Role of moving horizontal walls on entropy generation during mixed convection within entrapped triangular cavities

A comprehensive analysis based on the irreversibilities associated with the energy flow and entropy generation is highly essential for the optimization of thermal systems. Entropy generation during mixed convection process has been studied in entrapped triangular cavities for moving horizontal walls involving isothermally hot inclined walls and cold horizontal walls (case 1) or isothermally cold inclined walls and hot horizontal walls (case 2). Overall it is found that, Re = 100 may be preferred over Re → 0, Re = 1 and Re = 10 at Pr = 0.026 and 7.2, Gr = 10³ − 10⁵ within the cavities, irrespective of the cases. In addition to Re = 100, Re = 10 may be optimal for the upper cavity with case 1 and lower cavity with case 2 at Gr ≈ 10⁵ (higher Gr regime) and Pr = 7.2 based on moderate heat transfer rates.     

An experimental study of forced convection effectiveness of Al2O3-water nanofluid flowing in circular tubes

In the present study, experimental efforts have been performed to explore the forced convection heat transfer using water-based suspension of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (nanofluid) to replace the pure water as the working fluids in circular tubes. The nanofluid was prepared as a functional forced convection fluid and the thermal properties including the density, thermal conductivity, and dynamic viscosity were investigated experimentally. Besides, forced convection heat transfer in circular tubes was investigated with water-based nanofluid containing various mass fractions of the Al₂O₃ nanoparticles (2, 5, and 10 wt%) under the following operating conditions: the volume flow rate Q_f = 23.6–183.5 cm³/min (the Reynolds number Re_f,0 = 188–2095), the heating power applied at the outer wall of the tube q_o , eff.^″ = 1908–7362 W/m², and the inlet fluid temperature T_in = 24.5–25.5 °C or 49.5–50.5 °C. Measured data showed that the dispersion of increasing mass fraction of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles can effectively improve the thermal conductivity relative to the pure water. Besides, higher average heat transfer effectiveness ${\stackrel{-}{\epsilon }}_{h,\mathit{btd}}$ and figure of merit FOM are noted for the cases with higher inlet fluid temperature T_in.     

Effects of rotation on the trailing vortex and heat transfer from a horizontal rotating cylinder at higher Grashof number

In the present study, effects of rotation on the trailing vortex and heat transfer from a large diameter horizontal rotating cylinder in still air have been experimentally investigated whereas earlier studies considered cylinders with smaller diameters. As the rotational speed n is increased, the trailing vortex would deflect in the rotational direction, the flow state of air near the cylinder would vary from laminar to turbulent, the heat transfer would transit from pure natural convection to mixed convection, and finally to pure forced convection resulted from rotation, the trailing vortex would break down and disappear. The variation of deflection angles ω with the parameter $R{e}_r/\sqrt{Gr}$ can be expressed as $w=32.3R{e}_r/\sqrt{Gr}$ at lower rotational speed. The discriminant to determine the disappearance of trailing vortex can be presented as Re_r²/Gr = 7.51.     

Onset of entrainment in transitional round fountains

It is of fundamental interest to understand the behavior of transitional fountains with intermediate Froude and Reynolds numbers, together with the associated entrainment and turbulence. In this work, the transient behavior of axisymmetric fountains with 1 ? Fr ? 8 and 200 ? Re ? 800 is studied by direct numerical simulation. It is found that at Re ? 200, there is little entrainment present at the upflow–downflow interface and at the downflow–ambient interface, even for a value of Fr as high as 8; however, at Re > 200, entrainment is present at these interfaces and the extent increases with Re, which clearly demonstrates that entrainment is strongly dependent on Re whereas the contribution from the Fr effect is relatively much smaller. The DNS results also show that z_m, which is the maximum fountain penetration height, fluctuates, even when the flow reaches full development, due to the entrainment at the upflow–downflow and the downflow–ambient interfaces, and the averaged z_m scales with ${\mathit{Fr}}^{\frac{3}{2}}{\mathit{Re}}^{\frac{1}{4}}$ for 1 < Fr ? 8 and 100 ? Re ? 800.     

