Opposing mixed convection and its interaction with radiation inside eccentric horizontal cylindrical annulus

In the present investigation, the coupled phenomenon of opposing mixed convection and radiation within differentially heated eccentric horizontal cylindrical annulus has been numerically simulated. The radiation transfer contributed from the participating medium is obtained by solving the nonlinear integro‐differential radiative transfer equation using discrete ordinate method. The participating gray medium is considered to be emitting, absorbing and isotropically scattering. The walls of the annulus are considered to be opaque, diffuse and gray. In the study it has been observed that the Richardson number ‘Ri’ has a small effect on the total Nusselt number ‘Nu’ in mixed convection heat transfer with or without radiation. From the present investigation it is found that substantial changes occur in isotherms as well as in flow patterns, when the Richardson number is allowed to vary in the range of 0.01–1. The influence of radiative parameters on the interaction phenomenon has been delineated through isotherm and streamline pattern. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.