ES3003 Mid-TERM Project

Sep. 20, 2024 Due: Sept.9/23/2024 8:00AM NAME: ______________________________

Take-home, Open book, Open notes

1. (40.pts) Consider a temperature-controlled warehouse with dimensions 50m x 50m and height 5m. Let us
assume that this warehouse is a simple box shape with no windows and is sitting on the ground, so we can
consider the floor to be insulated.

The four walls and the ceiling of this warehouse are constructed of three layers. The first interior layer is
2.0cm thick gypsum board (drywall) with a thermal conductivity of 𝑘 = 1.0 𝑊 ⁄𝑚 ∙ 𝐾 . The next is the brick
wall that is 20.0cm thick with a thermal conductivity of 𝑘 = 2.0 𝑊 ⁄𝑚 ∙ 𝐾 . The outside layer is a 2.5cm
thick decorative wood planking with a thermal conductivity of 𝑘 = 2.5 𝑊 ⁄𝑚 ∙ 𝐾 (Floor is insulated).
This space will be maintained at 15℃ using a pipe going
around the floor that carries steam entering the pipe as
saturated vapor, i.e. 𝑥 = 1.0 at 120℃. The pipe is 10.0cm
inside and 11.0cm outside in diameter and is made of a
material with a thermal conductivity of 𝑘 = 20 𝑊 ⁄𝑚𝐾 . The
inside surface of the pipe can be taken as at the saturation
o
o
Toutside= -10 C Tinside=15 C temperature of the steam. i.e., 120oC.
2 2 Consider a cold day when the ambient temperature is −10℃
hout = 15 W/m K hin = 5 W/m K
and the combined convective heat transfer coefficient over all
outside surfaces of the warehouse, and the ambient air is ℎ =
15 𝑊 ⁄𝑚2 𝐾 (A little chilly and windy… Brrrr!..).
a. What is the total rate of heat loss from the warehouse?
b. What is the temperature of the inside wall surface?
Plywood Gypsum c. What is the rate of steam flow (Kg/sec) needed to
Brick
compensate for this heat loss if steam enters as saturated
vapor and leaves as saturated liquid at the same temperature,
d. If the combined h over the outside surface of the pipe is ℎ𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑣 = 10 𝑊 ⁄𝑚2 𝐾 what is the length
of the pipe (in meters) needed to provide enough heat to keep the inside temperature the same?
The heat of condensation hfg can be found in the link.
e. What is the velocity of steam at the inlet of the pipe?
f. What is the surface temperature of the pipe (oC)? If
the “Safe” temperature to touch is 𝑇𝑠 ≤ 50℃ what
would you recommend as a safety measure?
g. If the cost of energy is $0.20/kWh, what would it cost
per month to maintain the warehouse at 15℃?
h. Your boss wants to cut the heat loss by 75%. How
much of 𝑅𝑡ℎ insulation should you add? Where would
you place it? If it is foam material of 𝑘 = 0.04 𝑊 ⁄𝑚𝐾
how thick of insulation would you need (cm)?
2. (40 pts) Consider a 1.0-meter tall plastic drum with 2.0 cm of wall thickness and 50 cm of inner
diameter, i.e., with an outer diameter of 54 cm. The thermal conductivity of the plastic is k = 0.5
W/m.K. The drum contains 180 kg of solid paraffin at its melting
temperature of 50 oC. The outside air temperature is 20 C.

Paraffin is to be melted using a belt/strip heater, as depicted in a figure,

which wraps over/around the ‘entire cylindrical surface’ of the drum. The
tank's circular top and bottom are insulated; thus, there is no heat loss. The
heater is set to operate at Th=80 oC for safety. To reduce heat loss to the
outside, we wrap the exposed heater surface with a 5.0 cm thick insulation
with a thermal conductivity of k = 0.1 W/m.K The convective heat transfer
coefficient over the outside surface of the insulation is h = 5 W/m2K. The
inside surface temperature of the drum is at the melting point of paraffin,
i.e., Ts,i = 50 oC.
a. Draw the resistance diagram representing the heat transfer process.
b. Find the power Pelec (Watts) necessary to operate the
heater. If the heater is plugged into a 116V outlet, what
would be the current draw in Amperes?
c. How much heat is lost to the surroundings?
d. The tank has 180 kg of paraffin initially all solid at the
melting temperature (50oC). If the heat of fusion for A typical heater
paraffin is 200 kJ/kg (i.e., heat necessary to melt the
paraffin), how long would it take to melt the entire paraffin? Assume that the process is
slow enough that the temperature of the paraffin remains uniform until all paraffin melts.
3. (20) Solar irradiation right outside the Earth’s atmosphere is 𝐺𝑠 = 1,365 𝑊 ⁄𝑚2 as measured
perpendicular to incoming rays. It varies very little during the year and is known as the “Solar
Constant.” Note that it is about what average hairdryers are rated for.

Consider a 4 x 2m thin panel of solar cells that are exposed to receive direct solar irradiation.
The front surface of the solar panel has a reflectivity of 10%, as depicted in the figure. Of the
irradiation that is incident on the panel, the conversion efficiency of the solar irradiance-to-power is
20%, defined as the fraction of the solar irradiation that is converted to electric power. The panel is
thin enough so that its temperature is uniform everywhere. The reflectivity of the surface with solar
cells to solar irradiation is 0% and has a radiation emissivity of 𝜀 = 0.8. The back side is exposed
to deep space at 0oK with an emissivity of 𝜀 = 0.7

a. What is the “Absorptivity” of the solar panels to the incoming solar irradiation on the side
with the solar cells?
b. How much convective loss the panel will experience in outer space?
c. What is the equilibrium temperature of the solar panels (oC) during regular operation?
d. If we stop drawing electric energy from the solar panels, what would be the solar panels'
new equilibrium temperature (oC)? Very briefly explain the difference.

_____________________________________________
I confirm that the work I am submitting is my own, with no outside help or communication except
from the course administrators.
Problem #1

o
o Tinside=15 C
Toutside= -10 C
2 2
hout = 25 W/m K hin = 5 W/m K

Plywood Gypsum
Brick
Problem #2
Problem #3