On the Convective Heat Transfer in a Tube of Elliptic Cross Section Maintained Under Constant Wall Temperature

Abstract

The convective heat transfer problem along the portion of a tube of elliptic cross section maintained under a constant wall temperature where hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed flow conditions prevail is solved in this paper. The successive approximation method is used for the solution utilizing elliptic coordinates. Analytical expressions for temperature distribution and Nusselt number corresponding to the first cycle of approximation are obtained in terms of the ellipticity of the cross section. In the case of a circular section, the first cycle approximation of the Nusselt number is obtained as 3.7288 compared to the exact value of 3.6568. Representative temperature distribution curves are plotted and compared to those corresponding with constant wall heat flux conditions.