Experimental Investigation of Opposing Mixed Convection in a Channel with an open Cavity Below

Abstract

In this article, mixed convection in an open cavity with a heated wall bounded by a horizontal unheated plate is investigated experimentally. The heated wall is on the opposite side of the forced inflow. The results are reported in terms of wall temperature profiles of the heated wall and flow visualization. The range of pertinent parameters used in this experiment are Reynolds numbers (Re) from 100 to 2,000 and Richardson numbers (Ri) from 4.3 to 6,400. Also, the ratio between the length and the height of cavity (L/D) ranges from 0.5–2.0, and the ratio between the channel and cavity height (H/D) is equal to 1.0. The lack of experimental results on mixed convection in a channel with an open cavity below was an impetus for investigating this configuration when one cavity vertical wall is heated at uniform heat flux. The present results show that at the lowest investigated Reynolds number, the surface temperatures are lower than the corresponding surface temperatures for Re = 2,000 at the same ohmic heat flux. The flow visualization shows that for Re = 1,000, there are two nearly distinct fluid motions: a parallel forced flow in the channel and a recirculation flow inside the cavity. For Re = 100, the effect of a stronger buoyancy determines a penetration of thermal plumes from the heated plate wall into the upper channel. Moreover, the flow visualization shows that for lower Reynolds numbers, the forced motion penetrates inside the cavity, and a vortex structure is adjacent to the unheated vertical plate. At higher Reynolds numbers, the vortex structure has a larger extension while L/D is held constant.     

Laminar Natural Convection in a Square Cavity with a Partition on the Heated Vertical Wall

Abstract

The laminar natural convection in an air-filled square cavity with a partition on the heated vertical wall was experimentally investigated. Temperature measurements and flow visualizations were performed for cases with heated and cooled vertical walls (corresponding to a global Grashof number Gr _H of approximately 1.4 × 10⁸) and non dimensional top wall temperatures θ _T of 0.57 (insulated) to 2.3. Experiments were performed with an aluminum partition with non dimensional height H _P /H of 0.0625 and 0.125 attached to the heated vertical wall at y/H = 0.65 and 0.95. The blockage effect and/or the thermal effect of the partition resulted in changes to the temperature and flow fields but were mainly limited to the vicinity of the partition. For the cases with the heated top wall, the change in the height of the partition at y/H = 0.95 resulted in changes to the ambient temperature outside the boundary layer due to the reduction of the size of the recirculating flow in the corner region. The changes in the partition height and the top wall temperature affected the blockage effect of the partition, resulting in the local Nusselt number near the corner region to be affected. The local Nusselt number over most of the heated vertical wall of the partitioned cavity (y/H < 0.7) was correlated to the local Rayleigh number in the form Nu = C · Ra ⁿ .     

Experimental Investigation of Mixed Convection in a Channel With an Open Cavity

Mixed convection in an open cavity with a heated wall bounded by a horizontally unheated plate is investigated experimentally. The cavity has the heated wall on the inflow side. Mixed convection fluid flow and heat transfer within the cavity is governed by the buoyancy parameter, Richardson number (Ri), and Reynolds number (Re). The results are reported in terms of wall temperature profiles of the heated wall and flow visualization for Re = 100 and 1000, Ri in the range 30–110 (for Re = 1000) and 2800–8700 (for Re = 100), the ratio of the length to the height of cavity (L/D) is in the range 0.5–1.5, and the ratio of the channel height to cavity height (H/D) is in the range of 0.5 and 1.0. The present results show that the maximum dimensional temperature rise values decrease as the Reynolds and the Richardson numbers decrease. The flow visualization points out that for Re = 1000 there are two nearly distinct fluid motions: a parallel forced flow in the channel and a recirculation flow inside the cavity. For Re = 100 the effect of a stronger buoyancy determines a penetration of thermal plume from the heated plate wall into the upper channel. Nusselt numbers increase when L/D increase in the considered range of Richardson numbers.     

Experimental investigation of wall temperature evolution in a compact heat exchanger at a drastic change in the heat flux

Results of experimental study of the nonstationary temperature field on the surface of a complex shape channel at a jump-like change in heat release with time in the wall of packing with one-way heat supply are presented. Measurements were carried out in the air flow between two plates with triangular corrugations directed at 90° relative each other. Measurements were carried out by thermocouples with the thickness of less than 10 microns. The effect of Reynolds number and supplied power on the temperature change over the heat exchanger surface with time caused by a jump-like change in supplied electric power at a turbulent air flow is analyzed. Investigations have revealed typical features of temperature evolution over the perimeter of the heated cell. Experimental data on time dependence of temperature can be approximated well by the exponential function.     

