Heat and mass transfer during the warming of a bottle of beer

Abstract

The warming of a bottle of beer during a Friday evening happy hour directly involves transport phenomena, such as mass transfer due to condensation of air humidity on the bottle surface and heat transfer from the ambient to the bottle, which occurs by free convection and water condensation. Both processes happen simultaneously and are directly associated with the heat and mass transfer coefficients involved, which are affected by the ambient humidity and temperature. Several runs were made in several ambient conditions by exposing a cold bottle of beer to varied temperature and humidity and measuring the temperature of beer and the mass of water condensed on the bottle surface over time. From these measures, a theoretical and experimental methodology was developed and applied for the evaluation of the heat and mass transfer coefficients that govern this process. Both the relative humidity and ambient temperature exert a significant influence on the convective heat transfer coefficient. However, the mass transfer coefficient is affected only by the temperature.