THERMAL / 008
Heat Transfer Calculator
Make quick thermal checks before or after CFD. Calculate convective heat transfer and heat flux, or use a fluid energy balance to estimate sensible heating/cooling duty.
Use simple energy balances to challenge the simulation.
A CFD model may be complex, but global heat-transfer balances should still make engineering sense. Compare simulated wall heat rate, fluid enthalpy rise and expected orders of magnitude before trusting detailed contours.
Check signs and reference temperatures. Decide whether you care about magnitude or signed heat flow.
Use consistent properties. cₚ, h and fluid properties may vary strongly with temperature.
Compare independent balances. Wall heat transfer and fluid energy rise should be consistent in a steady closed energy balance.
A simple heat balance is one of the fastest ways to challenge a CHT result.
Use the calculator to estimate the expected heat path, then trace source, conduction, interfaces, convection and outlet energy in the CFD model.