Numerical Simulation of Natural Convection in Wavy Porous Cavities Under the Influence of Thermal Radiation Using a Thermal Non-equilibrium Model

Continuum equations governing thermal non-equilibrium modeling of steady natural convection inside wavy enclosures with the effect of thermal radiation are developed. These equations account for such effects as the inter-phase heat transfer coefficient effect, the thermal radiation effect, the modified conductivity ratio effect and the Rayleigh number effect. Finite difference method is employed to solve these equations and comparisons between previous published works are presented. Numerical results for the flow and heat transfer for the fluid and solid phases are obtained for various combinations of the physical parameters. Graphical and tabular results illustrating interesting features of the physics of the problem are presented and discussed.     

微通道人工泡状流的Lattice Boltzmann数值模拟

采用高频电控热激发汽泡的方式构造微通道人工泡状流,可以有效抑制微通道沸腾流动的不稳定性和强化传热。本文基于Lattice Boltzmann大密度比多相流复合模型,数值研究了通道内人工泡状流的流动和传热,通过比较分析不同发泡频率的泡状流,量化分析了汽泡运动和增长对微通道流动与传热的相互影响。一方面着重分析了汽泡运动对微通道运动边界层以及汽泡相变增长对热边界层的影响,另一方面也研究了边界层对汽泡动力行为的影响,所得结论对研究抑制微通道沸腾流动不稳定性和强化传热有参考意义。     

Effective thermal conductivity of heat pipes

Several heat pipes were designed and manufactured to study the effect of the working fluids, container materials, and the wick structures on the heat transfer mechanism of the heat pipes. Also, the effect of the number of wick layers on the effective thermal conductivity and the heat transfer characteristics of the heat pipes have been investigated. It was found that the flow behavior of the working fluid depends on the wicking structures and the number of wick layers. The heat transfer characteristics and the effective thermal conductivity are related directly to the flow behavior. Increasing the number of wick layers (up to 16 layers) increases the heat flux with smaller temperature differences. The flattening phenomena of the thermal resistance was observed after 16 wicks layers due to the entrainment limit.     

Conduction-radiation effect on natural convection flow in fluid-saturated non-Darcy porous medium enclosed by non-isothermal walls

The combined effect of conduction-convection-radiation on natural convection flow of an optically thick Newtonian fluid with gray radiant properties, confined in a porous media square cavity with Darcy-Brinkman-Forchheimer drag is studied numerically. For a gray fluid, Rosseland diffusion approximation is considered. It is assumed that (i) the temperature of the left vertical wall varies linearly with height, (ii) the right vertical and top walls are at a lower temperature, and (iii) the bottom wall is uniformly-heated. The governing equations are solved using the alternate direct implicit method together with the successive over relaxation technique. The investigation of the effect of governing parameters, namely, the Forschheimer resistance (Γ), the temperature difference (Δ), and the Plank number (Rd), on the flow pattern and heat transfer characteristics is carried out. It can be seen that the reduction of flow and heat transfer occur as the Forschheimer resistance is increased. On the other hand, both the flow strength and heat transfer increase as the temperature ratio Δ is increased.     

MHD flow and heat transfer for the upper-convected Maxwell fluid over a stretching sheet

In the present work, the effect of MHD flow and heat transfer within a boundary layer flow on an upper-convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid over a stretching sheet is examined. The governing boundary layer equations of motion and heat transfer are non-dimensionalized using suitable similarity variables and the resulting transformed, ordinary differential equations are then solved numerically by shooting technique with fourth order Runge–Kutta method. For a UCM fluid, a thinning of the boundary layer and a drop in wall skin friction coefficient is predicted to occur for higher the elastic number. The objective of the present work is to investigate the effect of Maxwell parameter β, magnetic parameter Mn and Prandtl number Pr on the temperature field above the sheet.     

Laminar convective heat transfer of non-Newtonian nanofluids with constant wall temperature

Nanofluids are obtained by dispersing homogeneously nanoparticles into a base fluid. Nanofluids often exhibit higher heat transfer rate in comparison with the base fluid. In the present study, forced convection heat transfer under laminar flow conditions was investigated experimentally for three types of non-Newtonian nanofluids in a circular tube with constant wall temperature. CMC solution was used as the base fluid and γ-Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and CuO nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed to create nanodispersions of different concentrations. Nanofluids as well as the base fluid show shear thinning (pseudoplastic) rheological behavior. Results show that the presence of nanoparticles increases the convective heat transfer of the nanodispersions in comparison with the base fluid. The convective heat transfer enhancement is more significant when both the Peclet number and the nanoparticle concentration are increased. The increase in convective heat transfer is higher than the increase caused by the augmentation of the effective thermal conductivity.     

The Effect of Double Dispersion on Natural Convection Heat and Mass Transfer in a Non-Newtonian Fluid Saturated Non-Darcy Porous Medium

The effect of power law index parameter of the non-Newtonian fluid on free convection heat and mass transfer from a vertical wall is analyzed by considering double dispersion in a non-Darcy porous medium with constant wall temperature and concentration conditions. The Ostwald–de Waele power law model is used to characterize the non-Newtonian fluid behavior. In this case a similarity solution is possible. The variation of heat and mass transfer coefficients with the governing parameters such as power law index, thermal and solutal dispersion parameters, inertia parameter, buoyancy ratio, and the Lewis number is discussed for a wide range of values of these parameters.     

