Stability analysis of dual adiabatic flows in a horizontal porous layer

A study of buoyant flow in a horizontal porous layer with adiabatic and impermeable boundaries is performed. The Darcy–Boussinesq model is used and the effect of viscous dissipation is taken into account. First, it is shown that there exist two stationary and parallel solutions (dual solutions) for each pair of prescribed values of the Gebhart number Ge and of the Péclet number Pe. These dual solutions exist as long as $\mathit{Ge}?\sqrt{3}$, and they become coincident when $\mathit{Ge}=\sqrt{3}$. Then, a linear stability analysis of the dual solutions is performed referring both to transverse and to longitudinal rolls. This analysis reveals that one of the branches in the dual solutions space is more stable than the other. Moreover, instabilities to longitudinal rolls generally occur for values of the product $\mathit{GePe}$ smaller than those needed for transverse rolls.     

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 $\overline{\mathit{Nu}}$.     

Drag force acting on bubbles in a subchannel of triangular array of rods

Forces acting on spherical bubbles in a subchannel of a rod bundle with triangular rod arrangement (the pitch to diameter ratio is $P/D=1.34$) have been studied at low bubble Reynolds numbers O(0.1) ? O(1). The bubble motion has been simulated resolving the interface of the bubble by using the lattice Boltzmann method. Steady drag and virtual mass forces have been determined from the simulation results. Based on the simulation data, the relation $C_D=16.375/{\mathit{Re}}_T$ could be established between the steady drag coefficient $C_D$ and the terminal Reynolds number ${\mathit{Re}}_T$ when the diameter ratio $\lambda =d/D$ of the bubble d and the channel D is less than 0.2. It is found that the virtual mass coefficient can achieve as high value as 7.2, which is a consequence of strong wall effects. Considering interactions between bubbles, cooperation in the axial direction and hindering in the lateral direction could be observed. We demonstrate that the relation between the terminal velocity of a bubble and that of the suspension follows a Richardson–Zaki like correlation, but the exponent is not only a function of the Eotvos and Morton numbers, but it also depends on the particle configuration.     

Numerical study of microchannel heat sink performance using nanofluids

This study presents the numerical simulation of three-dimensional incompressible steady and laminar and turbulent fluid flow of a trapezoidal micro-channel heat sink (MCHS) using CuO/water nanofluid as a cooling fluid. Navier–Stokes equations with conjugate energy equation are discretized by the finite-volume method. CFD predictions of laminar and turbulent forced convection of CuO/water nanofluids by single-phase and two-phase models (mixture model) are compared. The parameters studied include the particle volume fraction (ϕ = 0.204 %, 0.256%, 0.294% and 0.4%), and the volumetric flow rate ($\dot{\mathit{V}}=10\mathrm{mL}/min$, 15 mL/min and 20 mL/min). Comparisons of the thermal resistance predicted by the single-phase and two-phase models with corresponding experimental results show that the two-phase model is more accurate than the single-phase model. In the laminar flow, the thermal resistance of nanofluids is smaller than that of the water, which decreases as the particle volume fraction and the volumetric flow rate increase. In addition, the pressure drop of both nanofluid-cooled MCHS and pure water-cooled MCHS is discussed. For the laminar flow case, the pressure drop increases slightly for nanofluid-cooled MCHS.