The Prandtl number effect in porous layer convection

A Prandtl number effect for natural convection in a horizontal porous layer is demonstrated to be an explanation for the difference in heat transfer between different porous systems. A Prandtl number trend in experimental data is identified and arguments are presented to substantiate a Prandtl number dependence. Finally, Nusselt number correlations of experimental data at different Prandtl numbers have been developed.     

Experimental correlation of forced convection heat transfer from a NACA airfoil

The results of an experimental investigation of the heat transfer coefficients for forced convection from a NACA-63421 airfoil are presented. Wind tunnel measurements of convection coefficients are obtained for air flow temperatures from −30 to 20 °C. The experimental data is correlated with respect to the Nusselt and Reynolds numbers. Conduction within the airfoil balances heat transfer by convection from the airfoil surface in steady-state conditions. Both average and spatial variations of the heat transfer coefficients are non-dimensionalized through modifications of a classical Hilpert correlation for cylinders in crossflow. It is shown that the functional form of the Hilpert correlation can effectively accommodate measured data for the NACA airfoil over a range of Reynolds numbers. An uncertainty analysis is performed to yield a 7.34% measurement uncertainty for experimental data correlated with the Nusselt number.     

A study on interstitial heat transfer in consolidated and unconsolidated porous media

The Nusselt number expressions are presented for the interstitial heat transfer coefficients for both consolidated and unconsolidated porous media. A boundary layer consideration is made for unconsolidated porous media to derive a general Nusselt number correlation, which shows its square root dependence of the Reynolds number, and matches fairly well with existing experimental data and correlations. As for low density consolidated porous media, rigorous mathematical arguments based on the volume averaging theory are provided, so as to explain the reason why the Reynolds number exponent of the Nusselt number expression for the case of low density consolidated porous media is much greater than that of unconsolidated porous media. The resulting expressions are compared against available experimental data and empirical correlations, and found to be in good accord with them.     

A numerical study of the steady forced convection heat transfer from an unconfined circular cylinder

Forced convection heat transfer from an unconfined circular cylinder in the steady cross-flow regime has been studied using a finite volume method (FVM) implemented on a Cartesian grid system in the range as 10 ≤ Re ≤ 45 and 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 400. The numerical results are used to develop simple correlations for Nusselt number as a function of the pertinent dimensionless variables. In addition to average Nusselt number, the effects of Re, Pr and thermal boundary conditions on the temperature field near the cylinder and on the local Nusselt number distributions have also been presented to provide further physical insights into the nature of the flow. The rate of heat transfer increases with an increase in the Reynolds and/or Prandtl numbers. The uniform heat flux condition always shows higher value of heat transfer coefficient than the constant wall temperature at the surface of the cylinder for the same Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. The maximum difference between the two values is around 15–20%.     

Studies on convective heat transfer through helical coils

An experimental investigation on steady state convection heat transfer from vertical helical coiled tubes in water was performed for laminar flow regime. Three coils with curvature ratios as 0.0757, 0.064, 0.055 and range of Prandtl number from 3.81 to 4.8, Reynolds number from 3,166 to 9,658 were considered in this work. The heat transfer data were generated from 30 experiments conducted at constant water bath temperature (60 °C) for different cold water flow rates in helical coils. For the first time, an innovative approach of correlating Nusselt number with ‘M’ number is proposed which is not available in the literature and the developed correlations are found to be in good agreement with the work of earlier researchers. Thus, dimensionless number ‘M’ was found to be significant to characterize the hydrodynamics of fluid flow and heat transfer correlations in helical coils. Several other correlations based on experimental data are developed. To cover wide range of industrial applications, suitable generalized correlations based on extended parameters beyond the range of present experimental work are also developed. All these correlations are developed by using least-squares power law fit and multiple-regression analysis of MATLAB software. Correlations so developed were compared with published correlations and were found to be in good agreement. Comparison of heat transfer coefficients, friction factor and Nusselt number for different geometrical conditions is presented in this paper.     

Development of experimental heat transfer correlations using Newtonian fluids in helical coils

The experimental work was carried out using water, 10 and 20 % glycerol–water mixture as Newtonian fluids under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions in helical coils. The experiments were performed in laminar and turbulent flow regimes using four helical coils of coil curvature ratios as; δ = 0.055, 0.064, 0.0685 and 0.0757. For the first time, an innovative heat transfer correlations in terms of new dimensionless number ‘M’ are developed based on 135 and 183 tests conducted under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The developed heat transfer correlations were compared with the work of earlier investigators and are found to be in good agreement. Hence, M number could be used for characterization of fluid flow in helical coils for any types of fluids which is significant. Also, comparison of Nusselt numbers for water and glycerol–water mixtures under different experimental conditions is presented in this paper. It was observed that as helix diameter increases, Nusselt number decreases due to decrease in centrifugal force.     

