Calculating Heat Transfer from a Person in a Room

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the total rate of heat transfer from a person in a room with specific temperature conditions. The room air temperature is maintained at 22°C, while the walls, floors, and ceiling average 10°C. The exposed surface area of the person is 1.4 m², with an outer surface temperature of 30°C. The convective heat transfer coefficient is 6 W/m²°C, and the emissivity of human skin is 0.95. The correct total heat transfer calculation yields approximately 219.12 W, factoring in both radiative and convective heat transfer components.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of heat transfer principles, including convection and radiation.
  • Familiarity with the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiative heat transfer.
  • Knowledge of thermal properties such as emissivity and convective heat transfer coefficients.
  • Basic proficiency in algebra for manipulating equations and units.
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the Stefan-Boltzmann law and its application in thermal radiation calculations.
  • Learn about convective heat transfer coefficients and their significance in thermal analysis.
  • Explore practical examples of heat transfer calculations in HVAC systems.
  • Investigate the impact of surface area and temperature differences on heat transfer rates.
USEFUL FOR

Thermal engineers, HVAC professionals, and students studying heat transfer principles will benefit from this discussion, particularly those involved in calculating heat transfer in enclosed environments.

febbie22
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Hey I've got this question and the answer that is giving is 219.12 but i keep getting 319 could someone please help me out here's the question.

Consider a person standing in a room. The room air temperature is
maintained at 22OC at all times. The inner surface of the walls, floors and
the ceiling of the room are observed to be at an average temperature of
10OC.
Determine the total rate of heat transfer from this person if the exposed
surface area and the average outer surface temperature of the person
are 1.4 m2 and 30OC. Take the convective heat transfer coefficient to be
6 W/m2 OC and the emissivity of the human skin to be 0.95

any help would be great
 
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Can you please show your calculations? I get 219.13 W without any problems. Make sure to check your units.
 
cheers for replying here what i done:

Q radiation - 0.95 * 5.67*10-8 * 1.4 * ((273+30)^4 -(273+10)^4) = 151.9

Q convection - 6 * 1.4 * (30-10) = 168

Qtotal = 319.9

god knows what I am doing wrong probably something really stupid, how did you do it

cheers
 
Is convective heat transferred from the person directly to the walls?
 
i'm not really sure to be honest, how did you get 219
 
Convection is defined as heat transfer via the movement of a fluid (like air). So I'm not sure why you'd have the temperature difference that drives convection be (30-10)°C when 10°C is the temperature of the walls. Know what I mean?
 
yeah i know what you mean i actually used the 220C in the equation but the final answer was coming smaller than the actual answer so i tried the 100C
 

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