Nonlinear three-dimensional stretched flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid with convective condition,thermal radiation,and mixed convection

The effect of non-linear convection in a laminar three-dimensional Oldroyd-B fluid flow is addressed. The heat transfer phenomenon is explored by considering the non-linear thermal radiation and heat generation/absorption. The boundary layer assumptions are taken into account to govern the mathematical model of the flow analysis. Some suitable similarity variables are introduced to transform the partial differential equations into ordinary differential systems. The Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg fourth-and fifth-order techniques with the shooting method are used to obtain the solutions of the dimensionless velocities and temperature. The effects of various physical parameters on the fluid velocities and temperature are plotted and examined. A comparison with the exact and homotopy perturbation solutions is made for the viscous fluid case, and an excellent match is noted. The numerical values of the wall shear stresses and the heat transfer rate at the wall are tabulated and investigated. The enhancement in the values of the Deborah number shows a reverse behavior on the liquid velocities. The results show that the temperature and the thermal boundary layer are reduced when the nonlinear convection parameter increases. The values of the Nusselt number are higher in the non-linear radiation situation than those in the linear radiation situation.     

Forced convective flow drag and heat transfer characteristics of carbon nanotube suspensions in a horizontal small tube

This study paid attention to the effect of fluid temperatures on the forced convective flow drag and heat transfer characteristics of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWNTs)-water suspensions without any surfactants. The experiments were carried out under the two fixed average fluid temperatures of 29 and 58°C. A horizontal small stainless steel tube with an inner diameter of 1.02 mm was used as the test section. The experiment results show that the flow drag characteristics of suspensions are almost the same as those of water. While the heat transfer of MWNTs suspensions with high mass concentration or high fluid temperature is significantly enhanced. The fluid temperature does not affect flow drag characteristics but has great effect on the heat transfer characteristics. Nanometer characteristics are presented by suspensions with high MWNT mass concentration or high temperature on convective heat transfer.     

Experimental study on convective heat transfer of TiO2 nanofluids

In this study, nanofluids with different TiO₂ nanoparticle concentrations were synthesized and measured in different constant heat fluxes for their heat transfer behavior upon flowing through a vertical pipe. Addition of nanoparticles into the base fluid enhances the forced convective heat transfer coefficient. The results show that the enhancement of the convective heat transfer coefficient in the mixture consisting of ethylene glycol and distilled water is more than distilled water as a base fluid.     

The effect of real viscosity on the heat transfer of water based Al2O3 nanofluids in a two-sided lid-driven differentially heated rectangular cavity

The heat transfer and fluid flow behavior of water based Al₂O₃ nanofluids are numerically investigated inside a two-sided lid-driven differentially heated rectangular cavity. Physical properties which have major effects on the heat transfer of nanofluids such as viscosity and thermal conductivity are experimentally investigated and correlated and subsequently used as input data in the numerical simulation. Transport equations are numerically solved with finite volume approach using SIMPLEC algorithm. It was found that not only the thermal conductivity but also the viscosity of nanofluids has a key role in the heat transfer of nanofluids. The results show that at low Reynolds number, increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases the viscosity and has a deteriorating effect on the heat transfer of nanofluids. At high Reynolds number, the increase in the viscosity is compensated by force convection and the increase in the volume fraction of nanoparticles which results in an increase in heat transfer is in coincidence with experimental results.     

Buoyancy-driven flow in an enclosure containing time periodic internal sources

A computational study is carried out to investigate the effect of the sinusoidally driven heat source on the fluid flow and heat transfer within a two-dimensional square cavity. The cavity, which has solid walls of constant temperature, is filled with a fluid including uniformly distributed internal heat source. In addition, the effects of the different periods of the sinusoidally driving heat source on heat transfer are investigated and presented as figures.     

Entropy generation in flow field subjected to a porous block in a vertical channel

Entropy generation in the flow field subjected to a porous block situated in a vertical channel is examined. The effects of channel inlet port height (vertical height between channel inlet port and the block center), porosity, and block aspect ratio on the entropy generation rate due to fluid friction and heat transfer in the fluid are examined. The governing equations of flow, heat transfer, and entropy are solved numerically using a control volume approach. Air is used as the flowing fluid in the channel. A uniform heat flux is considered in the block and natural convection is accommodated in the analysis. It is found that entropy generation rate due to fluid friction increases with increasing inlet port height, while this increase becomes gradual for entropy generation rate due to heat transfer for the inlet port height exceeding 0.03 m. The porosity lowers entropy generation rate due to fluid friction and heat transfer. The effect of block aspect ratio on entropy generation rate is notable; in which case, entropy generation rate increases for the block aspect ratio of 1:2.     

