Numerical Investigation of the Natural Convection Flows for Low-Prandtl Fluids in Vertical Parallel-Plates Channels

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Campo ◽  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Biagio Morrone

Laminar natural convection of metallic fluids (Pr⪡1) between vertical parallel plate channels with isoflux heating is investigated numerically in this work. The full elliptic Navier-Stokes and energy equations have been solved with the combination of the stream function and vorticity method and the finite-volume technique. An enlarged computational domain is employed to take into account the flow and thermal diffusion effects. Results are presented in terms of velocity and temperature profiles. The investigation also focuses on the flow and thermal development inside the channel; the outcomes show that fully developed flow is attained up to Ra=103, whereas the thermal fully developed condition is attained up to Ra=104. Further, correlation equations for the dimensionless induced flow rate, maximum dimensionless wall temperatures, and average Nusselt numbers as functions of the descriptive geometrical and thermal parameters covering the collection of channel Grashof numbers 1.32×103⩽Gr∕A⩽5.0×106 and aspect ratios 5⩽A⩽15. Comparison with experimental measurements has been presented to assess the validity of the numerical computational procedure.

Author(s):  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Sergio Nardini ◽  
Vincenzo Naso

The effect of heat conduction on air natural convection in a vertical channel, symmetrically heated, with flush-mounted strips at the walls, was numerically analyzed. Reference was made to laminar two-dimensional steady-state flow and to full elliptic Navier-Stokes equations on a I-shaped computational domain. Solutions were carried out by means of the FLUENT code. Results are presented in terms of wall temperature profiles, air velocity and temperature profiles in the channel. The wall temperature is affected by the location of the strip on the channel wall and maximum wall temperature is far larger when the heater is located in the upper region of the channel. Heat conduction in the channel wall lowers maximum wall temperature below the heater and the thicker the wall the larger the temperature reduction.


Author(s):  
Assunta Andreozi ◽  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Yogesh Jaluria

The configuration of two horizontal parallel walls can be found in many applications, such as the cooling of electronic components, solar energy systems and chemical vapor deposition systems (CVD). In the present investigation a transient numerical analysis for laminar natural convection in air between two horizontal parallel plates, with the upper plate heated at uniform heat flux and the lower one unheated, is carried out by means of the finite volume method. The model was assumed to be two-dimensional. The full two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations together with the continuity and energy equations are solved by a numerical scheme derived from a SIMPLE-like algorithm in an H-shaped domain. Results are presented in terms of velocity and temperature profiles, wall temperature profiles and the temporal behavior of several significant variables, such as the penetration length, is reported for different Rayleigh numbers and aspect ratio values.


2014 ◽  
Vol 592-594 ◽  
pp. 1657-1661
Author(s):  
K. Aparna ◽  
K. Karthik ◽  
K.N. Seetharamu

Natural convection is studied numerically using finite element based computational procedure. The enclosure used for flow and heat transfer analysis has been bounded by adiabatic top wall, constant temperature cold vertical walls and a horizontal bottom wall. The grid independent study has been made with different grids to yield consistent values. Different grid sizes 30x30, 40x40, 50x50 uniform meshes have been studied. Study shows the convergence of average Nusselt number for a grid size of 41x41. Hence a grid size of 40x40 is used in all computations. Nusselt numbers are computed for different Rayleigh’s numbers (Ra) and aspect ratios of 1,2 and 3. Results are presented in the form of streamlines, isotherm plots and average Nusselt number. The average Nusselt numbers increase with Rayleigh number and for a given Ra, increase in Nu is obtained with increase in aspect ratio for bottom wall.


Author(s):  
Olanrewaju Miracle Oyewola ◽  
Niyi Ezekiel Olukayode ◽  
Olusegun Olufemi Ajide

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology stands out among other renewable energy sources not only because of its ability to address current energy security and environmental challenges but because its energy can be stored for future use. To ensure optimum performance in this system, the heat losses need to be evaluated for better design. This work studies the natural convection in the receiver absorber tube of a CSP plant taking into consideration the influence of neighboring absorbers. A 2-Dimensional model was adopted in this study. Initially, a single absorber tube was considered, it was subjected to heat flux at the top wall, the bottom wall was insulated and a temperature differential was set up at the lateral walls. The dimensionless forms of Navier-Stokes and energy equations were solved using the finite element formulation of COMSOL Multiphysics software. The result obtained for a single absorber tube showed good agreement with existing research works. This validated model was then extended to multiple absorber tubes (two to six absorber tubes). On the basis of the study, there is an observed increase in the intensity and dominance of convective heat transfer with an increase in the number of absorber tubes. This is occasioned by an increase in the average surface temperature as well as average Nusselt number. For the Rayleigh number of 104, 105 and 106, the average Nusselt number increases with the number of absorber tubes by 13.87 %, 6.26 %, and 1.55 %, respectively. This increment suggests effect of thermal interactions among the neighboring absorber tubes


