Natural convection and conduction heat transfer in open shallow cavities with bounding walls

A numerical study has been carried out on inclined open shallow cavities, which are formed by a wall and horizontal fins. Constant heat flux is applied on the surface of the wall inside the cavity while its other surface was kept isothermal. The wall and the fins are conductive. Conjugate heat transfer by natural convection and conduction is studied by numerically solving equations of mass, momentum and energy. Streamlines and isotherms are produced, heat and mass transfer is calculated. A parametric study is carried out using following parameters: Rayleigh number from 10⁶ to 10¹², conductivity ratio from 1 to 60, open cavity aspect ratio from 1 to 0.125, dimensionless end wall thickness from 0.05 to 0.20, horizontal walls from 0.01 to 0.15 and inclination of the end wall from 90° to 45°. It is found that the volume flow rate and Nusselt number are a decreasing function of the cavity aspect ratio, horizontal fin thickness and conductivity ratio. They are an increasing function of end wall thickness and inclination angle, except in the latter case optima exist at high Rayleigh numbers.     

Natural convection in inclined rectangular enclosures with perfectly conducting fins attached on the heated wall

The natural convection heat transfer in inclined rectangular enclosures with perfectly conducting fins attached to the heated wall is numerically studied. The parameters governing this problem are the Rayleigh number (10²≤Ra≤2×10⁵), the aspect ratio of the enclosures (2.5≤A=H′/L′≤∞), the dimensionless lengths of the partitions (0≤B=?′/L′≤1), the aspect ratio of micro-cavities (A≤C=h′/L′≤0.33), the inclination angle (0≤φ≤60^°) and the Prandtl number (Pr=0.72). The results indicate that the heat transfer through the cover is considerably affected by the presence of the fins. At low Rayleigh numbers, the heat transfer regime is dominated by conduction. When B≈0.75 and C≈0.33, the heat transfer through the cold wall decreases considerably. This trend is enhanced when the enclosure is inclined. Useful engineering correlations are derived for practical applications.     

Numerical and experimental studies of natural convective heat transfer from vertical and inclined narrow isothermal flat plates

Natural convective heat transfer from an isothermal narrow flat plate embedded in a plane adiabatic surface and inclined at moderate positive and negative angles to the vertical has been numerically and experimentally studied. The solution has the Rayleigh number, the dimensionless plate width, the angle of inclination, and the Prandtl number as parameters. Attention was restricted to a Prandtl number of 0.7. The numerical results have been obtained for Rayleigh numbers between 10³ and 10⁷ for dimensionless plate widths of between 0.3 and 1.2 and for angles of inclination between +45° and −45°. In the experimental study, results have been obtained for Rayleigh numbers between 4 × 10² and 10⁵ for dimensionless plate widths of 0.4 and 2.5 and for angles of inclination between +45° and −45° to the vertical. Empirical equations for the heat transfer rate have been derived.     

Natural convection in an inclined enclosure containing internal energy sources and cooled from below

Natural convection in an inclined enclosure from below and containing internally heated fluid has been investigated using a finite difference calculation procedure. Results have been obtained for Rayleigh number values up to 10⁶ and for inclination angles of 30 and 60°. For internal Rayleigh numbers that are much larger than the external Rayleigh number, the flow rises in the interior and moves down both the hot and cold walls. On the other hand, if the external Rayleigh number has a larger magnitude, the flow moves upwards along the hot surface and downwards along the cold surface. For the latter situation, the inner core is multicellular in nature at large external Rayleigh numbers. The average heat flux ratio along the cold surface (convective heat flux/corresponding conduction heat flux) increases with increasing external Rayleigh number and decreasing internal ratio is non-monotonic in nature. The heat flux ratio along both surfaces is observed to be strongly dependent on the inclination angle at high external Rayleigh numbers. A maximum in the local heat flux along the cold surface is obtained in the vicinity of x/L = 1 where hot fluid, either from the interior or directly from the opposite hot wall, meets the surface. Along the hot wall, a maximum in the heat flux ra flo     

Double-diffusive natural convection in inclined finned triangular porous enclosures in the presence of heat generation/absorption effects

The problem of double-diffusive convection in inclined finned triangular porous enclosures for various thermal and concentration boundary conditions and in the presence of heat source or sink was studied. The finite difference method was employed to solve the dimensionless governing equations of the problem. The effects of the governing parameters, namely the dimensionless time parameter, the inclination angle, Darcy number, heat generation/absorption parameter, the buoyancy parameter and the Rayleigh number on the streamlines, temperature and concentration contours as well as selected velocity component in the x-direction, local and average Nusselt numbers and local and average Sherwood number at the heated and concentrated wall for various values of the aspect ratio and the position of the fin were considered. The present results are validated by favorable comparisons with previously published results. All the results of the problem were presented in graphical and tabular forms and discussed.     

