The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model (boxcar model) for teaching and explaining convective heat transfer, and to present three engineering examples of where and how the model can be used. One application for the model would be to explain the fundamentals of convective heat transfer. Another would be to explain and resolve heating, ventilation and air-conditioning problems. The boxcar model provides the engineer with a visualization of simple to complex engineering applications as well as a method for enhancing the teaching to mechanical engineering students of topics involving convective heat transfer and heat exchangers.
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