ABE 3612C - Homework Assignment 5 Due Thursday 09-27-2012

Question 1 [Answer: c) 365.8C] Consider a large plane wall of thickness L = 0.04 m. The wall surface at x = 0 is insulated, while the surface at x = L is maintained at a temperature of 30C. The thermal conductivity of the wall is k = 16 W/mK, and heat is generated in the wall at a rate of W/m3 where e0 = 7.88 X 106 W/m3. Assuming steady one-dimensional heat transfer, (a) express the differential equation and the boundary conditions for heat conduction through the wall, (b) obtain a relation for the variation of temperature in the wall by solving the differential equation, and (c) determine the temperature of the insulated surface of the wall. Question 2 [Answer: c) 1C, d) 1.37 W] The most important postharvest factor for fresh fruits and vegetables is temperature. For several produce a temperature increase of 10C from their optimum corresponds to an increase of their respiration rate by a factor 2 or 3. Consequently, the produce shelf-life is also reduced by the same factor. For this reason, it is critical to cool down horticultural products as soon as possible after harvest to remove the field heat. Several methods are used for this purpose and among them are room cooling, hydrocooling, forced air cooling, icing and vacuum cooling. Room cooling the simplest methods but it is also one of the less efficient and often results in very low rate of heat transfer, particularly for produce located in the core region of a palletized load. You are studying the heat transfer process associated with the room cooling of Marsh grapefruit initially at a uniform temperature. Because of the low rate of the process you can consider that the heat transfer occurs at a pseudo steady state. The average diameter of the fruit is 10.49 cm and the average rind thickness is 0.67 cm. You also measured the average surface temperature of the fruit at 8.6C. Assuming a convective heat transfer of 6 W/(mK), an ambient air temperature of 2C and neglecting radiation heat transfer at the surface of the fruit and heat generation within the fruit, you want to calculate the temperature difference across the rind thickness. From the literature, you were able to find that the average thermal conductivity of the rind of Marsh grapefruit is 0.294 W/(mC). a) Express the differential equation and the boundary conditions for heat conduction within the rind. b) Obtain a relation for the variation of temperature in the rind of the grapefruit. c) Calculate the temperature difference across the rind. d) Calculate the rate of heat transfer from the fruit to the cooling medium. Question 3 (Answer: 1.02 cm) The wall of a refrigerator is constructed of fiberglass insulation (k = 0.07 W/mK) sandwiched between two layers of 1-mm-thick sheet metal (k = 16 W/mK). The refrigerated space is maintained at 4C, and the average heat transfer coefficients at the inner and outer surfaces of the wall are 12 W/m2K and 10 W/m2K, respectively. The kitchen temperature averages 27C. It is observed that condensation occurs on the outer surfaces of the refrigerator when the temperature of the outer surface drops to 20C. Determine the minimum thickness of fiberglass insulation that needs to be used in the wall in order to avoid condensation on the outer surfaces.