Multi-layer coated pipe simulation --QuickField FEA Software

Heat3: Multi-layer coated pipe

A very long cylindrical coated pipe (infinite length) is maintained at temperature T_inner along its internal surface and T_outer along its external surface.

Problem Type:

Plane and axisymmetric problems of heat transfer.

Geometry:

Thin layer of 3 mm coating is placed between steel pipe and insulation.

Given:

T_inner= 85°C, T_outer=4°C;
Thermal conductivity of steel λ=40 W/K·m,
Thermal conductivity of coating λ=0.4 W/K·m,
Thermal conductivity of insulation λ=0.15 W/K·m.

Problem:

Derive heat flux at the internal diameter and calculate the overall heat transfer coefficient (OHTC) of the system.

Solution:

The OHTC of 3-layered pipe can be calculated as
λ_total = 2πL / [ 1/λ₁·ln(r2/r1) + 1/λ₂·ln(r3/r2) + 1/λ₃·ln(r4/r3)],
where L is the length of the tube.

For very long pipe the heat transfer in axial direction may be neglected, thus the temperature distribution in any cross section will be the same. In this case the plane-parallel can be solved. In plane-parallel problems all integral values are calculated per 1 meter of depth.
Because, the axial length of the axisymmetric model do not affect to results, it was set to some small value (0.05 m) to reduce the mesh size. To convert heat flux (and other integral values) calculated in axisymmetric problem to flux calculated in plane-parallel problem the former should be multiplied by 20.

Results

	QuickField		Theory
	plane	axisymmetric	Theory
Heat Flux, W	178.2	8.89·20 = 177.8	-
Temperature difference, K	81	81	81
OHTC, W/K·m	2.200	2.195	2.211

Reference
Heat transfer for Engineers - H.Y. Wong Table 2.2 with the heat transfer coefficient set at infinity

Download simulation files:

Student's version	Professional version
-	heat3.zip