Lattice Boltzmann simulation of natural convection in nanofluid-filled 2D long enclosures at presence of magnetic field

In this paper, the effects of a magnetic field on natural convection flow in filled long enclosures with Cu/water nanofluid have been analyzed by lattice Boltzmann method. This study has been carried out for the pertinent parameters in the following ranges: the Rayleigh number of base fluid, Ra = 10³–10⁵, the volumetric fraction of nanoparticles between 0 and 6 %, the aspect ratio of the enclosure between A = 0.5 and 2. The Hartmann number has been varied from Ha = 0 to 90 with interval 30 while the magnetic field is considered at inclination angles of θ = 0°, 30°, 60° and 90°. Results show that the heat transfer decreases by the increment of Hartmann number for various Rayleigh numbers and the aspect ratios. Heat transfer decreases with the growth of the aspect ratio but this growth causes the effect of the nanoparticles to increase. The magnetic field augments the effect of the nanoparticles at high Rayleigh numbers (Ra = 10⁵). The effect of the nanoparticles rises for high Hartmann numbers when the aspect ratio increases. The rise in the magnetic field inclination improves heat transfer at aspect ratio of A = 0.5.     

Analytical and numerical study of natural convection heat transfer in an inclined composite enclosure

Laminar natural convection heat transfer in inclined fluid layers divided by a partition with finite thickness and conductivity is studied analytically and numerically. The governing equations for the fluid layers are solved analytically in the limit of a thin layered system with constant flux boundary conditions. The study covers of the range of Ra from 10³ to 10⁷, from 0° to 180° and the thermal conductivity ratio of partition to fluid ratioK from 10^–2 to 10⁶. The Prandtl number was 0.72 (for air). Results are obtained in terms of an overall Nusselt number as a function of Rayleigh number, angle of inclination of the system, mid layer thickness, and mid layer thermal conductivity. The critical Rayleigh number for the onset of convection in a bottom-heated horizontal system is predicted. The results are compared with the numerical results obtained by solving the complete system of governing equations, using SIMPLER method, as well as with the limiting cases in the literature.     

MHD natural convection in porous media-filled enclosures

In this work, the magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） natural convection heat transfer problem inside a porous medium filled with inclined rectangular enclosures is investigated numerically. The boundary conditions selected on the enclosure are two adiabatic and two isothermal walls. The governing equations, continuity, and Forchheimer extension of the Darcy law and energy are transformed into dimensionless forms by using a set of suitable variables, and then solved by using a finite difference scheme. The governing parameters are the magnetic influence number, the Darcy Rayleigh number, the inclination angle, and the aspect ratio of the enclosure. It is found that the magnetic influence number and the inclination angle have pronounced effects on the fluid flow and heat transfer in porous media-filled enclosures.     

Effect of Conduction in Bottom Wall on Darcy–Bénard Convection in a Porous Enclosure

Conjugate natural convection-conduction heat transfer in a square porous enclosure with a finite-wall thickness is studied numerically in this article. The bottom wall is heated and the upper wall is cooled while the verticals walls are kept adiabatic. The Darcy model is used in the mathematical formulation for the porous layer and the COMSOL Multiphysics software is applied to solve the dimensionless governing equations. The governing parameters considered are the Rayleigh number (100 ≤ Ra ≤ 1000), the wall to porous thermal conductivity ratio (0.44 ≤ K _r ≤ 9.90) and the ratio of wall thickness to its height (0.02 ≤ D ≤ 0.4). The results are presented to show the effect of these parameters on the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics. It is found that the number of contrarotative cells and the strength circulation of each cell can be controlled by the thickness of the bottom wall, the thermal conductivity ratio and the Rayleigh number. It is also observed that increasing either the Rayleigh number or the thermal conductivity ratio or both, and decreasing the thickness of the bounded wall can increase the average Nusselt number for the porous enclosure.     

Laminar natural convection in a partially divided rectangular cavity at high Rayleigh number

Finite element predictions of two-dimensional laminar natural convection in a partially divided rectangular cavity at high Rayleigh number are presented. The walls are differentially heated, the horizontal surfaces are insulated and the cavity contains a partial vertical divider which is centrally located and whose height is varied. Detailed results are presented for an aluminium half-divider in water for Rayleigh number up to 10¹¹ and compared directly with recent experiments in a cavity of aspect ratio 1/2. The predicted flow and heat transfer are in good agreement with the measurements and confirm the existence of a high Rayleigh number regime with characteristic behaviour that differs significantly from that found at lower Rayleigh number. In addition, the effects of the divider height, the divider conductivity, the fluid Prandtl number and the cavity aspect ratio are studied. The results show that a direct simulation of the complex flow and heat transfer that occurs in partially divided cavities is possible for realistic physical conditions.     

