Calibration Tank

[Serrand]

Hey guys,
I am currently making a calibration tank for underwater sensors. I am using a heat exchanger to bring the tank to a certain temperature, once it has reached it the heat exchanger will turn itself off and only the stirrer will run during the calibration. I am trying to calculate the heat shed by the aluminum instruments, after the heat exchanger has been turned off. And for that I need the convection coefficient. Could anybody help me where I can find a reasonable value without having to go through a flow analysis. The instruments can be approximated by cylinders and the working fluid is sea water.
Thank you for your help
Dom

 

[KiwiMace]

Hmmm.... I don't get it. Shouldn't the instruments and the fluid be in equilibrium for a temperature calibration, or are you calibrating for heat flux (or something proportional to heat flux) at a given constant temperature?

The heat transfer is proportional to Reynolds number, so depends on how vigorously you agitate. Alternatively, free convention is a function of buoyant and viscous forces.

You will need a basic heat transfer text to indicate which calc route to follow given the dominant heat transfer mechanism present.