CHAPTER 6

INTRODUCTION TO CONVECTION
Previously, it has been focused on heat transfer by conduction and considered convection only to the extent

that it provides a possible boundary condition for conduction problems.

Convection denotes energy transfer between a surface and a fluid moving over the surface.
Convection includes energy transfer by both the bulk fluid motion (advection) and the random motion of fluid
molecules (conduction or diffusion).
The treatment of convection has two objectives:

1. To understand the physical mechanisms that underlie convection transfer

2. To develop the means to perform convection transfer calculations.

This chapter and the material of Appendix E are devoted primarily to achieving the first objective.
Physical origins are discussed, and relevant dimensionless parameters, as well as important analogies, are
developed.
 Additionally;
-Distinguish between laminar and turbulent flows

-introduce relevant dimensionless parameter that help to perform convection transfer calculations

-Use analogies between heat, mass and momentum transfer.

The Convection Boundary Layers

The concept of boundary layers is central to the understanding of convection heat and mass transfer between a
surface and a fluid flowing past it.
The boundary layers are classified as :
✓ Velocity
✓Thermal
and
✓Concentration
The Velocity Boundary Layer

When fluid particles make contact with the surface, their

velocity is reduced significantly relative to the fluid
velocity upstream of the plate, and for most situations it is
valid to assume that the particle velocity is zero at the wall.

Velocity boundary layer on a flat plate.

These particles then act to retard the motion of particles in the adjoining fluid
layer, which act to retard the motion of particles in the next layer, and so on until,
at a distance y = δ from the surface, the effect becomes negligible.
This retardation of fluid motion is associated with shear stresses  acting in planes that are
parallel to the fluid velocity
With increasing distance y from the surface, the x velocity component of the fluid, u,
must then increase until it approaches the free stream value u∞

: velocity boundary layer thickness ,

(the value of y for which u = 0.99u∞. )

(subscript ∞ designates the conditions in the free

stream outside the boundary layer. )
The boundary layer velocity profile refers to the manner in which u varies with y through the boundary layer.

the fluid flow is characterized by two distinct regions,

-boundary layer (a thin fluid layer) : velocity gradients and shear stresses are large

-region outside the boundary layer: velocity gradients and shear stresses are negligible.

With increasing distance from the leading edge, the effects of viscosity penetrate farther into the free stream
and the boundary layer grows (δ increases with x).

Because it pertains to the fluid velocity, the foregoing boundary layer may be referred to more specifically as
the velocity boundary layer.
It develops whenever there is fluid flow over a surface, and it is of fundamental importance to problems
involving convection transport.
In fluid mechanics its significance to the engineer stems from its relation to the surface shear stress τ s, and
hence to surface frictional effects. For external flows it provides the basis for determining the local friction
coefficient.
local friction coefficient

Assuming a Newtonian fluid

: fluid property known as the dynamic viscosity.
s: surface shear stress

Since, the velocity gradient at the surface depends on the distance x from
the leading edge of the plate.
the surface shear stress and friction coefficient also depend on x.
The Thermal Boundary Layer

A thermal boundary layer develops if the

fluid free stream and surface temperatures
differ

At the leading edge the temperature profile is uniform, with T(y) = T∞.
thermal boundary layer: The region of the fluid in which the temperature gradients exist

δt : thickness of thermal boundary layer is typically defined as

(the value of y for which the ratio [(Ts − T)/(Ts − T∞)] = 0.99)

With increasing distance from the leading edge, the effects of heat transfer penetrate farther
into the free stream and the thermal boundary layer grows.
The relation between conditions in this boundary layer and the convection heat transfer coefficient:
At any distance x from the leading edge, the local surface heat flux may be obtained by applying Fourier’s
law to the fluid at y = 0. That is,

y=0 is the surface of the solid and at the surface; there is no

fluid motion and energy transfer occurs only by conduction.

Since q s, cond = q s, conv

Conditions in the thermal boundary layer, which strongly influence
𝜕𝑇
the wall temperature gradient ฬ at the surface, determine the
𝜕𝑦
rate of heat transfer from the surface.
➢ the magnitude of ∂T/∂y decreases with increasing x,
➢ δt increases with increasing x,
➢ q′′ and h decrease with increasing x
The Concentration Boundary Layer

 c: Thickness of concentration boundary layer ;

the value of y for which [(CA,s − CA)/(CA,s − CA,∞)] = 0.99.

➢ With increasing distance from the leading edge, the effects of species transfer
penetrate farther into the free stream and the concentration boundary layer
grows.
 y > 0 →species transfer is due to both bulk fluid motion
(advection) and diffusion.

However, in the absence of nano- or microscale effects and the influence of species
diffusion on the velocity normal to the surface, fluid motion at the surface can be
neglected. Species transfer at the surface is only by diffusion, and applying Fick’s law at
y = 0,
 hm (m/s) is the convection mass transfer coefficient,

Conditions in the concentration boundary layer, which strongly influence the surface concentration gradient

also influence the convection mass transfer coefficient and hence the rate of species transfer

from the surface.