Natural convection with surface radiation from a planar heat generating element mounted freely in a vertical channel

Experiments and numerical simulations have been conducted to study the conjugate heat transfer by natural convection and surface radiation from a planar heat generating element placed centrally between two adiabatic vertical plates. The relevant problem dependent parameters considered in this study are modified Rayleigh number, channel aspect ratio, stream-wise location of the heat generating element, and surface emissivities of the heat generating element and the adiabatic side plates. Experiments are conducted for different values of modified Rayleigh number ranging from 3.2 × 10⁵ to 1.6 × 10⁷ and surface emissivities 0.05, 0.55, 0.75 and 0.85. The interdependence between the heat transfer mechanism and the flow field under the influence of surface radiation on natural convection is explored and discussed. Experimental correlations for total and convective Nusselt number, and dimensionless temperature in terms of relevant parameters have been developed. The mathematical model governing the problem has been numerically solved using a commercial computational fluid dynamics package FLUENT 6.3 and the numerical predictions substantiate the experimental observations.     

Natural convection in an inclined quadrantal cavity heated and cooled on adjacent walls

Natural convective flow and heat transfer in an inclined quadrantal cavity is studied experimentally and numerically. The particle tracing method is used to visualize the fluid motion in the enclosure. Numerical solutions are obtained via a commercial CFD package, Fluent. The working fluid is distilled water. The effects of the inclination angle, ? and the Rayleigh number, Ra on fluid flow and heat transfer are investigated for the range of angle of inclination between 0° ? ? ? 360°, and Ra from 10⁵ to 10⁷. It is disclosed that heat transfer changes dramatically according to the inclination angle which affects convection currents inside, i.e. flow physics inside. A fairly good agreement is observed between the experimental and numerical results.     

MHD natural convection with Joule and viscous heating effects in iso-flux porous medium-filled enclosures

In this study, the magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） natural convection heat transfer with Joule and viscous heating effects inside an iso-flux porous medium-filled inclined rectangular enclosure is studied numerically. An iso-heat flux is applied for heating and cooling the two opposing walls of the enclosure while the other walls are adiabatic. The Forchheimer extension of Darcy-Oberbeck-Boussinesq and energy equations is transformed into a dimensionless form using a set of suitable variables instead of a finite difference scheme. The governing parameters are the magnetic influence number, the modified Rayleigh number, the inclination angle, and the aspect ratio of the enclosure. The results show that viscous and Joule heating effects decrease heat transfer rates.     

Conjugate Natural Convection in a Porous Enclosure with Non-Uniform Heat Generation

Effects of a conductive wall on natural convection in a square porous enclosure having internal heating at a rate proportional to a power of temperature difference is studied numerically in this article. The horizontal heating is considered, where the vertical walls heated isothermally at different temperatures while the horizontal walls are kept adiabatic. The Darcy model is used in the mathematical formulation for the porous layer and finite difference method is applied to solve the dimensionless governing equations. The governing parameters considered are the Rayleigh number (0 ???Ra ???1000), the internal heating and the local exponent parameters (0 ????? ???5), (1 ????? ???3), the wall to porous thermal conductivity ratio (0.44 ???Kr ???9.9) and the ratio of wall thickness to its width (0.02 ???D ???0.5). The results are presented to show the effect of these parameters on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. It is found a strong internal heating can generate significant maximum fluid temperature more than the conductive solid wall. Increasing value thermal conductivity ratio and/or decreasing the thickness of solid wall can increase the maximum fluid temperature. It is also found that at very low Rayleigh number, the heat transfer across the porous enclosure remain stable for any values of the thermal conductivity ratio.     

Numerical computation of natural convection in an isosceles triangular cavity with a partially active base and filled with a Cu–water nanofluid

This paper discusses the results of a study related to natural convection cooling of a heat source located on the bottom wall of an inclined isosceles triangular enclosure filled with a Cu water-nanofluid. The right and left walls of the enclosure are both maintained cold at constant equal temperatures, while the remaining parts of the bottom wall are insulated. The study has been carried out for a Rayleigh number in the range 10⁴ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶, for a heat source length in the range 0.2 ≤ ε ≤0.8, for a solid volume fraction in the range 0 ≤ ?≤0.06 and for an inclination angle in the range 0° ≤ δ≤45°. Results are presented in the form of streamline contours, isotherms, maximum temperature at the heat source surface and average Nusselt number. It is noticed that the addition of Cu nanoparticles enhances the heat transfer rate and therefore cooling effectiveness for all values of Rayleigh number, especially at low values of Ra. The effect of the inclination angle becomes more noticeable as one increases the value of Ra. For high Rayleigh numbers, a critical value for the inclination angle of δ = 15° is found for which the heat source maximum temperature is highest.     

