Indirectly Measuring the Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient Utilizing Thermistors for Education and Research

A primary parameter of interest in many heat transfer problems is the convective heat transfer coefficient, which is dependent upon several fundamental parameters like fluid properties, velocity, temperature distribution, etc. As such, empirically determining this parameter can be complicated, especially in educational settings. The classical method includes many physical temperature sensors and heating pads distributed throughout a body that necessitates complex control schemes and data acquisition systems. This paper details a far simpler method of indirectly measuring the convective heat transfer coefficient by utilizing thermistors of various geometries. In calibrating these thermistors for their temperature-resistance characteristics, the convective heat transfer coefficient can be backed out without directly measuring the temperature of the thermistror itself, which has the effect of simplifying the experimental requirements to a large enough degree to make the technique suitable for introductory educational courses in heat transfer. In addition, the technique is also accurate enough to where the experimental data is worthy of publication in the archival literature.