Jimma University
Jimma Institute of Technology
School of Chemical Engineering
Thermal Unit Operation – Assignment I
1. Calculate the rate of heat loss through the vertical walls of a boiler furnace of size 4m by 3 m
by 3 m high. The walls are constructed from an inner fire brick wall 25 cm thick of thermal
conductivity 0.4 W/mK, a layer of ceramic blanket insulation of thermal conductivity 0.2
W/mK and 8 cm thick, and a steel protective layer of thermal conductivity 55 W/mK and 2
mm thick. The inside temperature of the fire brick layer was measured at 600oC and the
temperature of the outside of the insulation 60oC.
2. A wall 2 cm thick is to be constructed from material that has an average thermal conductivity
of 1.3 W/m◦ C. The wall is to be insulated with material having an average thermal
conductivity of 0.35W/m◦ C, so that the heat loss per square meter will not exceed 1830W.
Assuming that the inner and outer surface temperatures of the insulated wall are 1300 and
30◦C, calculate the thickness of insulation required.
3. A composite wall is formed of a 2.5-cm copper plate (kc = 385 W/m. K), a 3.2-mm layer of
asbestos (ka = 0.2 W/m. K) and a 5-cm layer of fiberglass (kf = 0.045 W/m. K). The wall is
subjected to an overall temperature difference of 560◦C. Calculate the heat flow per unit area
through the composite structure.
4. A steel tube with 5 cm ID, 7.6 cm OD and k=15W/m oC is covered with an insulative covering
of thickness 2 cm and k 0.2 W/m oC. A hot gas at 330oC with h = 400 W/m2oC flows inside
the tube. The outer surface of the insulation is exposed to cooler air at 30oC with h = 60
W/m2oC. Calculate the heat loss from the tube to the air for 10 m of the tube.
5. A steel tube having k =46W/m◦C has an inside diameter of 3.0 cm and a tube wall thickness
of 2 mm. A fluid flow on the inside of the tube producing a convection coefficient of
1500W/m2◦Con the inside surface, while a second fluid flows across the outside of the tube
producing a convection coefficient of 197 W/m2◦C on the outside tube surface. The inside fluid
temperature is 223◦C while the outside fluid temperature is 57◦C. Calculate the heat lost by the
tube per meter of length.
6. The temperature at the inner and outer surfaces of a boiler wall made of 20 mm thick steel and
covered with an insulating material of 5 mm thickness are 300oC and 50oC respectively. If the
thermal conductivities of steel and insulating material are 58W/m oC and 0.116 W/m oC
respectively, determine the rate of flow through the boiler wall.
7. A steel pipe (K = 45.0 W/m. K) having a 0.05m O.D is covered with a 0.042 m thick layer of
magnesia (K = 0.07W/m. K) which in turn covered with a 0.024 m layer of fiberglass insulation
(K = 0.048 W/m. K). The pipe wall outside temperature is 370 K and the outer surface
temperature of the fiberglass is 305K. Calculate the steady state heat transfer. What is the
interfacial temperature between the magnesia and fiberglass?
8. A house wall may be approximated as two 1.2 cm layers of fiber insulating board, an 8.0 cm
layer of loosely packed asbestos, and a 10 cm layer of common brick. Assuming convection
heat-transfer coefficients of 15 W/m2 °C on both sides of the wall, calculate the overall heat-
transfer coefficient for this arrangement.
9. A plane wall 6.0 cm thick generates heat internally at the rate of 0.3 MW/m3. One side of the
wall is insulated, and the other side is exposed to an environment at 93◦C. The convection heat-
transfer coefficient between the wall and the environment is 570 W/m2◦C. The thermal
conductivity of the wall is 21 W/m ◦C. Calculate the maximum temperature in the wall.
10. A plane wall 20 cm thick with uniform internal heat generation of 200 kW/m3 is exposed to a
convection environment on both sides at 50◦C with h=400W/m2◦C. Calculate the center
temperature of the wall for k =20 W/m ◦C.
Assignment: 1,2,4,5,7,10
Submission date: April 22,2025
Group: 5 members per group
