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Convection Convection is the flow of heat through a bulk, macroscopic movement of matter from a hot region to a cool region,

as opposed to the microscopic transfer of heat between atoms involved with conduction. Suppose we consider heating up a local region of air. As this air heats, the molecules spread out, causing this region to become less dense than the surrounding, unheated air. For reasons discussed in the previous section, being less dense than the surrounding cooler air, the hot air will subsequently rise due to buoyant forces - this movement of hot air into a cooler region is then said to transfer heat by convection. eating a pot of water on a stove is a good e!ample of the transfer of heat by convection. "hen the stove is first turned on heat is transferred first by conduction between the element through the bottom of the pot to the water. owever, eventually the water starts bubbling - these bubbles are actually local regions of hot water rising to the surface, thereby transferring heat from the hot water at the bottom to the cooler water at the top by convection. At the same time, the cooler, more dense water at the top will sink to the bottom, where it is subsequently heated. #hese convection currents are illustrated in the following figure. Figure 8.3: Convection currents in boiling water

Consider now two regions separated by a barrier, one at a higher pressure relative to the other, and subsequently remove the barrier, as in the following figure. #hese convection currents are illustrated in the following figure. Figure 8.4: Flow of material through a pressure difference

"hen the barrier is removed, material in the high pressure $high density% area will flow to the low pressure $low density% area. &f the low pressure region was originally created by heating of the material, one sees that movement of material in this way is an e!ample of heat flow by convection. An important e!ample of convection currents that can be interpreted in this manner is the creation of bree'es over land masses ne!t to large bodies of water. "ater has a larger heat capacity than land, and subsequently holds heat better. &t therefore takes longer to change its temperature, either upward or downward. #hus, during the day the air above the water will be cooler than that over the land. #his creates a low pressure area over the land, relative to the high pressure area over the water, and subsequently one finds bree'es blowing from the water to the land. (n the other hand, during the night water cools off more slowly than the land, and the air above the water is slightly warmer than over the land. #his creates a low pressure area over the water relative to the high pressure area over the land, and bree'es will blow from the land to the water. #hese are illustrated in the following figure. Figure 8.5: Formation of bree'es near large bodies of water

Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids $i.e. liquids, gases% and rheids. &t cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids. Convection is one of the ma)or modes of heat transfer and mass transfer. Convective heat and mass transfer take place through both diffusion * the random +rownian motion of individual particles in the fluid * and by advection, in which matter or heat is transported by the larger-scale motion of currents in the fluid. &n the conte!t of heat and mass transfer, the term ,convection, is used to refer to the sum of advective and diffusive transfer.

-ote that a common use of the term convection refers specifically to heat transfer by convection, as opposed to convection in general. Terminology #he term ,convection, may have slightly different but related usages in different conte!ts. #he broader sense is in fluid mechanics, where ,convection, refers to the motion of fluid $regardless of cause%. owever in thermodynamics ,convection, often refers specifically to heat transfer by convection. Additionally, convection includes fluid movement both by bulk motion $advection% and by the motion of individual particles $diffusion%. owever in some cases, convection is taken to mean only advective phenomena. For instance, in the transport equation, which describes a number of different transport phenomena, terms are separated into ,convective, and ,diffusive, effects. A similar differentiation is made in the -avier*Stokes equations. &n such cases the precise meaning of the term may be clear only from conte!t. Examples and applications of convection Convection occurs on a large scale in atmospheres, oceans, and planetary mantles. Fluid movement during convection may be invisibly slow, or it may be obvious and rapid, as in a hurricane. (n astronomical scales, convection of gas and dust is thought to occur in the accretion disks of black holes, at speeds which may closely approach that of light. Heat transfer

A heat sink provides a large surface area for convection to efficiently carry away heat Convective eat transfer is a mechanism of heat transfer occurring because of bulk motion $observable movement% of fluids. eat is the entity of interest being advected $carried%, and diffused $dispersed%. #his can be contrasted with conductive heat transfer, which is the transfer of energy by vibrations at a molecular level through a solid or fluid, and radiative heat transfer, the transfer of energy through electromagnetic waves. eat is transferred by convection in numerous e!amples of naturally occurring fluid flow, such as. wind, oceanic currents, and movements within the /arth0s mantle. Convection is also used in engineering practices to provide desired temperature changes, as in heating of homes, industrial processes, cooling of equipment, etc. #he rate of convective heat transfer may be improved by the use of a heat sink, often in con)unction with a fan. For instance, a typical computer C12 will have a purpose-made fan to ensure its operating temperature is kept within tolerable limits.

