[Physics] Heat loss of an insulated pipe vs an uninsulated pipe

thermal conductivitythermodynamics

So I have this exercise: A hot water pipe consists of a copper tube of length $L = 1$ m, of thermal conductivity $\lambda_{1} = 380$, has an internal radius of $R_{1} = 6\cdot10^{-3}$ m and an external radius of $R_{2} = 7\cdot10^{-3}$ m. Using an insulating material of thermal conductivity $\lambda_{2} = 0.1$, a coaxial sheath with an internal radius $R_{2}$ and an external radius $R_{3} = 8\cdot10^{-3}$ is produced. The temperature of the internal wall is $T_{1} = 80ºC$ and the temperature of the ambient air is $T_{2} = 20ºC$. $h = 10$ is the heat transfer coefficient by convection at the outer surface of the insulator (or of the copper tube in the absence of insulation)."

I had to calculate the heat loss per meter of a pipe. First of the uninsulated pipe, and then of the pipe with a coaxial sheath of an insulating material.

The resistance of the copper can be neglected so we get this expression for the total resistance:

$R_{T} = \frac{ln(\frac{R_{3}}{R_{2}})}{2\pi\lambda_{2}L} + \frac{1}{2\pi hR_{3}L} = 2.2$

When there's no insulator we just have the second term (due to convection):

$R_{T} = \frac{1}{2\pi hR_{2}L} = 2.27$

Then to calculate the heat loss we just simply do:

$\phi = \frac{(80 – 20)}{R_{T}} = 27.3$ for the insulated pipe

$\phi = \frac{(80 – 20)}{R_{T}} = 26.4$ for the uninsulated pipe

How is it possible that I get a greater heat loss when the pipe is insulated than when it isn't?

Best Answer

This is a very careless error in the calculation as pointed out by others. The sum of two positive quantities should be greater than either or them taken individually. Please do check your calculations.