An air heater may be fabricated by coiling Nichrome wire and passing air in cross flow over
Question:
An air heater may be fabricated by coiling Nichrome wire and passing air in cross flow over the wire. Consider a heater fabricated from wire of diameter \(D=\) \(2 \mathrm{~mm}\), electrical resistivity \(ho_{e}=10^{-6} \Omega \cdot \mathrm{m}\), thermal conductivity \(k=25 \mathrm{~W} / \mathrm{m} \cdot \mathrm{K}\), and emissivity \(\varepsilon=0.20\). The heater is designed to deliver air at a temperature of \(T_{\infty}=60^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\) under flow conditions that provide a convection coefficient of \(h=250 \mathrm{~W} / \mathrm{m}^{2} \cdot \mathrm{K}\) for the wire. The temperature of the housing that encloses the wire and through which the air flows is \(T_{\text {sur }}=60^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\).
If the maximum allowable temperature of the wire is \(T_{\text {max }}=1000^{\circ} \mathrm{C}\), what is the maximum allowable electric current \(I\) ? If the maximum available voltage is \(\Delta E=110 \mathrm{~V}\), what is the corresponding length \(L\) of wire that may be used in the heater and the power rating of the heater? Hint: In your solution, assume negligible temperature variations within the wire, but after obtaining the desired results, assess the validity of this assumption.
Step by Step Answer:
Fundamentals Of Heat And Mass Transfer
ISBN: 9781119220442
8th Edition
Authors: Theodore L. Bergman, Adrienne S. Lavine