This course has been discontinued
This 4-hour interactive online course reviews the fundamentals of conduction heat transfer with convection boundary conditions to introduce the concept of the overall heat transfer coefficient used to solve many practical problems. The overall heat transfer coefficient is presented in both rectangular and cylindrical coordinates. In rectangular coordinates the overall heat transfer coefficient is used to solve heating and cooling load problems in buildings. With this application of the overall heat transfer coefficient, the use of insulation R-values is fully discussed to give the practicing engineer a better understanding of how this sometime not fully explained phenomenon was developed when introduced back in the 1970s by the Federal government as well as show its origin. Examples are used to illustrate the practicality of the insulation R-value and demonstrate its convenience when using the overall heat transfer coefficient to solve problems.
In cylindrical coordinates, the overall heat transfer coefficient is shown in piping insulation problems, including applications with heat exchangers. Here this simple one-dimensional analysis is used to solve two- and three-dimensional heat transfer flow problems in simple heat exchangers. Again the power of the use of the overall heat transfer coefficient is demonstrated using examples.
The examples demonstrate how the application of fundamental heat transfer principles for developing simple mathematical models of thermal systems is the approach practicing engineers should use. Practical and useful data is supplied both in the examples in the text as well as the data that appears in the quiz material at the end. This data is provided to save time looking for information in handbooks or on the internet and can be used to solve every day engineering problems.