Spreadsheets for heat loss rates and temperatures

Calculating linear heat-loss rates and the temperatures of fluids flowing in pipes is a common problem for engineering dealing with fluid systems. Hand calculations of these design parameters tend to be tedious and are prone to data-entry errors. However, most engineers today have some spreadsheet software installed on their personal computers. These programs can simplify and speed up design analyses. A previous set of articles described a four-step process for calculating the linear heat-loss rate from a pipe. This article describes a spreadsheet that calculates the linear heat-loss rate, insulation surface temperature and fluid temperature along a pipe, for a given fluid and inlet temperature, insulation material and thickness, casing emissivity, and ambient conditions. The spreadsheet can be easily modified to conduct parametric studies of different insulation materials, thicknesses and casing emissivities, to determine the optimum combination for a given fluid flowrate and inlet temperature, and ambient conditions.