Convection cells

Convection cells in a gravity field A convection cell, also known as a !"nard cell is a characteristic fluid flow pattern in many convection systems. A rising body of fluid typically loses heat because it encounters a cold surface3 because it e!changes heat with colder liquid through direct e!change3 or in the e!ample of the /arth0s atmosphere, because it radiates heat. +ecause of this heat loss the fluid becomes denser than the fluid underneath it, which is still rising. Since it cannot descend through the rising fluid, it moves to one side. At some distance, its downward force overcomes the rising force beneath it, and the fluid begins to descend. As it descends, it warms again and the cycle repeats itself. #tmosp eric circulation

&deali'ed depiction on the global circulation on /arth. #tmosp eric circulation is the large-scale movement of air, and the means $together with the smaller ocean circulation% by which thermal energy is distributed on the surface of the /arth. #he large-scale structure of the atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but the basic climatological structure remains fairly constant. 4atitudinal circulation is the consequence of the fact that incident solar radiation per unit area is highest at the heat equator, and decreases as the latitude increases, reaching its minimum at the poles. &t consists of two primary convection cells, the adley cell and the polar vorte!. 4ongitudinal circulation, on the other hand, comes about because water has a higher specific heat capacity than land and thereby absorbs and releases more heat, but the temperature changes less than land. #his effect is noticeable3 it is what brings the sea bree'e, air cooled by the water, ashore in the day, and carries

the land bree'e, air cooled by contact with the ground, out to sea during the night. 4ongitudinal circulation consists of two cells, the "alker circulation and /l -i5o 6 Southern (scillation. $eat er

ow Foehn is produced7 8ore locali'ed phenomena than global atmospheric movement are also due to convection, including wind and some of the hydrologic cycle. For e!ample, a foehn wind is a type of down-slope wind which occurs in the downwind side of a mountain range. &t results from the adiabatic warming of air which has dropped most of its moisture on windward slopes. As a consequence of the different adiabatic lapse rates of moist and dry air, the air on the leeward slopes becomes warmer than equivalent elevations on the windward slopes, leading to the wind. A thermal column $or thermal% is a vertical section of rising air in the lower altitudes of the /arth0s atmosphere. #hermals are created by the uneven heating of the /arth0s surface from solar radiation. #he Sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it. #he warmer air e!pands, becoming less dense than the surrounding air mass. #he mass of lighter air rises, and as it does, it cools due to its e!pansion at lower high-altitude pressures. &t stops rising when it has cooled to the same temperature as the surrounding air. Associated with a thermal is a downward flow surrounding the thermal column. #he downward moving e!terior is caused by colder air being displaced at the top of the thermal. Another convection-driven weather effect is the sea bree'e. %ceanic circulation

(cean currents Solar radiation affects the oceans. warm water from the /quator tends to circulate toward the poles, while cold polar water heads towards the /quator. (ceanic convection is also frequently driven by density differences due to varying salinity, known as thermohaline convection, and is of crucial importance in

global ocean circulation. &n this case it is possible for relatively warm, saline water to sink, and colder, fresher water to rise, reversing the normal transport of heat. &antle convection

An oceanic plate is added to by upwelling $left% and consumed at a subduction 'one $right% &antle convection is the slow creeping motion of /arth0s rocky mantle caused by convection currents carrying heat from the interior of the earth to the surface. &t is the driving force that causes tectonic plates to move around the /arth0s surface. #he /arth0s surface is divided into a number of tectonic plates that are continuously being created and consumed at their opposite plate boundaries. Creation $accretion% occurs as mantle is added to the growing edges of a plate. #his hot added material cools down by conduction and convection of heat. At the consumption edges of the plate, the material has thermally contracted to become dense, and it sinks under its own weight in the process of subduction at an ocean trench. #his subducted material sinks to some depth in the /arth0s interior where it is prohibited from sinking further. #he subducted oceanic crust triggers volcanism. 'tac( effect #he 'tac( effect or c imney effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, flue gas stacks, or other containers due to buoyancy. +uoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor air density resulting from temperature and moisture differences. #he greater the thermal difference and the height of the structure, the greater the buoyancy force, and thus the stack effect. #he stack effect helps drive natural ventilation and infiltration. Some cooling towers operate on this principle3 similarly the solar updraft tower is a proposed device to generate electricity based on the stack effect. 'tellar p ysics

