ ft-hr-ºF backed by a 9 inch layer of
common brick of thermal conductivity 0. 8Bt u/ ft-hr-ºF. Temperature of
the inner face of the wall is 1400 ºF and that of the outer face is 170 ºF.
Calculate –
a) The heat loss through the wall.
b) The temperature of the interface between the refractory brick and common
brick.
c) The heat loss, if the contact between the brick layers is poor and there exists
a contact resistance of 0.5 ft2-hr-ºF/Btu.

13. A composite wall of a furnace is made of 20cm fire clay brick having k = 0.8
W/m-ºC , followed by 15cm of earth brick having k = 0.74 W/m-ºC ,followed
by an outer layer of common brick 10cm thick having k = 0.69 W/m-ºC . The
inner and outer surface temperatures are 1050ºC and 150ºC, respectively.
Calculate –
a) Heat loss per unit area.
b) Temperature at the interface of different layers.
c) Temperature at a point 15cm from the outer surface into the
wall.

14. A wall of thickness ‘l’ is made up of a material whose thermal conductivity

varies as follows k = ko T2 . Find the expression for steady state heat
conduction per unit area if the surface temperatures areT1 and T2 . Find the
expression for mean thermal conductivity.

15. Define contact resistance. Write an expression for it stating an example.

16. Derive an equation to find the heat loss through a plane wall. Extend the
expression for a multilayer wall.

17. The general expression for a unidirectional steady state conductive heat
transfer is Q = S k ΔT
where, Q = heat transfer rate
k = thermal conductivity
S = Shape factor
ΔT = Driving force
Find the expression for S for : a) Plane wall b) Cylinder c) Sphere

18. A house wall consists of an outer layer of common brick 10cm thick having k
= 0.69W/m-ºC followed by another layer having thickness 1.25cm of k =
0.048 W/m-ºC , followed by a third layer of 1.25cm thickness and k = 0.744
W/m-ºC . The second and third layers are separated by a 10cm air space . The
air space has a unit conductance of 6.25 W/m2-ºC. The outside brick
temperature is 5ºC and inner temperature is 20ºC.
a)What is the rate of heat loss per unit area of the wall ?
 b) what is the temperature at the point where the second wall ends ?

19. A furnace wall is covered with 30cm layer of alumina insulating material. The
inner and outer surface temperature are 300ºC and 50ºC , respectively. The
thermal conductivity of alumina varies with temperature as follows-
k  0.07(1  0.004T )
Where k is in kcal/hr-m-ºC and T in ºC . Find the rate of heat flow per unit
area.

20. The exterior wall of a house may be approximately a 10cm layer of common
brick ( k = 0.7 W/m- ºC) followed by a 3.5cmlayer of gypsum plaster ( k =
0.48 W/m- ºC) . What thickness of loosely packed rock wool insulation ( k =
0.065 W/m- ºC) should be added to reduce the heat loss through the wall by
60% ?

21. What is critical thickness of insulation ? Derive an expression for critical

thickness for a cylinder.

22. List some of the insulating materials , their uses and range of application.

23. Explain briefly the effect of pipe radius on heat loss with respect to critical
radius.

24. Derive the expression for critical radius of insulation for a spherical vessel.

25. Define optimum thickness of insulation and derive an expression for it.

26. A steel pipe 33.4mm O.D having 207 º C surface temperatures is passing
through a room having air at 32ºC. The heat transfer coefficient between the
pipe and air is 8.5 W/m2- ºC. What thickness of 85% magnesia insulation is
required to reduce the heat loss to half of its original value. Assume pipe
surface temperature and convective heat transfer coefficient remain
unchanged after insulation. Kmagnesia = 0.067 W/m- ºC.

27. Determine the expression for heat lost from a rectangular fin of finite length.

28. Determine the expression for heat lost from a rectangular fin of infinite length.

29. Determine the expression for fin efficiency of a rectangular fin of finite
length.

30. An aluminium rod 25mm in diameter and 100mm long protrudes from a wall
which is maintained at 525 ºK into the environment maintained at 288ºK.
Estimate the heat lost by the rod assuming the rod end is insulated.
KAluminium = 200 W/m- ºK
h = 15 W/m2- ºK
31. What are fins? How do they help in heat dissipation? When are they not
useful?