High-pressure burning velocities measurements for centrally-ignited premixed methane/air flames interacting with intense near-isotropic turbulence at constant Reynolds numbers

This paper measures high-pressure turbulent burning velocities (S_T) of lean methane spherical flames at constant turbulent Reynolds numbers (Re_T ≡ u′L_I/ν), where u′ and L_I are the r.m.s. turbulent fluctuation velocity and the integral length scale of turbulence and ν is the kinematic viscosity of reactants. This is achieved by adopting a recently-built double-chamber, fan-stirred cruciform burner with perforated plates that can be used to generate intense near-isotropic turbulence with negligible mean velocities while controlling the product of u′L_I in proportion to the decreasing ν at elevated pressure (p) up to 1.2 MPa. Results show that when Re_T is fixed ranging from 6700 to 14,200, values of S_T decrease similarly as laminar burning velocities (S_L) with increasing p in minus exponential manners, revealing a global response of burning velocities to pressure. In general, the higher Re_T, the higher S_T/S_L at any fixed p. It is found that the curves of S_T/S_L as a function of u′/S_L all exhibit very strong bending under constant Re_T conditions. These results not only reveal that the important effect of Re_T on high-pressure S_T/S_L enhancement, but also suggest that recent findings related with the promotion effect of increasing pressure on S_T primarily due to the enhancement of flame instabilities via the thinner flame without any discussion on the influence of Re_T elevation at elevated pressure should be reconsidered. Moreover, we found that the modified values of S_T at mean progress variable $\overline{c}$ ≈ 0.5 show good agreements between Bunsen-type and spherical flames, suggesting that S_T determined at flame surfaces with $\overline{c}$ = 0.5 may be a better representative of itself regardless of the flame geometries. Finally, various general correlations of $S_{\text{T,}\overline{c}=0.5}$ are compared and discussed. It is found that the present scattering data under different p and Re_T conditions can be merged onto a single curve of ($S_{\text{T,}\overline{c}=0.5}$ ? S_L)/u′ = 0.14Da^0.47, where Da is the turbulent Damköhler number.     

Unsteady wake dynamics and heat transfer in forced and mixed convection past a circular cylinder in cross flow for high Prandtl numbers

This paper investigates the combined effect of Prandtl number and Richardson number on the wake dynamics and heat transfer past a circular cylinder in crossflow using a SUPG based finite element method. The computations are carried out for 80 < Re < 180, 0.7 < Pr < 100 and $0?\mathrm{Ri}?2$. The results have been presented for both forced and mixed convection flows. In the case of forced convection, crowding of temperature contours with reduced spatial spread is observed for increasing Prandtl numbers. The local and average Nusselt numbers are found to increase with increasing Reynolds number and Prandtl number. The average Nusselt number and Colburn factor are found to vary as Re^0.548 Pr ^0.373 and Re^?0.452, respectively. The extrapolated results of the average Nusselt number for low and high Reynolds numbers are found to match quite well with the available results in literature. Effect of Prandtl number shows various interesting phenomena for the mixed convective flows. Increasing the Prandtl numbers resulted in decreasing deflection and strength in the wake structures. The effect of baroclinic vorticity production during vortex shedding has been demonstrated at the vicinity of the cylinder and near wake. The Strouhal number is found to decrease with increasing Prandtl number, in the case of buoyancy induced flow. The effect of increasing Prandtl number is manifested as the stabilizing effect in the flow. This is, perhaps, the first time that such behavior for the Prandtl number is being reported. Additionally it is observed that the average Nusselt number decreases with increasing Richardson number.     