#he convection 'one of a star is the range of radii in which energy is transported primarily by convection. 9ranules on the photosphere of the Sun are convection cells caused by convection of plasma. #he rising part of the granules is located in the center where the plasma is hotter. #he outer edge of the granules is darker due to the cooler descending plasma. A typical granule has a diameter on the order of :,;;;

kilometers and lasts < to =; minutes before dissipating. +elow the photosphere is a layer of ,supergranules, up to >;,;;; kilometers in diameter with lifespans of up to =? hours. #he image shows the solar photosphere where granules are visible. -orth America is superimposed to provide a sense of scale. Convection mec anisms Convection may happen in fluids at all scales larger than a few atoms. #here are a variety of circumstances in which the forces required for natural and forced convection arise, leading to different types of convection, described below. &n broad terms, convection arises because of body forces acting within the fluid, such as gravity $buoyancy%, or surface forces acting at a boundary of the fluid. #he causes of convection are generally described as one of either ,natural, $,free,% or ,forced,, although other mechanisms also e!ist $disscussed below%. owever the distinction between natural and forced convection is particularly important for convective heat transfer. )atural convection )atural convection, or free convection, occurs due to temperature differences which affect the density, and thus relative buoyancy, of the fluid. eavier $more dense% components will fall while lighter $less dense% components rise, leading to bulk fluid movement. -atural convection can only occur, therefore, in a gravitational field. A common e!ample of natural convection is a pot of boiling water in which the hot and less-dense water on the bottom layer moves upwards in plumes, and the cool and more dense water near the top of the pot likewise sinks. -atural convection will be more likely and6or more rapid with a greater variation in density between the two fluids, a larger acceleration due to gravity that drives the convection, and6or a larger distance through the convecting medium. Convection will be less likely and6or less rapid with more rapid diffusion $thereby diffusing away the gradient that is causing the convection% and6or a more viscous $sticky% fluid. #he onset of natural convection can be determined by the @ayleigh number $*a%. -ote that differences in buoyancy within a fluid can arise for reasons other than temperature variations, in which case the fluid motion is called gravitational convection $see below%. Forced convection &n forced convection, also called eat advection, fluid movement results from e!ternal surface forces such as a fan or pump. Forced convection is typically used to increase the rate of heat e!change. 8any types of mi!ing also utili'e forced convection to distribute one substance within another. Forced convection also occurs as a by-product to other processes, such as the action of a propeller in a fluid or aerodynamic heating. Fluid radiator systems, and also heating and cooling of parts of the body by blood circulation, are other familiar e!amples of forced convection. Forced convection may produce results more quickly than free convection. For instance, a convection oven works by forced convection, as a fan which rapidly circulates hot air forces heat into food faster than would naturally happen due to simple heating without the fan. +ravitational or ,uoyant convection +ravitational convection is a type of natural convection induced by buoyancy variations resulting from material properties other than temperature. #ypically this is caused by a variable composition of the fluid. &f the varying property is a concentration gradient, it is known as solutal convectionA?B. For e!ample, gravitational convection can be seen in the diffusion of a source of dry salt downward into wet soil due to the buoyancy of fresh water in saline.ACB Dariable salinity in water and variable water content in air masses are frequent causes of convection in the oceans and atmosphere which do not involve heat, or else involve additional compositional density factors other than the density changes from thermal e!pansion $see thermohaline circulation%. Similarly, variable composition within the /arth0s interior which has not yet achieved ma!imal stability and minimal energy $in other words, with densest parts deepest% continues to cause a fraction of the convection of fluid rock and molten metal within the /arth0s interior $see below%. As buoyant convection is due to the effects of gravity, it does not occur in microgravity environments.

Convection of a fluid +ranular convection Dibration-induced convection occurs in powders and granulated materials in containers sub)ect to vibration where an a!is of vibration is parallel to the force of gravity. "hen the container accelerates upward, the bottom of the container pushes the entire contents upward. &n contrast, when the container accelerates downward, the sides of the container push the ad)acent material downward by friction, but the material more remote from the sides is less affected. #he net result is a slow circulation of particles downward at the sides, and upward in the middle. &f the container contains particles of different si'es, the downward-moving region at the sides is often narrower than the largest particles. #hus, larger particles tend to become sorted to the top of such a mi!ture. #his is one possible e!planation of the +ra'il nut effect. T ermomagnetic convection T ermomagnetic convection can occur when an e!ternal magnetic field is imposed on a ferrofluid with varying magnetic susceptibility. &n the presence of a temperature gradient this results in a nonuniform magnetic body force, which leads to fluid movement. A ferrofluid is a liquid which becomes strongly magneti'ed in the presence of a magnetic field. #his form of heat transfer can be useful for cases where conventional convection fails to provide adequate heat transfer, e.g., in miniature microscale devices or under reduced gravity conditions. Capillary action Capillary action is a phenomenon where liquid spontaneously rises in a narrow space such as a thin tube, or in porous materials. #his effect can cause liquids to flow against the force of gravity. &t occurs because of inter-molecular attractive forces between the liquid and solid surrounding surfaces3 &f the diameter of the tube is sufficiently small, then the combination of surface tension and forces of adhesion between the liquid and container act to lift the liquid. &arangoni effect #he &arangoni effect is the convection of fluid along an interface between dissimilar substances because of variations in surface tension. Surface tension can vary because of inhomogeneous composition of the substances, and6or the temperature-dependence of surface tension forces. &n the latter case the effect is known as t ermo-capillary convection. A well-known phenomenon e!hibiting this type of convection is the ,tears of wine,. $eissen,erg effect #he $eissen,erg effect is a phenomenon that occurs when a spinning rod is placed into a solution of liquid polymer. &nstead of being thrown outward, entanglements cause the polymer chains to be drawn towards the rod instead of being thrown outward as would happen with an ordinary fluid $i.e., water%. Com,ustion &n a 'ero-gravity environment, there can be no buoyancy forces, and thus no natural $free% convection possible, so flames in many circumstances without gravity, smother in their own waste gases. owever, flames may be maintained with any type of forced convection $bree'e%3 or $in high o!ygen environments in ,still, gas environments% entirely from the minimal forced convection that occurs as heat-induced e!pansion $not buoyancy% of gases allows for ventilation of the flame, as waste gases move outward and cool, and fresh high-o!ygen gas moves in to take up the low pressure 'ones created when flame-e!haust water condenses.AEB &at ematical models of convection