Radiative Effects on Mixed Convection in a Uniformly Heated Vertical Convergent Channel with an Unheated Moving Plate

Fluids engineering is extremely important in a wide variety of materials processing systems, such as soldering, welding, extrusion of plastics and other polymeric materials, Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), composite materials manufacturing. In particular, mixed convection due to moving surfaces is very important in these applications. Mixed convection in a channel, as a result of buoyancy and motion of one of its walls has received little research attention and few guidelines are available for choosing the best performing channel configuration, particularly when radiative effects are significant. In this study a numerical investigation of the effect of radiation on mixed convection in air due to the interaction between a buoyancy flow and an unheated moving plate induced flow in a uniformly heated convergent vertical channel is carried out. The moving plate has a constant velocity and moves in the buoyancy force direction. The principal walls of the channel are heated at uniform heat flux. The numerical analysis is accomplished by means of the commercial code Fluent. The effects of the wall emissivity, the minimum channel spacing, the converging angle and the moving plate velocity are investigated and results in terms of air velocity and temperature fields inside the channel and wall temperature profiles, both of the moving and the heated plates, are given. Nusselt numbers, both accounting and not for the radiative contribution to heat removal, are also presented.     

Effect of nonstationary thermal gravitation-capillary convection on temperature distribution in a thin vertical wall

Time dependences of temperature distributions in a thin metal wall were studied experimentally under two conditions of convective heat transfer in a tank model. In the first case, the vertical working wall was heated from within due to a convective heat flux from the opposite wall heated monotonously, and it was cooled due to heat transfer to the ambient medium. Dependence of the temperature field on a thin wall at the stage of convective flow development was retraced with the help of the thermographic camera and thermocouple sensors. In the second case, the tank wall was heated uniformly by IR radiation from the outside, and non-stationary convective flow and volumetric liquid heating were formed inside. Time dependence of temperature distribution over the wall height is studied. It is shown that the flow structure and convective heat transfer in a fuel layer with free boundary are subjected not only to the buoyancy force, but also to the thermocapillary effect. The local features of the flow affect temperature distribution in a thin wall.     

Temperature mapping in a two-phase water-steam horizontal flow

This experimental study focuses on the investigation of a flow boiling that occurs during the cooling process of a high temperature heated horizontal channel. Unpressurized water is used as working fluid. An intrusive thermally instrumented cell enables the phase change to be detected at different positions inside the channel. Alongside, welded thermocouples on the external wall of the channel give information about the influence of the phase change. Several cooling flowrates are tested in order to study their influence on the phase change duration. Finally, experimental results are compared to numerical simulations to determine some characteristic parameters as bulk temperature and heat transfer coefficient.     

滑移流区内微环缝槽道中的层流流动与换热

本文针对微环缝槽道采用速度滑移和温度跳跃边界条件求解了不可压缩气体的Ｎ－Ｓ方程和能量方程,理论分析了微环缝槽道在单侧或双侧不同热流密度加热条件下的流动与层流换热特性,讨论了Ｋｎ数、内外径比对流动阻力及换热特性的影响。结果表明：滑移流区微环继通道内的流阻和Ｎｕｓｓｅｌｔ数明显低于连续流区;且随着Ｋｎ数的增加,流阻和Ｎｕｓｓｅｌｔ数均减小;但其随内外径比ｒ＊的变化趋势与连续流区相似。     

Flow patterns and flowboiling heat transfer of freon R318C in an annular minichannel

This paper deals with experimental results on flowboiling heat transfer of liquid moving in an annular channel with unilateral central heating under the conditions of a significant effect of capillary forces on the flow modes and heat transfer. Experiments were carried out on boiling freon R318C in an annular channel with a gap of 0.95 mm and transparent outer wall. The inner wall was heated by the electric current. The local heat transfer coefficients and flow modes are presented. The critical film thickness corresponding to suppression of nucleate boiling was determined.     

An algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method for large-eddy simulation of turbulent variable-density flow at low Mach number

An algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method is proposed for large-eddy simulation of turbulent variable-density flow at low Mach number. Scale-separating operators generated by level-transfer operators from plain aggregation algebraic multigrid methods enable the application of modeling terms to selected scale groups (here, the smaller of the resolved scales) in a purely algebraic way. Thus, for scale separation, no additional discretization besides the basic one is required, in contrast to earlier approaches based on geometric multigrid methods. The proposed method is thoroughly validated via three numerical test cases of increasing complexity: a Rayleigh–Taylor instability, turbulent channel flow with a heated and a cooled wall, and turbulent flow past a backward-facing step with heating. Results obtained with the algebraic variational multiscale–multigrid method are compared to results obtained with residual-based variational multiscale methods as well as reference results from direct numerical simulation, experiments and LES published elsewhere. Particularly, mean and various second-order velocity and temperature results obtained for turbulent channel flow with a heated and a cooled wall indicate the higher prediction quality achievable when adding a small-scale subgrid-viscosity term within the algebraic multigrid framework instead of residual-based terms accounting for the subgrid-scale part of the non-linear convective term.     

Hydrodynamics and heat and mass transfer at chemical conversions in slot reactors

In this paper, experimental and numerical investigations of the hydrodynamics and heat transfer in a disk slot heat exchanger-reactor for a radial flow of a gas mixture reacting on the channel walls are described. Data for the coefficients of heat transfer from the wall being heated to the gas flowing inside the reactor are presented. The temperature field of a catalytically active reactor plate at heat release on it has been investigated experimentally. Calculations of the flow and heat transfer in a slot reactor element for a catalytic reaction with heat release have been performed. Partial oxidation of methane in an oxygen medium with the formation of a hydrogen-containing synthesis gas in a two-dimensional microchannel has been investigated numerically. Data for the extent of the chemical conversion of methane versus the initial mixture consumption and reaction temperature are presented.     

Buoyancy-assisted mixed convective flow over backward-facing step in a vertical duct using nanofluids

Laminar mixed convective buoyancy assisting flow through a two-dimensional vertical duct with a backward-facing step using nanofluids as a medium is numerically simulated using finite volume technique. Different types of nanoparticles such as Au, Ag, Al₂O₃, Cu, CuO, diamond, SiO₂ and TiO₂ with 5 % volume fraction are used. The wall downstream of the step was maintained at a uniform wall temperature, while the straight wall that forms the other side of the duct was maintained at constant temperature equivalent to the inlet fluid temperature. The walls upstream of the step and the backward-facing step were considered as adiabatic surfaces. The duct has a step height of 4.9 mm and an expansion ratio of 1.942, while the total length in the downstream of the step is 0.5 m. The downstream wall was fixed at uniform wall temperature 0 ?? ??T?? 30 °C, which was higher than the inlet flow temperature. The Reynolds number in the range of 75 ?? Re ?? 225 was considered. It is found that a recirculation region was developed straight behind the backward-facing step which appeared between the edge of the step and few millimeters before the corner which connect the step and the downstream wall. In the few millimeters gap between the recirculation region and the downstream wall, a U-turn flow was developed opposite to the recirculation flow which mixed with the unrecirculated flow and traveled along the channel. Two maximum and one minimum peaks in Nusselt number were developed along the heated downstream wall. It is inferred that Au nanofluid has the highest maximum peaks while diamond nanofluid has the highest minimum peak. Nanofluids with a higher Prandtl number have a higher peak of Nusselt numbers after the separation and the recirculation flow disappeared.     

Dynamics and stability of premixed hydrogen-air flames in square microchannels with wall temperature gradients

The dynamics and stability of premixed hydrogen-air flames in square microchannels with heated walls were investigated through three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. The inlet velocity and equivalence ratio were 1.5 m/s and 0.5. The effect of the wall temperature gradient characteristics on the flame dynamics and stability was examined varying the width and location of the wall temperature gradient for a channel height of 1.5 mm. Five distinct flame modes were observed at different wall temperature profiles: flame with repetitive extinction-ignition (FREI), pulsating flame, laterally oscillating flame, spinning flame, and steady flame modes. Furthermore, transitions between these flame modes were observed for specific inflow and boundary conditions. The effect of the channel height on the flame stability was investigated by varying the channel height from 1.0 mm to 1.677 mm for a fixed wall temperature gradient. As the channel height was increased, four of the flame modes, namely, FREI, laterally oscillating flame, spinning flame, and steady flame modes appeared sequentially. To determine whether this sequential appearance was associated with the variation of the wall heat loss, the maximum wall temperature was changed by small amounts. For a lower wall temperature, the laterally oscillating flame mode transitioned to the FREI mode, and for a higher wall temperature, unstable flame modes such as the FREI and laterally oscillating flame modes disappeared, resulting in stable flame.     

