A Thermal Nonequilibrium Approach to Natural Convection in a Square Enclosure Due to the Partially Cooled Sidewalls of the Enclosure

This article presents a numerical investigation of steady non-Darcy natural convection heat transfer in a square cavity filled with a heat-generating porous medium with partial cooling using a local thermal nonequilibrium (LTNE) model. Five different partial cooling boundary conditions and the fully cooled boundary condition are investigated under LTNE and local thermal equilibrium (LTE). The cooling portions of the left and the right sidewalls of the cavity are maintained at temperature T ₀ while the enclosure's top and bottom walls, as well as the inactive parts of its sidewalls, are kept insulated. The simulation results show that the placement order of wall cooling has a significant effect on the flow pattern and heat transfer rate. Compared with the fully cooled wall, the partially cooled wall of the cavity yielded a higher local Nusselt number for both fluid and solid phases. Under the same boundary conditions, the LTNE and LTE models can demonstrate significant differences in flow patterns and temperature fields. The total heat transfer rate increases with both Darcy number and Rayleigh number. Enhancement of interphase heat transfer coefficient (H) reduces the impact of Darcy number on the heat transfer rate of a porous cavity. Also, the total heat transfer rate of the porous medium decreases steadily with thermal conductivity ratio γ and interphase heat transfer coefficient H.     

Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Natural Convection in an Inclined Square Cavity with Spatial Temperature Variation

In this paper, natural convection heat transfer in an inclined square cavity filled with pure air (Pr = 0.71) was numerically analyzed with the lattice Boltzmann method. The heat source element is symmetrically embedded over the center of the bottom wall, and its temperature varies sinusoidally along the length. The top and the rest part of the bottom wall are adiabatic while the sidewalls are fixed at a low temperature. The influences of heat source length, inclination angle, and Rayleigh number (Ra) on flow and heat transfer were investigated. The Nusselt number (Nu) distributions on the heat source surface, the streamlines, and the isotherms were presented. The results show that the inclination angle and heat source length have a significant impact on the flow and temperature fields and the heat transfer performance at high Rayleigh numbers. In addition, the average Nu firstly increases with γ and reaches a local maximum at around γ = 45°, then decreases with increasing γ and reaches minimum at γ = 180° in the cavity with ? = 0.4. Similar behaviors are observed for ? = 0.2 at Ra = 10⁴. Moreover, nonuniform heating produces a significant different type of average Nu and two local minimum average Nu values are observed at around γ = 45° and γ = 180° for Ra = 10⁵ in the cavity with ? = 0.2.     

Effect of Inclination on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in a Finned Enclosure Filled with a Dielectric Liquid

The problem of two-dimensional natural convection flow of a dielectric fluid in a square inclined enclosure with a fin placed on the hot wall is investigated numerically. The fin thickness and length are 1/10 and 1/2 of the enclosure side, respectively. The Rayleigh number is varied from 10³ to 5 × 10⁵ and the solid to fluid thermal conductivity ratio is fixed at 10³. The enclosure tilt or inclination angle is varied from 0° to 90°. The streamlines and isotherms within the enclosure are produced and the heat transfer is calculated. It is found that for 2.5 × 10⁴ ≤ Ra ≤ 2.5 × 10⁵, the average Nusselt number is maximum when γ = 0° and minimum when γ = 90°. For Ra = 5 × 10⁵, the values of enclosure tilt angle for which the average Nusselt number is maximum or minimum are completely different due to the transition to unsteady state. In this case, the maximum heat transfer is obtained for γ = 60°, while the minimum heat transfer is predicted for γ = 0°. Monomial correlations relating the average Nusselt number with the different values of the Rayleigh number from 10⁴ to 10⁵ are determined for two different angles, γ = 0° and γ = 90°.     