Natural convection in an inclined rectangular porous cavity with uniform heat flux from the side

The problem of natural convection in an inclined rectangular porous layer enclosure is studied numerically. The enclosure is heated from one side and cooled from the other by a constant heat flux while the two other walls are insulated. The effect of aspect ratio, inclination angle and Rayleigh number on heat transfer is studied. It is found that the enclosure orientation has a considerable effect on the heat transfer. The negative orientation sharply inhibits the convection and consequently the heat transfer and a positive orientation maximizes the energy transfer. The maximum temperature within the porous medium can be considerably higher than that induced by pure conduction when the cavity is negatively oriented. The peak of the average Nusselt number depends on the Rayleigh number and the aspect ratio. The heat transfer between the two thermally active boundaries is sensitive to the effect of aspect ratio. For an enclosure at high or low aspect ratio, the convection is considerably decreased and the heat transfer depends mainly on conduction.     

Entropy generation and natural convection in square cavities with wavy walls

The aim of the present work is to study the entropy generation in the natural convection process in square cavities with hot wavy walls through numerical simulations for different undulations and Rayleigh numbers, while keeping the Prandtl number constant. The results show that the hot wall geometry affects notably the heat transfer rate in the cavity. It has been found in the present numerical study that the mean Nusselt number in the case of heat transfer in a cavity with wavy walls is lower, as compared to heat transfer in a cavity without undulations. Based on the obtained dimensionless velocity and temperature values, the distributions of the local entropy generation due to heat transfer and fluid friction, the local Bejan number, and the local entropy generation are determined and plotted for different undulations and Rayleigh numbers. The study is performed for Rayleigh numbers 10³ < Ra < 10⁵, irreversibility coefficients 10^?4 < φ < 10^?2, and Prandtl numbers Pr = 0.71. The total entropy generation is found to increase with increasing undulation number.     

Natural convection in inclined two dimensional rectangular cavities

Steady two-dimensional natural convection in fluid filled cavities is numerically investigated. The channel is heated from below and cooled from the top with insulated side walls and the inclination angle is varied. The field equations for a Newtonian Boussinesq fluid are solved numerically for three cavity height based Rayleigh numbers, Ra = 10⁴, 10⁵ and 10⁶, and several aspect ratios. The calculations are in excellent agreement with previously published benchmark results. The effect of the inclination of the cavity to the horizontal with the angle varying from 0° to 180° and the effect of the startup conditions on the flow pattern, temperature distribution and the heat transfer rates have been investigated. Flow admits different configurations at different angles as the angle of inclination is increased depending on the initial conditions. Regardless of the initial conditions Nusselt number Nu exhibits discontinuities triggered by gradual transition from multiple cell to a single cell configuration. The critical angle of inclination at which the discontinuity occurs is strongly influenced by the assumed startup field. The hysteresis effect previously reported is not always present when the calculations are reversed from 90° to 0°. A comprehensive study of the flow structure, the Nu variation with varying angle of inclination, the effect of the initial conditions and the hysteresis effect are presented.     

Effect of Discrete Heating on Natural Convection in a Rectangular Porous Enclosure

The main objective of this article is to study the effect of discrete heating on free convection heat transfer in a rectangular porous enclosure containing a heat-generating substance. The left wall of the enclosure has two discrete heat sources and the right wall is isothermally cooled at a lower temperature. The top and bottom walls, and the unheated portions of the left wall are adiabatic. The vorticity–stream function formulation of the governing equations is numerically solved using an implicit finite difference method. The effects of aspect ratio, Darcy number, heat source length, and modified Rayleigh number on the flow and heat transfer are analyzed. The numerical results reveal that the rate of heat transfer increases as the modified Rayleigh number and the Darcy number increases, but decreases on increasing the aspect ratio. The average heat transfer rate is found to be higher at the bottom heater than at the top heater in almost all considered parameter cases except for ε = 0.5. Also, the maximum temperature takes place generally at the top heater except for the case ε = 0.5, where the maximum temperature is found at the bottom heater. Further, the numerical results reveal that the maximum temperature decreases with the modified Rayleigh number and increases with the aspect ratio.     

An experimental study on the natural convection heat transfer between inclined plates (Lower plate isothermally heated and the upper plate thermally insulated as well as unheated)

Presented in this paper are the results of natural convection heat transfer between inclined parallel plates. Lower plate is heated isothermally while the upper plate is both unheated and insulated. Plate inclinations were 0^°, 30^°, 45^° measured from vertical position. Experiments were carried out for different temperature differences in air to determine the effect of plate spacing and plate inclination on heat transfer. It was found that heat transfer rate depends on plate spacing and inclination.