32. How are fins effective in a heat exchanger for heating gases?

33. Define Biot number and how this helps in prediction of analysis of unsteady
state heat flow.

34. A long cylindrical stainless steel bar of 20cm in diameter heated to 980ºC is
quenched in an oil bath maintained at 40ºC where heat transfer coefficient is
565 W/m2- ºC. How long will it take for the center line of the cylinder to reach
260ºC?

35. Explain the Lumped Heat Capacity model stating all the assumptions
involved.

36. Define overall heat transfer coefficient and show how it is related to
individual heat transfer coefficient.

37. Derive the expression for the log mean temperature difference. State the
assumptions made.

38. Explain the mechanism of natural and forced convection.

39. Use dimensional analysis to derive an expression between NNu, NRe, NPr in
forced convection heat transfer.

45. Use dimensional analysis to derive an expression between N Nu, NGr, NPr in
natural convection heat transfer.

46. Derive the expression for overall heat transfer coefficient taking into account
the dirt coefficients.

47. Alcohol is flowing in the inner pipe of a double pipe heat exchanger with
water flowing outside. The inner pipe diameter of steel pipe is 25mm and
outer pipe diameter is 30mm. The thermal conductivity of steel is 45W/m-ºC.
The individual heat transfer coefficients and fouling factors are-
hi = 1020 W/m2-ºC.
ho = 1700 W/m2-ºC.
hdi = 5680 W/m2-ºC.
hdo = 2840 W/m2-ºC.
Determine the overall heat transfer coefficient based on outside area.
48. A horizontal pipe 0.3048 in diameter is maintained at a temperature of 250ºC
in a room where ambient air is at 15ºC. Calculate the free convection heat loss
per meter of length given the properties of air at film temperature of 405.5ºK-
k = 0.03406 W/m-ºC
ν = 26.54 x 10-6m2/s
Npr = 0.687
Also the following data is provided:

NGr x NPr c m
104 - 109 0.53 1/4
109 - 1012 0.13 1/3

49. A hot fluid enters a concentric pipe at 200 ºC and is to be cooled to 100ºC by a
cold fluid entering at 30ºC and getting heated up to 90ºC. Calculate the log
mean temperature when the flow is : i) co-current ii) counter current.

50. Explain the physical significance of following dimensionless numbers-

i) Reynolds ii) Stanton iii) Nusselt iv) Grashoff

51. Estimate the average convective film coefficient on the inside surface of a
tube of 50mm i.d meant for heating water. The mass flow rate of water is
25000kg/hr, which enters at a temperature of 20ºC and leaves at 60ºC.
Calculate also the heat transferred per unit length of the tube if the wall
temperature is 10K above the bulk temperature of the fluid. DATA Of water
at 40ºC – ρ = 992.2kg/m3 , k = 0.634W/m-K , υ = 0.659x10-6m2/s , NPr = 4.31

52. Calculate the heat transfer coefficient for fluid flowing through tube having
inside diameter 40mm at a rate of 5500kg/h. Assume that the fluid is being
heated and use Dittus – Boelter equation. Properties of the fluid at bulk
temperature are- μ = 0.004N-s/m2 , ρ = 1.07g/cc , C p = 2.72kJ/kg-K , k
= 0.634W/m-K

53. Calculate the inside heat transfer coefficient for fluid flowing at a rate of
300cc/s through 20mm inside diameter tube of a heat exchanger having length
5m. Given properties of the fluid as - μ = 0.8N-s/m 2 , ρ = 1.1g/cc , C p =
1.26kJ/kg-K , k = 0.384W/m-K

54. Water in a circulating chilled water air conditioning system enters the chilling
unit at 15ºC and leaves at 5ºC. Tubes in the chilling unit are 3.8cm in diameter
while the surface temperature is at 2ºC. If the average velocity of water is
0.6m/s, calculate the heat transfer coefficient at tube surface.

55. A cooling coil consisting of a single length of tubing through which water is
circulated is provided in a reaction vessel the contents of which are kept at
 360ºK. The inlet water is at 7ºC and leaves at 47ºC. What will be the outlet
temperature of water if the length of the coil is increased 5 times assuming U
is constant.

