Studyof the Effect of Relative Humidity on the Heat Transfer Characteristics for a Fin Exposed to Air at Different Conditions Ziad M. Al-Makhyoul

Abstract

A study of the effect of relative humidity on the two dimensional heat transfercharacteristics for thetwo types of annular fins of (constant thickness and variable thickness)has been carriedout using finite difference method and grid generation technique of algebraic method to simplify the geometry of fin. The temperature distribution for a fully wet fin and dry fin has been determinedat relative humidity of (0, 50, 75 and 100)%alsofin efficiency, fin effectiveness and heat transferhave been calculated for a range of relative humidity at (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100)% and length of fin from (0.01 to 0.1)m. The effect of the atmospheric pressure was also studied. The study shows that the fin effectiveness and fin efficiency of a fin in the case of fully wet fin are found to be less than those in the dry fin andthe temperature gradient at the tip for a dry fin is greater than that for the wet finKey words: Annular fins, relative humidity, heat transfer