Experimental Investigation of Natural Convection in Partitioned Enclosures

1982 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Bajorek ◽  
J. R. Lloyd

Natural convection heat transfer within a two-dimensional, partitioned enclosure of aspect ratio 1 was investigated experimentally using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The vertical walls were maintained isothermal at different temperatures, while the horizontal walls and the partitions were insulated. Local and average heat-transfer coefficients were determined for the air and carbon dioxide filled enclosures both with and without partitions for Grashof numbers between 1.7×105 and 3.0×106. Good agreement was found between the results in the present study for the nonpartitioned enclosure and those previously published. The partitions were found to significantly influence the convective heat transfer. Observations of the interferometric fringes indicated that the core region is unsteady, with the unsteadiness occasionally affecting the flow along the vertical isothermal walls, beginning at Grashof numbers as low as 5×105.

1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. Asfia ◽  
B. Frantz ◽  
V. K. Dhir

External cooling of a light water reactor vessel by flooding of the concrete cavity with subcooled water is one of several management strategies currently being considered for accidents in which significant relocation of core material is predicted to occur. At present, uncertainty exists with respect to natural convection heat transfer coefficients between the pool of molten core material and the reactor vessel wall. In the present work, experiments were conducted to examine natural convection heat transfer in internally heated partially filled spherical pools with external cooling. In the experiments, Freon-113 was contained in a Pyrex bell jar, which was cooled externally with subcooled water. The pool was heated using a 750 W magnetron taken from a conventional microwave. The pool had a nearly adiabatic free surface. The vessel wall temperature was not uniform and varied from the stagnation point to the free surface. A series of chromel–alumel thermocouples was used to measure temperatures in both steady-state and transient conditions. Each thermocouple was placed in a specific vertical and radial location in order to determine the temperature distribution throughout the pool and along the inner and outer walls of the vessel. In the experiments, pool depth and radius were varied parametrically. Both local and averages heat transfer coefficients based on pool maximum temperature were obtained. Rayleigh numbers based on pool height were varied from 2 × 1010 to 1.1 × 1014. Correlations for the local heat transfer coefficient dependence on pool angle and for the dependence of average Nusselt number on Rayleigh number and pool depth have been developed.


1982 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 508-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mertol ◽  
R. Greif ◽  
Y. Zvirin

A study has been made of the heat transfer and fluid flow in a natural convection loop. Previous studies of these systems have utilized a one-dimensional approach which requires a priori specifications of the friction and the heat-transfer coefficients. The present work carries out a two-dimensional analysis for the first time. The results yield the friction and the heat-transfer coefficients and give their variation along the loop with the Graetz number as a parameter. Comparison is also made with experimental data for the heat flux and good agreement is obtained.


1967 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Harahap ◽  
H. N. McManus

Average heat-transfer coefficients are presented for fin arrays positioned with the base oriented horizontally. The flow field associated with the natural convection from the fin arrays was investigated and used as a model to find parameters to generalize the data. The proposed correlation overcomes the inadequacy of parameters available previously for horizontal rectangular fins.


2013 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 190-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Sheng Wang ◽  
Yong Xu

The conjugate natural convection heat transfer with and without the interaction of the surface radiation in a square enclosure was carried out by numerical simulation. The vertical walls of the square enclosure were heated with different temperatures, and the others were adiabatic. A circular tube was inserted into the square enclosure. It was observed that varied location of the tube center can lead to different motion and heat transfer intensities. In addition, surface radiation reduces the convective heat transfer in the square enclosure compared to the pure natural convection case and enhances the overall heat transfer performance.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 938-945 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Tanda

An experimental study was performed to evaluate the natural convection heat transfer characteristics of an array of four staggered vertical plates. The thermal input at each plate was the same or differed from plate to plate depending on various heating modes. The effects of the interplate spacing and the plate-to-ambient temperature difference were investigated. The experiments were performed in air. Convective interactions among the plates were identified by examining the per-plate heat transfer coefficients and the local heat transfer coefficients along the vertical sides of plates. Local heat transfer results were obtained by means of the schlieren quantitative technique. Comparison of local heat transfer coefficients along the plate assembly with those of a continuous vertical plate (having the same height) showed enhancements up to a factor of two. Comparison of average heat transfer results with those for a parallel plate channel having the same exchanger size showed only little reductions in heat transfer rate, despite a 28 percent reduction in heat transfer area, with enhancements, in terms of specific heat flux, up to 30 percent.


1982 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Kwon ◽  
T. H. Kuehn ◽  
T. S. Lee

Conjugate natural convection heat transfer in an annulus between horizontal isothermal circular cylinders with three equally spaced axial spacers has been studied theoretically and experimentally. A thin-fin approximation was used to model the thermal boundary condition of the spacers in the two-dimensional finite difference numerical computations. Rayleigh number, Prandtl number, diameter ratio, and location and thermal conductivity of the spacers were varied parametrically to determine the variation in flow patterns, temperature distribution and heat transfer. Spacers of low conductivity can decrease the natural convection heat transfer by as much as 20 percent below that for a simple unobstructed annulus. However, radial conduction through spacers of high conductivity overwhelms the natural convection heat transfer between the cylinders. Two diameter ratios were tested experimentally in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer using air at atmospheric pressure with stainless steel spacers between copper cylinders. The numerical and experimental temperature distributions and local convective heat-transfer coefficients show good agreement.


2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (9) ◽  
pp. 1195-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed E. Ali

Experimental investigations have been reported on steady state natural convection from the outer surface of horizontal ducts in air. Five ducts have been used with aspect ratios (Γ=duct height/duct width) of 2, 1, and 0.5. The ducts are heated using internal constant heat flux heating elements. The temperatures along the surface and peripheral directions of the duct wall are measured. Longitudinal (circumference averaged) heat transfer coefficients along the side of each duct are obtained for laminar and transition regimes of natural convection heat transfer. Total overall averaged heat transfer coefficients are also obtained. Longitudinal (circumference averaged) Nusselt numbers are evaluated and correlated using the modified Rayleigh numbers for transition regime using the axial distance as a characteristic length. Furthermore, total overall averaged Nusselt numbers are correlated with the modified Rayleigh numbers, the aspect ratio, and area ratio for the laminar and transition regimes. The longitudinal or total averaged heat transfer coefficients are observed to decrease in the laminar region and to increase in the transition region. Laminar regimes are obtained only at very small heat fluxes, otherwise, transitions are observed.


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