2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaru Ishizuka ◽  
Guoyi Peng ◽  
Shinji Hayama

Abstract In the present work, an important basic flow phenomena, the natural convection induced flow, is studied numerically. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations along with the temperature equation are solved on the basis of finite difference method. Generalized coordinate system is used so that sufficient grid resolution could be achieved in the body surface boundary layer region. Differential terms with respect to time are approximated by forward differences, diffusions terms are approximated by the implicit Euler form, convection terms in the Navier-Stokes equations are approximated by the third order upwind difference scheme. The heat flux at the body surface of heater is specified. The results of calculation showed a satisfactory agreement with the measured data and led to a good understanding of the overall flow and thermal behavior inside electronic equipment cabinet model which is very difficult, if not impossible, to gather by experiment.


Author(s):  
M Ishizuka ◽  
Y Kitamura

In the present work, an important basic flow phenomenon, natural convection-induced flow, is studied numerically. Three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations along with the energy equation are solved based on the finite difference method. A generalized coordinate system is used so that sufficient grid resolution could be achieved in the body surface boundary layer region. The results of calculation showed a satisfactory agreement with the measured data and led to a good understanding of the overall flow and thermal behaviour inside an electronic equipment cabinet model, which is very difficult, if not impossible, to gather by experiment.


1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Sezai ◽  
A. A. Mohamad

The flow and heat transfer characteristics of impinging laminar jets issuing from rectangular slots of different aspect ratios have been investigated numerically through the solution of three-dimensional Navier-Stokes and energy equations in steady state. The three-dimensional simulation reveals the existence of pronounced streamwise velocity off-center peaks near the impingement plate. Furthermore, the effect of these off-center velocity peaks on the Nusselt number distribution is also investigated. Interesting three-dimensional flow structures are detected which cannot be predicted by two-dimensional simulations.


1995 ◽  
Vol 117 (4) ◽  
pp. 902-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Heindel ◽  
S. Ramadhyani ◽  
F. P. Incropera

Two and three-dimensional calculations have been performed for laminar natural convection induced by a 3 × 3 array of discrete heat sources flush-mounted to one vertical wall of a rectangular cavity whose opposite wall was isothermally cooled. Edge effects predicted by the three-dimensional model yielded local and average Nusselt numbers that exceeded those obtained from the two-dimensional model, as well as average surface temperatures that were smaller than the two-dimensional predictions. For heater aspect ratios Ahtr ≲ 3, average Nusselt numbers increased with decreasing Ahtr. However, for Ahtr ≳ 3, the two and three-dimensional predictions were within 5 percent of each other and results were approximately independent of Ahtr. In a companion paper (Heindel et al., 1995a), predictions are compared with experimental results and heat transfer correlations are developed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-306
Author(s):  
Vu Van Truong ◽  
Truong Viet Anh ◽  
Hoang Thi Bich Ngoc

An analysis is carried out for solidification around a cold cylinder in a rectangular cavity using numerical simulations. The transient influences of solidification accompanied by natural convection are investigated in detail. The governing equations, in terms of one-fluid formulation, including the Navier-Stokes and energy equations for incompressible Newtonian fluids are written for the whole domain. The no-slip and Dirichlet-type isothermal temperature boundary conditions are both implemented using a linear interpolation technique (immersed boundary method). The solidification interface is represented by connected elements that move on the fixed background grid. Code validations are carried out through various problems. Finally, the temporal dependence of the solid area ratio of the solid phase to the cylinder upon various dimensionless parameters, such as Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, Stefan number, thermal property ratios as well as a parameter indicating the effect of superheat is studied.


Author(s):  
Terhemen Tuleun

The steady MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC natural convection coutte flow of viscous incompressible and electrically conducting fluid having variable electrical conductivity between two parallel plates when one of the plate is set into motion is studied. The dimensionless differential equations as well as energy equations are solved analytically using the method of undetermined coefficient. The analytical solution are presented numerically inform of line graphs given interms of velocity and skin friction. The result reveal that the effect of the Hartmann number and grashof number are to reduce and increase the velocity respectively. Similarly the skin friction on the moving and stationary plates increase with Grashof number and decreases with increase in Hartmann, a comparetive study review that the effect of Hartmann number and grashof number on velocity and skin friction are same.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document