 Significance of the Boundary Layers

The velocity boundary layer , δ(x) → presence of velocity gradients and shear

stresses → key parameter: Cf

The thermal boundary layer δt(x) → temperature gradients and heat transfer

→ key parameter: h

The concentration boundary δc(x) → concentration gradients and species

transfer → key parameter hm

 Local and Average Convection Coefficients
HEAT TRANSFER

Consider the transfer of heat from an arbitrary surface to a fluid of velocity V and temperature T∞:

The area of the arbitrary shape is A and the surface is presumed to be at a uniform temperature, Ts.

If Ts≠ T∞ convection occurs.

The total heat transfer rate q may be obtained by integrating the local flux over the entire
surface.

Defining an average convection coefficient h for the entire surface, the total heat transfer rate may also be
expressed as

ത 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡

ℎ:

The average and local convection coefficients are related by an expression of the form

For a flow over a flat plate

 ഥ depend on;
h and 𝒉
- fluid properties (density, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and
specific heat)
- surface geometry (arbitrary shape or flat plate)
- flow conditions (fluid velocity, laminar, turbulance)
LAMINAR AND TURBULENT FLOW
Because the surface friction and the convection transfer rates depend strongly on the conditions exists in
the boundary layer:
An essential step in the treatment of any convection problem is to determine whether the boundary layer is
laminar or turbulent.

Laminar and Turbulent Velocity Boundary Layers

The fluid flow can be divided into three types:
1. Laminar fluid flow: The fluid flow is highly
ordered.
2. Transition Fluid Flow: The zone which locates
between laminar and turbulent regimes.
3. Turbulent Fluid Flow: The fluid flow is highly
irregular and it moves randomly (3D motions).
The characteristics dimensionless parameter is used to specify the fluid flow regimes is Reynolds number:

x: characteristic length for flat plate

In determining whether the boundary layer is laminar or turbulent, it is frequently reasonable to assume
that transition begins at some location xc.
This location is determined by the critical Reynolds number, Rex,c. For flow over a flat plate, Rex,c is
known to vary from approximately 105 to 3 . 106, depending on surface roughness and the turbulence
level of the free stream. A representative value of
The Reynolds number represents the ratio of the inertia to viscous forces.

If the Reynolds number is small, inertia forces are insignificant relative to viscous forces.
The disturbances are then dissipated, and the flow remains laminar.

For a large Reynolds number, the inertia forces can be sufficient to amplify the triggering mechanisms, and a
transition to turbulence occurs.

turbulent velocity boundary layer profiles for the

same free stream velocity
Variation of velocity boundary layer thickness  and the local heat transfer coefficient h for flow over an
isothermal flat plate.
Boundary Layer Similarity: The Normalized Boundary Layer Equations

Velocity

Thermal

Concentration

Advection term Diffusion term

The boundary layer equations are normalized by first defining dimensionless independent variables of the forms

L : characteristic length

V : velocity upstream of the surface

By normalizing the boundary layer equations, three very important dimensionless similarity parameters the Reynolds
number, ReL; Prandtl number, Pr; and Schmidt number, Sc evolve and are introduced.

Such similarity parameters are important

because they allow us to apply results obtained for a surface experiencing one set of
convective conditions to geometrically similar surfaces experiencing entirely different
conditions.

These conditions may vary, for example, with the fluid, the fluid velocity as described by the free stream value V, and/or
the size of the surface as described by the characteristic length L.

As long as the similarity parameters and dimensionless boundary conditions are the same for two sets of conditions, the
solutions of the differential equations for the nondimensional velocity, temperature, and species concentration will be
identical.
Dependent Dimensionless Parameters

FOR VELOCITY BOUNDARY LAYER

and

For a prescribed geometry

 FOR THERMAL BOUNDARY LAYER

Similar results may be obtained for the convection coefficients of heat and mass transfer.
h depends on;

the fluid properties (k, cp, μ, and ρ), the fluid velocity V, the length scale L, and the surface geometry.
Dimensionless form of the thermal Boundary layer equation;

and the solution to this equation may be expressed in the form

Where the dependence on dp*/dx* originates from the
influence of the geometry on the fluid motion (u* and v*),
which, in turn, affects the thermal conditions. Once again the
term dp*/dx*represents the effect of surface geometry.
 From the definition of the convection coefficient and the dimensionless variables we obtain;

A dimensionless parameter Nu number that is equal to dimensionless temperature gradient at the surface.

Nu number provides a measure of the convection heat transfer occurring at the surface.
 For a prescribed geometry

Since the average heat transfer coefficient is obtained by integrating over the surface of the body,
it must be independent of the spatial variable x*.
Hence the functional dependence of the average Nusselt;
Physical Interpretation of the Dimensionless Parameters