Description

The equipment consists of a centrifugal fan with a vertical outlet duct. At the top of the duct there is a heated cylinder. The mounting arrangement for the cylinder in the duct is designed to minimise loss of heat by conduction to the wall of the duct.

The surface of the cylinder is coated with heat-resistant paint which provides a consistent emissivity close to unity. A K-type thermocouple (T10) attached to the wall of the cylinder, at mid position, enables the surface temperature to be measured under the varying operating conditions.

ArmBUS controlled variable-speed fan blows air through the outlet duct. A vane-type anemometer within the fan outlet duct enables the air velocity in the duct to be measured. Air velocity can be set within the accuracy of ±0.05m/s.

A K-type thermocouple (T9) in the outlet duct allows the ambient air temperature to be measured upstream of the heated cylinder.

PID controller allows rapid heater’s temperature set-point achievement and control to ±0.1°C.

Experimental Capabilities

• Determining the combined heat transfer (Q radiation + Q convection) from a horizontal cylinder in natural convection over a wide range of power inputs and corresponding surface temperatures
• Measuring the domination of the convective heat transfer coefficient Hc at low surface temperatures and the domination of the radiation heat transfer coefficient Hr at high surface temperatures
• Determining the effect of forced convection on the heat transfer from the cylinder at varying air velocities