Applying Newton's cooling equation to a real-world system

[scootaash]

Hi. I'm trying to apply Newton's cooling equation (if relevent) to the following system. We produce plastic piping, extruded at about 200 'C and cooled via water sprays to 35 'C. We are trying to calculate how fast we can run the pipe through the cooling sprays. It's been a very long time since I did any of this so any help would be appreciated! I'm not even sure if the equation is useful in this instance.Newton's cooling equation is :

dT/dt = k(T-M) where T is the object temp, t time and M the outside temperature.

So

T = C(e^kt) + M
Where C is the difference between the start and ambient temperature.

I can measure this for certain thicknesses and sizes of pipe, but the point is to be able to predict the final temperature for any size and thickness of pipe, given the same cooling. I have no idea how I would extend to do this!

The main problem is that only the external surface is cooled, so upon leaving the cooling tank the surface heats up again as heat is conducted to the surface.

Any suggestions for how to proceed would be greatly appreciated!

 

[NateD]

The best way to approach this problem is to use a finite element method (FEM) approach. This involves breaking the piping into small elements and solving for the temperature at each element using Newton's cooling equation. The boundary conditions at each element are then applied and the temperatures at each node can be calculated. The FEM approach can better capture the effects of heat transfer within the pipe and can be used to estimate the final temperature of the pipe after it passes through the cooling sprays.