Rayleigh-Bénard convection heat transfer in nanoparticle suspensions

Natural convection heat transfer of nanofluids in horizontal enclosures heated from below is investigated theoretically. The main idea upon which the present work is based is that nanofluids behave more like a single-phase fluid rather than like a conventional solid-liquid mixture, which implies that all the convective heat transfer correlations available for single-phase flows can be extended to nanoparticle suspensions, provided that the thermophysical properties appearing in them are the nanofluid effective properties calculated at the reference temperature. In this connection, two empirical equations, based on a wide variety of experimental data reported in the literature, are developed for the evaluation of the nanofluid effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity, whereas the other effective properties are evaluated by the traditional mixing theory. The heat transfer enhancement that derives from the dispersion of nano-sized solid particles into the base liquid is calculated for different operating conditions, nanoparticle diameters, and combinations of solid and liquid phases. One of the fundamental results is the existence of an optimal particle loading for maximum heat transfer across the bottom-heated enclosure. In particular, for any assigned combination of suspended nanoparticles and base liquid, it is found that the optimal volume fraction increases as the nanofluid average temperature increases, and may either increase or decrease with increasing the nanoparticle size according as the flow is laminar or turbulent. Moreover, the optimal volume fraction has a peak at a definite value of the Rayleigh number of the base fluid, that depends on both the average temperature of the nanofluid and the diameter of the suspended nanoparticles.     

Heat transfer for non-Newtonian laminar flow in internally finned pipes with uniform temperature

An analysis is presented for fully developed laminar convective heat transfer of non-Newtonian power-law fluids in pipes with internal longitudinal fins and uniform outside wall temperature. The governing momentum and energy equations have been solved numerically, with the influence of fin conductance. The distributions of fin temperature, fluid temperature and local heat flux (both at finned and unfinned surfaces) are presented. These are shown to be strongly dependent on finned pipe geometry, fluid flow behavior index and the fin conductance. Values of overall Nusselt number indicated significant heat transfer enhancement over finless pipes. The flow behavior index affects the no. of fins which maximizes the overall Nusselt number.     

Computation of conjugate natural convection heat transfer from a rectangular fin on a partially heated horizontal base

In this study, a numerical investigation has been carried out to reveal the mechanism of fluid flow and heat transfer from a vertical rectangular fin attached to a partially heated horizontal base. The problem is a conjugate conduction-convection heat transfer problem with open boundaries. The governing equations for the problem are the conservation of mass, momentum and energy equations for the fluid and the heat conduction equation for the fin. The control volume technique based on the SIMPLEC algorithm with a nonstaggerred grid arrangement is employed to solve the governing equations. The effect of the heated base, on the mechanism of the fluid flow and heat transfer, is numerically investigated. Temperature distribution and flow patterns around the fin are plotted to support the discussion. Results are obtained for air at laminar and steady flow. Received on 15 May 1997     

Natural convection in an inclined enclosure with a fluid layer and a heat-generating porous bed

Multiple steady-state solutions of natural convection in an inclined enclosure with a fluid layer and a heat-generating porous bed is investigated numerically by the finite volume method. The conservation equations for the porous layer are based on a general flow model which includes both the effects of flow inertia and friction. The flow in fluid layer is modeled by Navier–Stokes equations. The method of pseudo arc-length continuation is adapted in studying the effects of tilt angle on flow pattern and heat transfer. It is found that, in the whole domain of tilt angle, there exist two groups of solutions with quite different flow pattern and heat transfer behavior. The effects of aspect ratio on flow pattern and heat transfer have also been studied. Received on 04 March 1997     

Investigation of heat transfer of nanofluids in turbulent flow in a cylindrical channel

Turbulent flow of nanofluids based on the distilled water with aluminum and silicon oxide particles of different sizes in a cylindrical channel is studied. The results of the measurements of the heat transfer coefficient and the pressure difference are presented. The maximum volume concentration of the particles was not greater than two percents. The dependence of the heat transfer coefficient on the nanoparticle concentration and their sizes and material is studied. It is shown that a considerable increase in the nanofluid heat transfer coefficient, compared with the corresponding value for water, may generally be expected. At the same time, the heat transfer coefficient of a nanofluid depends on the nanoparticle size and material; because of this, under certain conditions the nanofluid heat transfer coefficient can turn out to be lower than that of the baseline fluid. Situations, when this can occur, are established. It is for the first time experimentally shown that the nanofluid viscosity coefficient depends not only on the nanoparticle size but also on its material.     

Non Newtonian annular alloy solidification in mould

The annular solidification of an aluminium–silicon alloy in a graphite mould with a geometry consisting of horizontal concentric cylinders is studied numerically. The analysis incorporates the behavior of non-Newtonian, pseudoplastic (n?=?0.2), Newtonian (n?=?1), and dilatant (n?=?1.5) fluids. The fluid mechanics and heat transfer coupled with a transient model of convection diffusion are solved using the finite volume method and the SIMPLE algorithm. Solidification is described in terms of a liquid fraction of a phase change that varies linearly with temperature. The final results make it possible to infer that the fluid dynamics and heat transfer of solidification in an annular geometry are affected by the non-Newtonian nature of the fluid, speeding up the process when the fluid is pseudoplastic.