The exergy transfer characteristics of fluid flow and heat transfer inside a circular duct under fully developed laminar and turbulent forced convection are presented. Temperature is kept constant at the duct wall. The exergy transfer Nusselt number is put forward and the analytical expressions for exergy transfer Nusselt number are obtained as functions of heat transfer Nusselt number, Reynolds number, Prandtl number, etc. The variations of the local and mean convective exergy transfer coefficient, non-dimensional exergy flux, exergy transfer rate, etc. with operating parameters are presented graphically. By reference to a smooth duct and taking air as working fluid, a numerical analysis of the influence of the Reynolds number and non-dimensional cross-sectional position on exergy transfer characteristics has been conducted. The results show that the process parameters and configuration in the fluid flow and heat transfer inside a duct should be properly selected so that the forced convection process could have the best exergy utilization. In addition, the results corresponding to the exergy transfer and energy transfer are compared. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.