56. The temperature of oil leaving a co current flow cooler is to be reduced to

350ºK fro 370ºk by lengthening the cooler. The oil and water flow rates, inlet
temperatures and other dimensions of the cooler remain constant . Water
enters at 285ºK and oil at 420ºK. Water leaves the original cooler at 310ºK. If
the length of the original cooler is 1m , find the new length.

57. Derive the expression for evaluating heat transfer coefficient for steam
condensing on a vertical surface.

58. Distinguish between Nucleate and film boiling.

59. Distinguish between film wise and drop wise condensation.

60. A tube 1.5cm o.d and 1.5m long is used to condense steam at a temperature of
120ºC. Estimate the heat transfer coefficient for this tube in horizontal and
vertical position. The average wall temperature can be assumed to be 60ºC.

61. A condenser is fitted with 25mm o.d tubes of 1.5m length. If the condenser is
wanted horizontally, the condensate will contact 5 tubes in descent. If the
surface temperature is 80ºC and the steam is condensing at 1 atm, recommend
whether to mount the condenser vertically or horizontally. The physical
properties of the condensate are - μ = 2.8x10 -4kg/m-s , ρ = 960kg/m 3 ,
λ = 2250KJ/kg , k = 0.68W/m-ºC

62. What are the factors affecting the zone of Nucleate boiling.

63. Condenser can be mounted vertically or horizontally. For laminar flow

conditions derive an expression in terms of D and L that define the limiting
tube length beyond which the condenser should be fixed vertically for
maximum heat transfer.

64. A 40mm dia pipe , 1m long is used for condensing dry steam at 1atm pressure.
The surface temperature of the tube is 60ºC. What will be the increase in
condensate if the tube is made horizontal from vertical. The properties of
water at a film temperature of 70ºC are- - μ f = 355x10-6kg/m-s ,
ρf = 971.8kg/m3 , hfg = 2500KJ/kg , k = 0.675W/m-ºk

65. A 30cm long glass plate is hung vertically in the air at 27ºC. The plate is
maintained at 77ºC. Calculate the average heat transfer coefficient for natural
and forced convection. Properties of air at 52ºC are - υ = 18.41x10 -6m2/s , NPr
= 0.7 , β = 3.077x10-3K-1 , k = 0.02815W/m-ºk
66. A large vertical plate 4m high is maintained at a temperature of 60ºC and
exposed to air at 10ºC. Estimate the heat transfer if the plate is 7m wide. The
properties of air at a film temperature of 35ºC are - υ = 16.5x10-6m2/s , NPr =
0.7 , β = 3.25x10-3K-1 , k = 0.02685W/m-ºk

67. Vertical pipe of 100mm o.d and length 3m is in a room where air is at 20ºC.
Calculate the rate of heat loss by free convection per meter length of the pipe
having a surface temperature of 100ºC. The properties of air at a film
temperature of 60ºC are - υ = 18.97x10-6m2/s , NPr = 0.696 , β
-3 -1
= 3.003x10 K , k = 0.02896W/m-ºk

68. A 20mm dia horizontal heater is maintained at a surface temperature of 40ºC

and submerged in water at 25ºC. Estimate the heat loss per unit length of the
heater by free convection. Properties of water at film temperature of 305.5K
are - μ = 8x10-4kg/m-s , ρ = 1000kg/m3 , Cp = 4.187kJ/kg-K ,
k = 0.630W/m-K

69. A thin 16cm dia horizontal plate is maintained at 403K in a large tank of
water at 343K. The plate convects heat from both its top and bottom surfaces.
Assuming steady state, calculate the rate of heat input into the plate necessary
to maintain the temperature at 403K. Properties of water at film temperature
are- - υ = 0.294x10 -5m2/s , β = 0.75x10-3K-1 , k = 0.68W/m-ºk ,
3
ρ = 960.63kg/m , Cp = 4.187kJ/kg-K , α = 1.68x10-7 m2/s

70. Write step wise procedure for a DPHE.

71. Write step wise procedure for a STHE.

72. Calculate the surface area required for a heat exchanger which has to cool
55000kg/hr of alcohol from 66ºC to 40ºC using 40000kg/hr of water entering
at 5ºC. The overall heat transfer coefficient based on outer tube area is
580W/m2-ºC, Cp alcohol 3.76KJ/kg-ºK and that of water is 4.18KJ/kg-K.
Assume counter flow and what is % increase in heat transfer area for a co-
current flow?