Modeling the flow of liquid-metal coolant in the T-shaped mixer

The results of experimental studies on the structure of the temperature field in the tube cross section at the flow of liquid-metal coolant in a T-shaped mixer are presented. Experiments were carried out using the Rose alloy as the working fluid. To determine temperature distribution on the test section wall, infrared thermography was used; to determine temperature distribution in the channel cross section, a mobile thermocouple was used. Considerable temperature maldistribution in the mixing zone of liquid flows with different temperatures on the tube wall and in the coolant melt is shown.     

主喷管叶片中热壁面对分流管道流场特性的影响

 连续波化学激光器运转时,位于主喷管叶片内的副气流的分流管道壁面将被主喷管叶片加热而形成热壁面。通过3维的数值模拟,分析了单端、双端不同供气方式下,热壁面对分流管道流场特性的影响。热壁面将使总管气流总温沿着气流的流动方向逐渐升高,由此引起的支管入口总温的升高会降低支管的流量。无论是单端供气,还是双端供气,热壁面引起的管道流量波动幅度都要远大于绝热壁面的情况,最大波动幅度达2.16%。对进入总管的气流预热,适当增加供气总温,或将冷却管道与供气管道分开设计,气流总温变化引起的流量波动将会得到一定地抑制。     

直接甲醇燃料电池阳极流道两相流动的拟沸腾模型(I)流动压力降的计算

本文分析了直接甲醇燃料电池阳极流道中存在的气液两相流动现象。通过与传统加热管中流动沸腾现象进行比拟,首次提出了“拟沸腾”的概念,建立了气液两相流压力降模型。基于在建的活化面积为100 cm2的DMFC极板的蛇行流场设计,计算了阳极流道的压力降,分析了各分压力降对总压降的影响。计算结果表明:对于小活化面积的电池,在小电流密度下运行时,流道中扩散层表面的“非活化点”处滞留的气泡核心对主流有较大的附加摩擦阻力作用。     

Coaxial radiative and convective heat transfer in gray and nongray gases

Coupled radiative and convective heat transfer is investigated for an absorbing gas flowing in a finite length channel and heated by blackbody radiation directed along the flow axis. The problem is formulated in one dimension and numerical solutions are obtained for the temperature profile of the gas and for the radiation escaping the channel entrance, assuming both gray and nongray absorption spectra. Due to radiation trapping, the flowing gas is found to have substantially smaller radiation losses for a given peak gas temperature than a solid surface that is radiatively heated to this temperature. A greenhouse effect is also evident whereby radiation losses are minimized for a gas having stronger absorption at long wavelengths.     

Dynamic van der waals theory of two-phase fluids in heat flow

We present a dynamic van der Waals theory. It is useful to study phase separation when the temperature varies in space. We show that, if heat flow is applied to liquid suspending a gas droplet at zero gravity, a convective flow occurs such that the temperature gradient within the droplet nearly vanishes. As the heat flux is increased, the droplet becomes attached to the heated wall that is wetted by liquid in equilibrium. In one case corresponding to partial wetting by gas, an apparent contact angle can be defined. In the other case with larger heat flux, the droplet completely wets the heated wall expelling liquid.     

多孔介质方腔内混合对流格子Boltzmann模拟

采用格子Boltzmann方法,对多孔介质方腔内的混合对流现象进行研究.方腔内部中心有一发热圆,径宽比D/L=0.4,冷流体从方腔左下角入口流进,从方腔左上角出口流出,四周壁面绝热.在普朗特数Pr=0.71和格拉晓夫数Gr=1.4×10⁴时,分析理查德森数Ri和达西数Da对发热圆表面平均努赛尔数Nu的影响.结果表明：Ri数位于10^-3~10范围内,Nu随Ri的增大而减小.Da越大,Ri对Nu的影响越显著;Da数位于10^-5~10^-2范围内,强制对流占主导的情况下（Ri≤0.1）,Nu随着多孔介质的Da的增大而增大.自然对流占主导的情况下（Ri=10）,Nu对Da的变化不敏感.