Coriolis and rotating buoyancy effect on detailed heat transfer distributions in a two-pass square channel roughened by 45° ribs at high rotation numbers

Heat transfer measurements from a rotating two-pass square channel with two opposite leading and trailing walls roughened by 45° parallel ribs arranged in the staggered manner are performed to examine the effects of Reynolds (Re), rotation (Ro) and buoyancy (Bu) numbers on local and area-averaged Nusselt numbers (Nu and $\overline{\mathit{Nu}}$). Full-field Nu distributions over the two rib-roughened leading and trailing walls are measured at the conditions of 4000 ? Re ? 16,000, 0 ? Ro ? 0.8 and 0.0015 ? Bu ? 0.93 (0.05 ? Δρ/ρ ? 0.1) using the infrared thermography which allows for the detailed examination of the Coriolis and rotating buoyancy effects on Nu distributions over the rotating ribbed surface. Selected heat transfer data in term of Nu ratio between rotating and stationary levels illustrates the influences of rotation on local and area-averaged heat transfer performances. Area-averaged $\overline{\mathit{Nu}}$ for the turn region and the inlet and outlet ribbed legs of the rotating two-pass channel are parametrically analyzed to devise a set of empirical heat transfer correlations that permits the evaluation of the interdependent and individual effects of Re, Ro and Bu on $\overline{\mathit{Nu}}$.     

Flow over and forced convection heat transfer around a semi-circular cylinder at incidence

Wake dynamics and forced convective heat transfer characteristics past a semi-circular cylinder at incidence have been investigated numerically. Utilizing air as an operating fluid computations are carried out for wide ranges of the Reynolds number (80 ? Re ? 180) and angle of incidences (0 ? α ? 180°). Angle of incidence reveals three flow separation zones. Structure properties of shear layer and vortex motions on each flow separation zones are analyzed critically. Functional dependence of drag (C_D), lift (C_L), and moment (C_M) coefficients on the angle of incidence is explored and analyzed in detail. Increase in angle of incidence increases streamline curvature. A structural similarity is observed between the contours of vorticity and the corresponding isotherms. Strouhal number shows a decreasing trend up to certain values of α and thereafter it increases marginally. A new correlation of Strouhal number as a function of Re and α has been established for the present range of Reynolds numbers. At the singularity points a sudden jump in local Nusselt number distribution is observed. The trend of variation of average Nusselt number with α is similar to that of Strouhal number variation. The average Nusselt number is found to vary as ${\mathit{Re}}^{0.529}(1+\alpha {)}^{-0.0476}$.     

Heat transfer and pressure drop in furrowed channels with transverse and skewed sinusoidal wavy walls

This comparative study examines the detailed Nusselt number (Nu) distributions, pressure drop coefficients (f) and thermal performance factors (η) for two furrowed rectangular channels with transverse and skewed sinusoidal wavy walls. Detailed heat transfer measurements over these transverse and skewed sinusoidal wavy walls at the Reynolds numbers (Re) = 1000, 1500, 2000, 5000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 25,000 and 30,000 are performed using the steady-state infrared thermo-graphic method. Impacts of Re on Nu and f for two tested furrowed channels with transverse and skewed waviness are individually examined. In addition to the macroscopic mixing between the near-wall recirculations and core flows due to the shear layer instabilities in each wavy channel, the secondary flows tripped by the skewed wall-waves further elevate heat transfer performances and distinguish their Nu distributions from those over the transverse wavy wall. The area-averaged Nusselt numbers ($\overline{\mathit{Nu}}$) for two tested furrowed channels with transverse and skewed waviness with 5000 < Re < 30000 fall, respectively, in the ranges of 3.45–3.71 and 3.98–4.2 times of the Dittus–Boelter levels. A set of $\overline{\mathit{Nu}}$ and f correlations for each tested furrowed channel is individually derived using Re as the controlling parameter. By way of comparing the thermal performance factors (η) with a selection of rib-roughened channels, the η factors for the present skewed wavy channel are compatible with those in the channel roughened by the compound V-ribs and deepened scales due to the relative low pressure drop penalties with the equivalent heat transfer augmentations to those offered by V-ribs.