Conjugate Wall Conduction-Fluid Natural Convection in a Three-Dimensional Inclined Enclosure

Laminar conjugate conduction-natural convection heat transfer in a 3-D inclined cubic enclosure comprised of finite thickness conductive walls and central cavity is numerically investigated. The dimensionless governing equations describing the convective flow and wall heat conduction are solved by the high accuracy multidomain pseudospectral method. Computations are performed for different Rayleigh numbers (10³ ≤ Ra* ≤ 10⁶), thermal conductivity ratios (1 ≤ k ≤ 100), dimensionless wall thickness (0 ≤ s ≤ 0.25), and enclosure inclinations (?30° ≤ α ₁ ≤ 30°, 0° ≤ α ₂ ≤ 45°). The effects of the above controlling parameters on the heat transfer performances of the enclosure system are investigated in detail, with emphases on the variations of wall conduction and fluid convection heat transfer, and the interactive heat transfer conditions between solid walls and fluid in the central cavity. Numerical results reveal that the existence of enclosure walls reduces the temperature gradient across the cavity and alters the temperature distribution within the solid walls; thus, the fluid convection is complexly determined by the combined effects of k and s, and is greatly affected by enclosure inclinations at high Rayleigh numbers. Moreover, the temperature distributions and solid-fluid interactive heat transfer conditions are provided for further interpretation and demonstration of the effects of the solid walls.     

Jet Impingement Cooling of a Finite Thickness Solid Layer Conjugated with Porous Medium

The present study numerically investigates the mixed convection-conduction problem of impingement cooling of a finite thickness solid wall conjugated with a porous medium. The heat transfer is investigated over wide ranges of governing parameters: Rayleigh number (50 ≤ Ra ≤ 100), Péclet number (1 ≤ Pe ≤ 10³), solid wall thickness (0.05 ≤ H ≤ 0.25), heat transfer coefficient parameter (0.1 ≤ H _v  ≤ 10), and solid wall thermal conductivity (0.24 ≤ k _w  ≤ 240). The results shows that the total average Nusselt numbers can be increased with the decrease in H and increase in k _w and H _v . Opposing mixed convection is demonstrated to occur and the minimum value of average Nusselt numbers for fluid are found except for a low value of k _w .     

Multicellular Convection Flow and Heat Transfer in a Tall Vertical Cavity with a Linear Temperature Profile on Both Sidewalls

Laminar natural convection of air in a vertical cavity, of aspect ratio A = 40 with linear temperature profiles on both sidewalls, is studied. Two new situations are explored, both temperature profiles have the same (case I) or opposite (case II) slopes γ, and their averages are at the mid-height of sidewalls. The effect of the Rayleigh numbers Ra _m at the mid-height and the slopes on the multicellular flow and heat transfer is investigated. Depending on the values of γ and Ra _m , the results may be quite different from those of the classical case corresponding to a zero slope. Two precise correlations which give the average heat transfer as a function of γ and Ra _m are also developed for both cases.     

A DOMAIN DECOMPOSITION METHOD FOR SOLVING THREE-DIMENSIONAL HEAT TRANSPORT EQUATIONS IN A DOUBLE-LAYERED THIN FILM WITH MICROSCALE THICKNESS

Transient-free convection in a porous enclosure having heat-conducting solid walls of finite thickness under conditions of convective heat exchange with an environment was studied numerically. A heat source of constant temperature was located at the bottom of the cavity. The governing equations in porous volume formulated in dimensionless variables such as the temperature and vector potential functions within the Darcy–Boussinesq approach and the transient three-dimensional heat conduction equation based on the Fourier hypothesis for solid walls with corresponding initial and boundary conditions were solved using an iterative implicit finite-difference method. The main objective was to investigate the influence of the Rayleigh number 10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶, the Darcy number 10^?5 ≤ Da ≤ 10^?3, the thermal conductivity ratio 1 ≤ k_1,2 ≤ 20, the solid wall thickness ratio 0.1 ≤ l/L ≤ 0.3, and the dimensionless time 0 ≤ τ ≤ 200 on the fluid flow and heat transfer. Comprehensive analysis of the effects of these key parameters on the average Nusselt number at the heat source surface was conducted.     

Visualization of Heat Transport during Natural Convection in a Tilted Square Cavity: Effect of Isothermal and Nonisothermal Heating

Bejan's heatlines approach has been introduced to visualize heat flow during natural convection within a tilted square cavity inclined at an angle of ? = 30°. The enclosure is bounded by hot wall AB (case 1: isothermal heating and case 2: nonisothermal heating), isothermally cooled walls DA and BC in the presence of adiabatic wall CD. The results are presented in terms of streamlines, isotherms, heatlines, and local and average Nusselt numbers. The nonisothermal heating case produces the greater heat transfer rate at the center of the wall AB compared to that of the isothermal heating case, whereas the average Nusselt number shows an overall lower heat transfer rate for the nonisothermal heating case.     