73. Define- pitch, clearance, baffle, baffle spacing, hairpin joint, tie rods.

74. Draw a 2-4 heat exchanger.

75. Presence of non condensable gases is undesirable in heat exchanger. Explain.

76. Explain the various methods used for feeding the multiple evaporation
systems.

77. Draw a comparison between forward feed and backward feed arrangements.
78. Write briefly about vapor recompression.

79. What is the effect of boiling point elevation on capacity and economy of
multiple effect evaporator?

80. What is boiling point elevation of the solution that boils at 380K if the boiling
point of water at a pressure in the vapor space is 373K.The temperature of the
condensing steam is 399K.

81. An evaporator operating at atmospheric pressure is fed at a rate of

10000kg/hr of weak liquor containing 4% caustic soda. Thick liquor leaving
the evaporator contains 25% caustic soda. Find the capacity of the evaporator.

82. An evaporator is operating at atmospheric pressure. It is desired to

concentrate the feed from 5% solute to 20% solute by weight at a rate of
5000kg/hr. Dry saturated steam at a pressure corresponding to saturation
temperature of 399K is used. The feed is at 298K and boiling point rise is 5K.
Overall heat transfer coefficient is 2350W/m2-K. Calculate the economy of the
evaporator and area of heat transfer to be provided. Latent heat of
condensation of steam at 399K = 2185kJ/kg , Latent heat of vaporisation of
water at 373K and 101.325kPa = 2257kJ/kg , Specific heat of feed =
4.187kJ/kg-K.

83. State and explain Kirchoff law, black body, gray body, Weins law.

84. Derive an expression for reduction in overall heat exchange between two
surfaces of emissivity Є1 and Є2 when a shield of emissivity Є 3 is interposed
between them.
85. Two concentric spheres 250mm and 300mm diameter have both emissivity =
0.08 are used to store a liquid fuel at -200ºC. The λ of fuel is 200kJ/kg.
Calculate fuel loss per hour if outside temperature is 20ºC.

86. Two large parallel plates having emissivity 0.4 and 0.6 are maintained at
700ºC and 400ºC respectively. A radiation shield of emissivity 0.04 on both
sides is placed between the plates.
Calculate :
i) heat transfer rate before and after placing the radiation shield.
ii) the temperature of the shield when placed. Use σ = 4.92x10-8kcal/hr-m2-K

87. Derive an expression for radiation heat exchange between two infinitely
parallel bodies.

88. Define shape factors and radiation shields.

89. Explain Kirchoffs law of radiation. Obtain an expression for heat exchange
between two black bodies.
90. Calculate the rate of heat transfer by radiation from an unlagged steam pipe
50mm o.d at 393K to air at 293K. Assume Є = 0.9

91. A 50mm i.d iron pipe at 423K passes through a room in which the
surrounding is at 300K. If the emissivity of the pipe metal is 0.8, What is the
net interchange of radiation energy per meter length of the pipe? The o.d of
the pipe is 60mm.

92. Calculate the net radiant interchange per square meter for very large planes at
temperatures of 703K and 513K respectively. Assume that the emissivity of
the hot and cold planes are 0.85 and 0.75 respectively.

93. Calculate the rate of heat loss from a thermo flask if the polished silvered
surfaces have emissivity of 0.05, The liquid in the flask is at 368K and the
casing is at 293K. Calculate the heat loss if both surfaces were black.
σ = 4.92x10-8W/m2-K4

94. Write a short note on Wilson’s plot and its use.

95. Write briefly about different types of condensers.

96. Explain the working of a long tube vertical evaporator.

97. Write briefly about capacity, economy, boiling point elevation.

98. Explain the working of a Shell and Tube heat exchanger.

99. Write a short note on lumped parameter models.

100. Write short note on : a) LMTD
b) Drop wise and Film wise condensation mechanisms
c) Thermal contact resistance