Measurement and correlation of volumetric heat transfer coefficients of cellular ceramics

The volumetric heat transfer coefficients (h_v) between cellular ceramics and a stream of air were measured using the single-blow transient experimental technique in conjunction with an inverse analysis. Test specimen made of mullite, YZA, SiC, cordierite and cordierite with LS-2 coating was studied. The number of pores per centimeter (PPC) ranged from 4 to 26 and the specimen thickness ranged from 6 to 12 mm. Based on the experimental data, the volumetric heat transfer coefficients were generalized by developing Nusselt number vs. Reynolds number correlations of the form Nu_v=C Re^m for the materials studied. The effects of pore length-scale and specimen thickness on the volumetric heat transfer coefficients are presented and discussed.     

Heat transfer due to a round jet impinging normal to a circular cylinder

An experimental investigations of heat transfer for a stationary isothermal circular cylinder exposed normal to an impinging round air-jet has been reported. The circumferential heat transfer distributions as well as axial Nusselt number is measured. The measurements are taken as a function of the Reynolds number ranging from 3.8 × 10³ to 4 × 10⁴, the cylinder separation distance to the nozzle diameter (z/d) varying from 7 to 30, and the nozzle to cylinder diameter ratio (d/D) changing from 0.06 to 0.14. The output results indicated that the axial and radial distributions of the local heat transfer peaked at the impingement point. The heat transfer rate increases as the values of z decreases, for the same d and Re. The drop-off of the Nusselt number with increasing axial distance or radial angle from the impingement point was more pronounced for smaller z and d. The peripheral and surface average Nusselt numbers were determined by integration. The experimental data was used to produce correlations for both average and stagnation point heat transfer. Received on 4 January 1999     

Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for a square prism (blockage ratio = 0.1) placed inside a wind tunnel

Experimental investigations in fluid flow and heat transfer have been carried out to study the effect of wall proximity due to flow separation around a square prism at Reynolds number 2.6 × 10⁴, blockage ratio 0.1, different height-ratios and various angles of attack. The static pressure distribution has been measured on all faces of the square prism. The results have been presented in the form of pressure coefficient, drag coefficient for various height-ratios. The pressure distribution shows positive values on the front face whereas on the rear face negative values of the pressure coefficient have been observed. The positive pressure coefficient for different height-ratios does not vary too much but the negative values of pressure coefficient are higher for all points on the surface as the bluff body approaches towards the upper wall of the wind tunnel. The drag coefficient decreases with the increase in angle of attack as the height-ratio decreases. The maximum value of drag coefficient has been observed at an angle of attack nearly 50° for the square prism at all height-ratios. The heat transfer experiments have been carried out under constant heat flux condition. Heat transfer coefficient are determined from the measured wall temperature and ambient temperature and presented in the form of Nusselt number. Both local and average Nusselt numbers have been presented for various height-ratios. The variation of local Nusselt number has been shown with non-dimensional distance for different angles of attack. The variation of average Nusselt number has also been shown with different angles of attack. The local as well as average Nusselt number decreases as the height-ratio decreases for all non-dimensional distance and angle of attack, respectively, for the square prism. The average Nusselt number for the square prism varies with the angle of attack. But there is no definite angle of attack at which the value of average Nusselt number is either maximum or minimum.     

Heat transfer by conduction,natural convection and radiation across a rectangular cellular structure

This paper describes results on the effects of wall conduction and radiation heat exchange among surfaces on laminar natural convection heat transfer in a two-dimensional rectangular cavity modelling a cellular structure. Parametric heat transfer calculations have been performed, and numerical results are presented in graphical and tabular form. Local and average Nusselt numbers along the cavity walls are reported for a range of parameters of physical interest. The findings suggest that the local or the average Nusselt number is one of many parameters that control conjugate heat transfer problems. The results indicate that natural convection heat transfer in the cavity is reduced by heat conduction in the walls and radiation exchange among surfaces. The results obtaibed for the total heat transfer rate through the system using the two-dimensional model are compared with those based on a one-dimensional model.