Tag: heat transfer

Fundamental Modes of Heat Transfer

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Generally I like to write about cool stuff. Whether it is a new product like our TurboBlast Safety Air Gun, an application that really helped cool down a process for a customer, or even something cool I have done like a GORUCK event or training. Well, today is not one of those days, today we are going to talk about the opposite of cool … HEAT and more importantly the methods it is transferred.

1 – Energy Transfer – Heat

The process of how heat is generated all starts with a conversion of energy. Whether it is friction, or converting energy to light, or even converting energy to a different voltage through something like a transformer. No matter how it is generated, heat will begin to transfer. On the molecular level, atoms are storing the energy which will cause electrons to enter into an excited state and rapidly switch between shells. When the electron returns back to a lower shell (closer to the nucleus) energy is released; the energy released is then absorbed by atoms at a lower energy state and will continue until the thermal energy is equal between the two objects. Heat has four fundamental modes of transferring energy from surface to surface and they are as follows:

Conduction
Conduction can also be referred to as diffusion and is the transfer of energy between two objects that have made physical contact. When the two objects come into contact with each other thermal energy will flow from the object with the higher temp to the object with the lower temp. A good example of this is placing ice in a glass of water. The temperature is much lower than the room temperature therefore the thermal energy will flow from the water to the ice.

Radiation
Radiation is the transfer of thermal energy through empty space and does require a material between the two objects. Going back to the how thermal energy is released from atoms; when the electron returns to a lower energy shell the energy is released in the form of light ranging from infrared light to UV light. Energy in the form of light can then be absorbed by an object in the form of heat. Everyone experiences radiation transfer every day when you walk outside; the light from the sun’s radiation is what keeps this planet habitable.

Convection
Convection is the transfer of thermal energy between an object and a fluid in motion. The faster the fluid moves the faster heat is transferred. This relies on the specific heat property of a molecule in order to determine the rate at which heat will be transferred. The low the specific heat of a molecule the faster and more volume of the fluid will need to move in order to get full affect of convection. Convection is used in modern ovens in order to get a more even heat through out the food while cooking.

Advection
Advection is the physical transport of a fluid from point A to point B, which includes all internal thermal energy stored inside. Advection can be seen as one of the simpler ways of heat transfer.

No matter how the heat is transferred to an object, if it needs to be cooled there is a good chance that one of our Application Engineers has approached a similar issue and can help. To discuss, contact us and we will walk through the best method to eliminate the heat you need to.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

1 – “Energy Transfer – Heat” by Siyavula Education is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Radiant Heat- Where Does It Come From

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Even in extremely aggressive environments, EXAIR Cabinet Cooler Systems provide reliable heat protection for your sensitive electronics and controls.

The three types of heat transfer have been discussed here and there on this blog before. One of the most common heat transfer methods that I deal with on a day to day basis is radiant heat transfer. Also known as thermal radiation, the process is actually the exchange of energy by photons. The main difference separating radiant heat from convection and conduction is that radiation does not require there to be a medium to permit propagation of the heat. Any item which contains thermal energy, meaning it is above absolute zero and less than 1,000 Kelvin, will have this thermal energy. This thermal energy is radiated to other items causing a transfer of heat energy to those objects that results in an equilibrium between the items. The equilibrium does not stop the transfer of photons however.

The most common occurrence that most of us get to experience for radiant heat is heat from the Sun. As the sun shines it is emitting heat. On a hot day, generally the sun is a little closer to your geographic location and you feel hot because the sun is emitting more heat onto your surface than what is being emitted by your internal temperature, so your core temp will increase. On a cold day, when the sun is further away, while it is still shining you feel cold because the sun is not in fact transferring as much energy to the surface of your body than what you are internally generating. The same kind of radiant heat transfer can be from a campfire, open kiln, maybe even a hot steel slab coming out of a blast furnace.

The model 1126SSW 1″ Flat Stainless Steel Super Air Nozzle w/ Swivel Fitting cools a flame sensor within an industrial furnace.

Understanding where a radiant heat source is being generated can help tremendously when looking at cooling an electrical enclosure or even trying to keep a part or sensor cool. Radiant heat is one of the few times a heat shield or shade structure can help to eliminate a portion of the heat load being introduced. Other methods to combat the heat load would be determined with the application at hand. For cooling enclosures that are absorbing a solar heat load, we would look at an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler System and the factors that help to appropriately size the cooler. If this is a single component or part, we would evaluate one of the many other EXAIR Engineered Solutions to determine the best fit for the application. To do either of these, all it takes is a simple chat, email, or call to an Application Engineer.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

Convective Heat Transfer: How Do We Use It?