8athematically, convection can be described by the convection*diffusion equation or the generic scalar transport equation. .uantifying natural versus forced convection &n cases of mi!ed convection $natural and free occurring together% one would often like to know how much of the convection is due to e!ternal constraints, such as the fluid velocity in the pump, and how much is due to natural convection occurring in the system. #he relative magnitudes of the 9rashof and @eynolds number squared determine which form of convection dominates. if forced convection may be neglected, whereas if natural convection may be neglected. &f the ratio is appro!imately one both forced and natural convection need to be taken into account. " A#FS /A#7 eat is energy in transit from warmer systems to colder systems. eat is associated with the internal potential and kinetic energy $an apparently disorgani'ed molecular motion% of a system. #here is a dilemma with the understanding of the previous paragraph. &f heat is a form of energy associated to the particlesF rotational, translational and vibratory movements, how the heat moves through the space between the Sun and the /arth, which density is e!tremely low7 #he answer is. heat could be transferred from a given source by radiation. #he thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation that consists of particles and waves, to be precise, photons and waves, like the visible light. #hus, the radiative heat transfer can take place through vacuum. #he energy always moves from a warm system to a colder system. #he energy that is moving from one system to another is known as heat. #he transfer or dispersion of heat can occur by means of three main mechanisms, conduction, convection and radiation. C(-D/C#&(-. Flow of heat through currents within a fluid $liquid or gas%. Convection is a movement of liquid or gaseous volumes. "hen a mass of a fluid heats up by being upon a hot surface, its molecules are carried away and scattered causing that the mass of that fluid becomes less dense. 9iven that the volume of the hot fluid becomes less dense, it will be displaced vertically and6or hori'ontally, while the cold but denser volume of fluid sinks $the low-kinetic-energy molecules displace to the molecules with high-kinetic-energy%. #hrough this process, the molecules of the hot fluid continuously transfer heat to the volumes of colder fluid. For e!ample, when heating water on a stove, the volume of water at the bottom of the pot will be warmed up by conduction from the metal of the pot and it will become less dense. #hen, because it is less dense, it will shift upward to the surface of the volume of water and will displace the upper -colder and densermass of water downwards to the bottom of the pot. formula of Convection. q G hA $#s - # H% "here h is for convective heat transfer coefficient, A is the area implied in the heat transfer process, #s is for the temperature of the system and # H is a reference temperature.

'ym,ols and Formulas A simple definition of heat transfer is energy in transit due to a temperature difference. &f there is a temperature difference in a medium or between media, heat transfer must occur.

Commonly /sed 'ym,ols #he follow tables are a list of variables, their symbols, and the associative units commonly used in heat transfer e!pressions. All the equations present in the heat transfer section have the same quantity denoted by the symbols in the table. 0ndependent 1arameters Iuantity #emperature #ime #hermal conductivity Specific heat Convection heat transfer coefficient /missivity Mensity &nternal heat generation 2ependent 1arameters Iuantity eat flu! :-M heat flu! 'ym,ol q, q %,3ect vector scalar /nits "6m= " Symbol # t k c h e qqen (b)ect scalar scalar scalar scalar scalar scalar scalar scalar 2nits J s "6m K J L6kg K J "6m=J "6m=J kg6m> kg6m>

Ta,le of 2imensionless 1arameters As is common with fluid mechanics analysis, a number of dimensionless parameters are employed to describe convective heat transfer. A summary of these variables is included in the following tables. 9eneral Convection $Forced and Free% 1arameter 1randtl number Formula &nterpretation @atio of fluid velocity boundary layer thickness to the fluid temperature boundary layer thickness. @atio of heat transferred from surface to heat conducted away by fluid.

-usselt number

Forced Convection (nly

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