Unsteady Conjugate Natural Convection in a Vertical Cylinder Partially Filled with a Porous Medium

Transient natural convection in a vertical cylinder containing both a fluid layer overlying a horizontal porous layer saturated with the same fluid and heat-conducting solid shell of finite thickness in conditions of convective heat exchange with an environment has been studied numerically. The Beavers-Joseph empirical boundary condition is considered at the fluid-porous interface with the Darcy model for the porous layer and the Boussinesq approximation for the pure fluid. The governing equations formulated in dimensionless variables, such as the stream function, the vorticity, and the temperature have been solved by a finite difference method. Particular efforts have been focused on the effects of five types of influential factors, such as the Darcy number 10^?5 ≤ Da ≤ 10^?3, the porous layer height ratio 0 ≤ d/L ≤ 1, the solid shell thickness ratio 0.1 ≤ l/L ≤ 0.3, the thermal conductivity ratio 1 ≤ k_1,3 ≤ 20, and the dimensionless time 0 ≤ τ ≤ 1000 on the fluid flow and heat transfer. Comprehensive analysis of an effect of these key parameters on the Nusselt number at the bottom wall, on the average temperature in the cavity, and on the maximum absolute value of the stream function has been conducted.     

Role of Entropy Generation On Thermal Management During Natural Convection in a Tilted Square Cavity with Isothermal and Non-Isothermal Hot Walls

Entropy generation during natural convection within tilted square cavity inclined with different angles (? = 30°and 75°) for various thermal boundary conditions (case 1: isothermal heating and case 2: non-isothermal heating) has been studied. Simulations are carried out over a range of parameters: Rayleigh number (10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁵) and Prandtl numbers (Pr = 0.025 and 998.24). The numerical results are presented in terms of isotherms (θ), streamlines (ψ), entropy generation due to heat transfer (S _θ ) and fluid friction (S _ψ ). Heating strategy is energy efficient for case 2 (non-isothermal heating) due to its less total entropy generation with reasonable heat transfer rate, irrespective of Pr.     

Numerical Investigation of Natural Convection in an Enclosure Filled with Porous Medium Under Magnetic Field

In this study, natural convection in an enclosure filled with a fluid-saturated porous medium in a strong magnetic field is investigated numerically. Two physical models are considered. One is heated from the bottom and cooled from the top (Model A), and the other is heated from the left side vertical wall and cooled from the opposite wall (Model B). An electric coil is set below this enclosure to generate a magnetic field. The Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model is used to solve the momentum equations, and the energy equations for the fluid and solid are solved with the local thermal nonequilibrium (LTNE) model. The linkage between velocity and pressure is handled with the SIMPLE algorithm. Computations are performed for a range of Darcy number from 10^?5 to 10^?1, Rayleigh number from 10³ to 10⁵, and magnetic force parameter γ from 0 to 100. The results show that the magnetic force has significant effect on the flow field and heat transfer in the fluid-saturated porous medium.     

Aspect ratio effect on natural convection in a square enclosure with a sinusoidal active thermal wall using a thermal non-equilibrium model

ABSTRACT

A numerical investigation of the aspect ratio effect on natural convection in a square enclosure is carried out by adopting the local thermal non-equilibrium model. The top and bottom walls of the enclosure are adiabatic, the left vertical wall is partially heated and cooled by the sinusoidal thermal boundary condition, and the right vertical wall is maintained at uniform thermal boundary condition. The results show the value of periodicity parameter increasing. The streamlines vary in different patterns, rotating clockwise and counterclockwise simultaneously when N > 1, and the number of clockwise and counterclockwise rotating cells increases with the increase of N and equals the value of N. The sinusoidal local Nusselt number profiles are observed and the wave amplitude of local Nusselt number decreases with the increase of aspect ratio, and the absolute values of average Nusselt number at left wall of porous cavity reach maximum when Ar = 1. The absolute value of solid-to-fluid temperature differences decreases as the inter-phase heat transfer coefficient (H) increases and it increases as the value of aspect ratio increases. The total heat transfer of porous cavity can be enhanced by increasing the aspect ratio and the thermal conductivity ratio.     