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Vortex Tubes have been studied for decades, close to a century. These phenoms of physics and the theory behind them have been discussed on this blog before. Many customers gravitate toward Vortex Tubes when needing parts and processes cooled. The fact of the matter is there is still more to be discussed on how to correctly select the which product may be needed in your application. The reason being, area, temperatures, and air flow volumes play a large role in choosing the best product for cooling. The tendency is to say, well I need to cool this down as far as possible so I need the coldest air possible which leads to the assumption that a Vortex Tube will be the right solution. That isn’t always the best option and we are going to discuss how to best determine which will be needed for your application. The first step, is to call, chat, or email an Application Engineer so that we can learn about your application and assist with the implementation of the Vortex Tube or other cooling product for you. You may also want to try and take some initial readings of temperatures. The temperatures that would help to determine how much cooling is going to be needed are listed below:
  • Part temperature
  • Part dimensions
  • Part material
  • Ambient environment temperature
  • Compressed air temperature
  • Compressed air line size
  • Amount of time desired to cool the part: Lastly desired temperature
With these bits of information, we use cooling equations to help determine what temperature and volume of air will best suit your needs to generate the cooling required. One of the equations we will sometimes use is the Forced or Assisted Convective Heat Transfer. Why do we use convective heat transfer rather than Natural Heat Transfer? Well, the air from EXAIR’s Intelligent Compressed Air Products® is always moving so it is a forced or assisted movement to the surface of the part. Thus, the need for Convective Heat Transfer.
Calculation of convection is shown below: q = hc A dT Where: q = Heat transferred per unit of time. (Watts, BTU/hr) A = Heat transfer area of the surface (m2 , ft2) hc= Convective heat transfer coefficient of the process (W/(m2°C), BTU/(ft2 h °F) dT = Temperature difference between the surface and the bulk fluid (compressed air in this case) (°C, °F)

The convective heat transfer coefficient for air flow is able to be approximated down to hc = 10.45 – v + 10 v1/2

Where: hc = Heat transfer coefficient (kCal/m2 h °C) v = relative speed between the surface of the object and the air (m/s)

This example is limited to velocities and there are different heat transfer methods, so this will give a ballpark calculation that will tell us if we have a shot at a providing a solution.  The chart below is also useful to see the Convective Heat Transfer, it can be a little tricky to read as the units for each axis are just enough to make you think of TRON light cycles. Rather than stare at this and try to find the hidden picture, contact an Application Engineer, we’ve got this figured out. convective_heat_transfer_chart

1 – Convective Heat Transfer Chart
Again, you don’t have to figure any of this out on your own. The first step to approach a cooling application is to reach out to an Application Engineer, we deal with these types of applications and equations regularly and can help you determine what the best approach is going to be.
Brian Farno Application Engineer BrianFarno@EXAIR.com @EXAIR_BF
1 – Engineering ToolBox, (2003). Convective Heat Transfer. [online] Available at: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/convective-heat-transfer-d_430.html [02/10/2021]

Battling Heat Transfer

Published on by Brian FarnoLeave a comment

If you haven’t read many of my blogs then this may be a surprise. I like to use videos to embellish the typed word. I find this is an effective way and often gives better understanding when available.  Today’s discussion is nothing short of benefiting from a video.

We’ve shared before that there are three types of heat transfer, more if you go into sub-categories of each. These types are Convection,  Conduction, and Radiation. If you want a better understanding of those, feel free to check out Russ Bowman’s blog here.  Thanks to the US Navy’s nuclear power school, he is definitely one of the heat transfer experts at EXAIR.  If you are a visual learner like myself, check out the video below.

The Application Engineering team at EXAIR handles any call where customers may not understand what EXAIR product is best suited for their application. A good number of these applications revolve around cooling down a part, area, electrical cabinet, or preventing heat from entering those areas.  Understanding what type of heat transfer we are going to be combating is often helpful for us to best select an engineered solution for your needs.

Other variables that are helpful to know are:

Part / cabinet dimensions
Material of construction
External ambient temperature
If a cabinet, the internal air temperature
Maximum ambient temperature
Desired temperature
Amount of time available
Area to work with / installation area

Understanding several of these variables will often help us determine if we need to look more towards a spot cooler that is based on the vortex tube or if we can use the entrained ambient air to help mitigate the heat transfer you are seeing.

If you would like to discuss cooling your part, electrical cabinet, or processes, EXAIR is available. Or if you want help trying to determine the best product for your process contact us.

Brian Farno
Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF

 

Video Source: Heat Transfer: Crash Course Engineering #14, Aug 23, 2018 – via CrashCourse – Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK7G6l_K6sA