scholarly journals Finite Volume Simulation of Natural Convection for Power-Law Fluids with Temperature-Dependent Viscosity in a Square Cavity with a Localized Heat Source

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 1405-1416
Author(s):  
Hamza Daghab ◽  
Mourad Kaddiri ◽  
Said Raghay ◽  
Ismail Arroub ◽  
Mohamed Lamsaadi ◽  
...  

In this paper, numerical study on natural convection heat transfer for confined thermo-dependent power-law fluids is conducted. The geometry of interest is a fluid-filled square enclosure where a uniform flux heating element embedded on its lower wall is cooled from the vertical walls while the remaining parts of the cavity are insulated, without slipping conditions at all the solid boundaries. The governing partial differential equations written in terms of non-dimensional velocities, pressure and temperature formulation with the corresponding boundary conditions are discretized using a finite volume method in a staggered grid system. Coupled equations of conservation are solved through iterative Semi Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm. The effects of pertinent parameters, which are Rayleigh number (103 ≤ Ra ≤ 106), power-law index (0.6 ≤ n ≤ 1.4), Pearson number (0 ≤ m ≤ 20) and length of the heat source (0.2 ≤ W ≤ 0.8) on the cooling performance are investigated. The results indicate that the cooling performance of the enclosure is improved with increasing Pearson and Rayleigh numbers as well as with decreasing power-law index and heat source length.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siva Subrahmanyam Mendu ◽  
P.K. Das

Abstract The present paper reports the numerical investigations for steady-state natural convection in power-law fluids inside a square enclosure embedded with bottom discrete heaters. The Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is employed to model the flow and heat transfer phenomenon at different combinations of power-law index, Rayleigh number, and heat source length for a constant Prandtl number. The buoyancy force is incorporated in the collision term of the LBM through Boussinesq approximation. Simulation outcomes are furnished using streamlines and, temperature contours, velocity profiles and variation of heat transfer on the non-adiabatic walls to probe natural convection phenomena. The results indicate that the temperature and the flow fields in the enclosure are symmetric about the vertical centerline. The detailed physical interpretations have been provided for the reported results. Further, the increase in the power-law index means a rise in viscosity and a decrease in thermal energy transport for other constant parameters. The outcomes also specify that the intensity of circulation and heat transfer enhances with the increase of Rayleigh number and size of the localized heater. Finally, though, a rise in the size of the confined heat source enhances the rate of total thermal transport, it does not change the trend of fluid flow and local heat transfer rate.


2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob K. Mulamootil ◽  
Sukanta K. Dash

Natural convection heat transfer from an array of horizontal rectangular fins on a vertical flat plate in non-Newtonian power-law fluids has been studied. The underlying physical principles affecting heat transfer were studied using comprehensive solutions obtained from numerical investigations. Heat transfer to the power-law fluid was found to depend on the fluid rheology (power-law index) and significantly on the geometric parameters (interfin spacing, fin length) as well. The dependence was quantified using the Nusselt number (Nu) and fin effectiveness (Q/Q0). The present study shows that compared to a fin analyzed in isolation, the spatial arrangement of multiple fins relative to one another in an array does have a significant effect on the flow field around subsequent fins in power-law fluids. Therefore, the average heat transfer coefficient of the natural convection system is affected significantly. The variation of Nu with the dimensionless fin length (l/L), dimensionless interfin spacing (S/L), and fluid power-law index (n) was plotted. The dependence was found to be counter intuitive to expectations based on studies for natural convection from vertical flat plates to power-law fluids. In the present study involving fins, shear-thinning fluids (n < 1) show a decrease in heat transfer and shear-thickening fluids (n > 1) show an enhancement in heat transfer for higher l/L values. The results of the study may be useful in the design of natural convection systems that employ power-law fluids to enhance or control heat transfer.


Author(s):  
M. S. Yun ◽  
B. P. Huynh

Non-isothermal peristaltic flow of power-law fluids in a circular tube is investigated numerically, using a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software package that employs the Finite Volume Method. Simulation is performed over the range of Reynolds-number values from 1 to 100. Temperature effect on the flow field is via fluid viscosity, which is assumed to decrease exponentially with temperature. Also, except for viscosity, other fluid properties are assumed to be constant, and are similar to those of an oil. Over a range of the power-law index covering fluid behaviour from shear-thinning, through Newtonian, to shear-thickening, it is found that allowing for temperature effects has significantly altered the flow pattern and pressure variation, even when the corresponding changes in temperature itself are small. Around the crest region, recirculation appears in non-isothermal flow at all power-law-index and Reynolds-number values considered in this work, in contrast to isothermal situations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahbuba Tasmin ◽  
Preetom Nag ◽  
Zarin T. Hoque ◽  
Md. Mamun Molla

AbstractA numerical study on heat transfer and entropy generation in natural convection of non-Newtonian nanofluid flow has been explored within a differentially heated two-dimensional wavy porous cavity. In the present study, copper (Cu)–water nanofluid is considered for the investigation where the specific behavior of Cu nanoparticles in water is considered to behave as non-Newtonian based on previously established experimental results. The power-law model and the Brinkman-extended Darcy model has been used to characterize the non-Newtonian porous medium. The governing equations of the flow are solved using the finite volume method with the collocated grid arrangement. Numerical results are presented through streamlines, isotherms, local Nusselt number and entropy generation rate to study the effects of a range of Darcy number (Da), volume fractions (ϕ) of nanofluids, Rayleigh numbers (Ra), and the power-law index (n). Results show that the rate of heat transfer from the wavy wall to the medium becomes enhanced by decreasing the power-law index but increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles. Increase of porosity level and buoyancy forces of the medium augments flow strength and results in a thinner boundary layer within the cavity. At negligible porosity level of the enclosure, effect of volume fraction of nanoparticles over thermal conductivity of the nanofluids is imperceptible. Interestingly, when the Darcy–Rayleigh number $$Ra^*\gg 10$$ R a ∗ ≫ 10 , the power-law effect becomes more significant than the volume fraction effect in the augmentation of the convective heat transfer process. The local entropy generation is highly dominated by heat transfer irreversibility within the porous enclosure for all conditions of the flow medium. The particular wavy shape of the cavity strongly influences the heat transfer flow pattern and local entropy generation. Interestingly, contour graphs of local entropy generation and local Bejan number show a rotationally symmetric pattern of order two about the center of the wavy cavity.


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