Numerical Study of Natural Convective Heat Transfer From a Very Short Isothermal Cylinder Mounted on a Flat Adiabatic Base
Natural convective heat transfer from a vertical isothermal cylinder mounted on a flat adiabatic base has been numerically studied. The cylinder has an exposed top surface. The cylinder is relatively very short, i.e., has a height that is equal to or less than the cylinder diameter. Both the cases where the cylinder is pointing upward and where it is pointing downward have been considered. The governing equations have been numerically solved using the commercial CFD solver ANSYS FLUENT©. Results have only been obtained for Prandtl number = 0.74. The mean heat transfer rates have been expressed in terms of a Nusselt number, consideration being given both to the heat transfer rate from the entire cylinder surface and to the heat transfer rates from the side and top surfaces of the cylinder. The effect of the dimensionless cylinder height–to–diameter ratio on the Nusselt number variation has been studied in detail.