Numerical Study and POD-Based Prediction of Natural Convection in a Ferrofluids–Filled Triangular Cavity with Generalized Neural Networks

The effects of a magnetic dipole source on the natural convection of ferrofluids in a triangular cavity are studied. A partial heater is added to the left vertical wall of the cavity while the right vertical wall is kept at the constant temperature. A magnetic dipole source is placed outside the cavity close to the heater. The governing equations of a coupled multi-physics system are solved with a commercial solver using the finite element method. Computations are performed for different ranges of parameters: Rayleigh number (10⁴  ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶ ), strength of the magnetic dipole (0 ≤ γ ≤ 8), horizontal and vertical location of the magnetic dipole (?2.5H ≤ a ≤ ?0.5H, 0.2H ≤ b ≤ 0.8H). It is observed that the interaction between natural convection and ferrofluid convection under the influence of magnetic dipole affects the flow and thermal field in such the triangular enclosure. The external magnetic field acts in such a way to decrease local heat transfer in some locations and increase it in others for certain combinations of flow parameters and therefore it can be used as a control parameter for fluid flow and heat transfer. Furthermore, an interpolation method based on Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and Generalized Neural Networks is proposed to predict the thermal performance of the system. This approach gives satisfactory results in terms of local and averaged heat transfer values.     

Turbulent natural convection in a composite annulus using a novel numerical scheme and the thermal nonequilibrium hypothesis

Composite cavities formed by a clear space, a layer of porous material, and a solid plate can be engineered for controlling the overall heat transfer across the enclosure. Using different layer dimensions, as well as distinct porous and solid materials, the value of the cavity Nusselt number can be modified with regard to traditional Nu?∝?Raⁿ behavior, which is encountered either in completely empty cavities or in cavities fully fitted with porous materials. Motivated by such novel application, this work presents a study about turbulent natural convection in a composite concentric annulus. The annulus is assumed to be two-dimensional and positioned horizontally, being isothermally heated at the inner cylinder and cooled from the outer surface. Laminar flow is considered in addition to the turbulent regime, which is handled via the standard k–ε model. The wall treatment applied is the High Reynolds approach. The Two-Energy Equation Model (2EEM) is utilized in the porous section. The transport equations are discretized using the control-volume method. The system of algebraic equations is relaxed via the Semi Implicit Pressure-Linked Equations (SIMPLE) algorithm. A new numerical methodology is applied to resolve all three layers in a single computational domain by establishing two temperature sets, defined according to the location inside the composite structure. Nusselt number behavior shows that for Rayleigh number up to 10⁴ there is no significant variation between the laminar and turbulence models, although the differences increase when the flow gets more intense and/or the porous material becomes more permeable. When comparing the effects of Rayleigh number, Darcy number, porosity, and thermal conductivity ratio between the solid and the fluid on Nu, the results indicate that the solid-phase properties have a greater influence in enhancing the overall heat transferred through the cavity.     

EFFECTS OF ADAPTIVITY ON FINITE ELEMENT SCHEMES FOR TURBULENT HEAT TRANSFER AND FLOW PREDICTIONS

This article reports convection heat transfer in a short and tall annular enclosure with two discrete isoflux heat sources of different lengths. The discrete heat sources are mounted at the inner wall and the outer wall is maintained at a lower temperature, whereas the top and bottom walls and the unheated portions of the inner wall are kept at adiabatic. An implicit finite-difference method is employed to solve the vorticity–stream function formulations of the governing equations. The significant influence of the discrete heaters on the flow and heat transfer is analyzed for a wide range of modified Rayleigh numbers, aspect ratio, and length ratio (?) of heat sources. Our numerical results reveal that the average Nusselt number decreases with aspect ratio, whereas the magnitude of maximum temperature increases with the aspect ratio. For most of the parametric cases considered in the present study, the heat transfer rate is found to be higher at the bottom heater than at the top heater except for ? = 0.5. The effect of heater length ratio on the heat transfer rate is noticeable for unit aspect ratio, whereas its effect is insignificant as the aspect ratio increases. Furthermore, it was found that the maximum temperature is found generally at the top heater except for the case ? = 0.5, where the maximum temperature is found at the bottom heater.     

