Question

How does forced convection differ from natural convection?

Answer 1

• Natural convection refers to a heat transfer system where the fluid motion is not developed due to any external source type like a fan, pump, etc. It is rather developed because of the density differences occurring in the fluid due to the temperature gradient.

• On the other hand, forced convection refers to a heat transportation system where the fluid motion is generally developed due to an external source like pump or fan, etc.

• The value of the heat transfer coefficient(h) is lower in the natural convection than the forced convection.

• The natural convection system considers the buoyancy effect, while the inertia effect is considered in the forced convection process.

• The natural convection process takes into account the Grashof’s number while the forced convection technique makes use of the Reynold's number.