Visualization of heat flow using Bejan’s heatline due to natural convection of water near 4 °C in thick walled porous cavity

A numerical study on natural convection heat transfer of cold water near 4 °C in a thick bottom walled cavity filled with a porous medium has been performed. It is assumed that the cavity is isothermally heated from the outside of the thick bottom wall and cooled from ceiling. The finite-difference method has been used to solve the governing partial differential equations of heat and fluid flow. Effects of thermal conductivity ratio, Rayleigh number and bottom wall thickness on heat transfer from the bottom to the ceiling have been studied. The heatline visualization technique has been used to demonstrate the path of heat transport through the enclosure. Moreover, streamlines and isotherms have been used to present fluid flow and temperature distributions. The obtained results show that multiple circulation cells are formed in the cavity and the local Nusselt numbers at the bottom wall and solid–fluid interface are highly affected by formed cells. The increase of Rayleigh number and thermal conductivity ratio increases heat transfer through the cavity. However, the increase of thickness of the bottom wall reduces the mean Nusselt number. Almost one-dimensional conduction heat transfer is observed in the solid bottom wall of the cavity.     

A study on entropy generation and heat transfer in a magnetohydrodynamic flow of a couple-stress fluid through a thermal nonequilibrium vertical porous channel

The effect of local thermal nonequilibrium (LTNE) on the entropy generation and heat transfer characteristics in the magnetohydrodynamic flow of a couple-stress fluid through a high-porosity vertical channel is studied numerically using the higher-order Galerkin technique. The Boussinesq approximation is assumed to be valid and the porous medium is considered to be isotropic and homogeneous. Two energy equations are considered one each for solid and fluid phases. The term involving the heat transfer coefficient in both equations renders them mutually coupled. Thermal radiation and an internal heat source are considered only in the fluid phase. The influence of inverse Darcy number, Hartmann number, couple-stress fluid parameter, Grashof number, thermal radiation parameter, and interphase heat transfer coefficient on velocity and temperature profiles is depicted graphically and discussed. The entropy generation, friction factor, and Nusselt number are determined, and outcomes are presented via plots. The effect of LTNE on the temperature profile is found to cease when the value of the interphase heat transfer coefficient is high, and in this case, we get the temperature profiles of fluid and solid phases are uniform. The physical significance of LTNE is discussed in detail for different parameters' values. It is found that heat transport and friction drag are maximum in the case of LTNE and minimum in the case of local thermal equilibrium. We observe that LTNE opposes the irreversibility of the system. The corresponding results of a fluid-saturated densely packed porous medium can be obtained as a limiting case of the current study.     

Numerical investigation on heat transfer of supercritical water in a roughened tube

ABSTRACT

The turbulent mixed convection heat transfer of supercritical water flowing in a vertical tube roughened by V-shaped grooves has been numerically investigated in this paper. The turbulent supercritical water flow characteristics within different grooves are obtained using a validated low-Reynolds number κ-ε turbulence model. The effects of groove angle, groove depth, groove pitch-to-depth ratio, and thermophysical properties on turbulent flow and heat transfer of supercritical water are discussed. The results show that a groove angle γ = 120° presents the best heat transfer performance among the three groove angles. The lower groove depth and higher groove pitch-to-depth ratio suppress the enhancement of heat transfer. Heat transfer performance is significantly decreased due to the strong buoyancy force at T_b = 650.6 K, and heat transfer deterioration occurs in the roughened tube with γ = 120°, e = 0.5 mm, and p/e = 8 in the present simulation. The results also show that the rapid variation in the supercritical water property in the region near the pseudo-critical temperature results in a significant enhancement of heat transfer performance.     

Numerical Simulation of Double Diffusive Mixed Convection in a Lid-Driven Square Cavity Using Velocity-Vorticity Formulation

In this article, convection driven by combined thermal and solutal concentration buoyancy effects in a lid-driven square cavity is examined using velocity-vorticity form of Navier-Stokes equations. The governing equations consist of vorticity transport equation, velocity Poisson equations, energy equation, and concentration equation. Validation results are discussed for convection due to heat and mass transfer in a lid-driven square cavity at Re = 500, Le = 2, and G_RT  = G_RS  = 100. These results indicate that the present velocity-vorticity formulation could predict the characteristic parameters of flow, temperature, and solutal concentration fields using a much coarser mesh compared to the mesh used in a stream function-vorticity formulation. The capability of the proposed algorithm to handle complex geometry is demonstrated by application to mixed convection in a lid-driven square cavity with a square blockage. The effect of buoyancy ratio on the convection phenomenon is discussed for buoyancy ratio varying from ? 100 to 100 at Re = 100. Under opposing temperature and concentration gradients along the vertical direction, the negative buoyancy ratios give rise to aiding flows.