Two-dimensional laminar fluid flow and heat transfer in a channel with a built-in heated square cylinder

A numerical investigation was conducted to analyze the unsteady flow field and heat transfer characteristics in a horizontal channel with a built-in heated square cylinder. Hydrodynamic behavior and heat transfer results are obtained by the solution of the complete Navier–Stokes and energy equations using a control volume finite element method (CVFEM) adapted to the staggered grid. The Computation was made for two channel blockage ratios (β=1/4 and 1/8), different Reynolds and Richardson numbers ranging from 62 to 200 and from 0 to 0.1 respectively at Pr=0.71. The flow is found to be unstable when the Richardson number crosses the critical value of 0.13. The results are presented to show the effects of the blockage ratio, the Reynolds and the Richardson numbers on the flow pattern and the heat transfer from the square cylinder. Heat transfer correlation are obtained through forced and mixed convection.     

Effect of channel-confinement and aiding/opposing buoyancy on the two-dimensional laminar flow and heat transfer across a square cylinder

The effect of channel-confinement of various degree (blockage ratio of 10%, 30% and 50%) on the upward flow and heat transfer characteristics around a heated/cooled square cylinder is studied by considering the effect of aiding/opposing buoyancy at −1 Ri 1, for Re = 100 and Pr = 0.7. With increasing blockage ratio, the minimum heating (critical Ri) required for the suppression of vortex shedding decreases up to a certain blockage ratio (=30%), but thereafter increases. The influence of buoyancy and channel-confinement on the recirculation length, drag and lift coefficient, pumping power, Strouhal number and heat transfer from the cylinder, is also investigated.     

Forced convection heat transfer from a circular cylinder in crossflow to air and liquids

Local and average heat transfer by forced convection from a circular cylinder is studied for Reynolds number from 2 × 10³ to 9 × 10⁴ and Prandtl number from 0.7 to 176. For subcritical flow, the local heat transfer measurement indicates three regions of flow around the cylinder: laminar boundary layer region, reattachment of shear layer region and periodic vortex flow region. The average heat transfer in each region is calculated and correlated with the Reynolds number and the Prandtl number. The Nusselt number in each region strongly depends on the Reynolds number and the Prandtl number with different power indices. An empirical correlation for predicting the overall heat transfer from the cylinder is developed from the contributions of heat transfer in these three regions.     

Heat transfer enhancement in a slot channel via a transversely oscillating adiabatic circular cylinder

Heat transfer enhancement in a uniformly heated slot channel due to vortices shed from a transversely oscillating adiabatic circular cylinder is investigated. Effects of the cylinder motion and vortex shedding on heat transfer are systematically assessed by varying the cylinder oscillation frequency from 75% to 125% of the natural vortex shedding frequency of a fixed cylinder within the same domain. Numerical simulations at Re = 100 and 0.1 ? Pr ? 10 are performed using spectral element discretization of Navier-Stokes and energy equations in a moving domain based on an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation. Results within the thermally developing flow region show heat transfer enhancement due to the placement of a stationary cylinder compared to the straight channel case. Transverse oscillations of the cylinder further increase the wall heat transfer coefficient. Pumping power in the channel and the power necessary to oscillate the cylinder is also provided for comparisons. Cylinder oscillations with 75% of the natural vortex shedding frequency is shown to yield the best results with only 10% more power to pump the fluid, compared with the fixed cylinder case.     

Forced convection heat transfer from a heated circular cylinder with arbitrary surface temperature distributions

A Fredholm-type boundary integral expression for evaluation of the forced convection heat transfer from an object with arbitrary surface temperature distributions is proposed. The Fredholm kernel function for a heated circular cylinder was calculated by numerical simulation of the forced convection fields, and then generalized heat transfer coefficients for arbitrary surface temperature distributions were defined. By use of the generalized heat transfer coefficients, it is shown that the difference in local heat transfer characteristics between the case of an isothermal cylinder and that of a uniform heat flux one can be interpreted only as the difference of the surface temperature distributions. Moreover, the mechanism of the effect of the surface temperature distribution on the characteristics of forced convection heat transfer from a cylinder is clarified in detail through the generalized heat transfer coefficients. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 28(6): 484–499, 1999     

Laminar convective heat transfer from a circular cylinder exposed to a low frequency zero-mean velocity oscillating flow

Heat transfer characteristics of a circular cylinder exposed to a slowly oscillating flow with zero-mean velocity were investigated. The flow oscillation amplitude and frequency were changed in the range where the flow remains laminar and fluid particle travels back and forth over much larger distance compared to the cylinder diameter. The time- and space-averaged Nusselt number was measured by transient method, while two-dimensional numerical simulation was conducted to discuss the instantaneous flow and thermal fields around the cylinder. It was found that the time- and space-averaged Nusselt number can be correlated with the oscillating Reynolds number and Richardson number. Unique heat transfer characteristics under oscillating flow condition can be seen at the phases when the cross-sectional mean velocity is small or increasing from small value. During such period, heat transfer can be enhanced due to the local fluid motion induced by the vortices around the cylinder, which once moved away but returned back by the reversed flow. This heat transfer enhancement, however, is countered by the local warming effect of the hot vortices clinging around the cylinder at such phases.     

Periodic laminar flow and heat transfer in a channel with 45° staggered V-baffles

A numerical investigation has been carried out to examine periodic laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics in a three-dimensional isothermal wall channel of aspect ratio, AR = 2 with 45° staggered V-baffles. The computations are based on the finite volume method, and the SIMPLE algorithm has been implemented. The fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are presented for Reynolds numbers based on the hydraulic diameter of the channel ranging from 100 to 1200. To generate two pair of main streamwise vortex flows through the tested section, V-baffles with an attack angle of 45° are mounted in tandem and staggered arrangement on the lower and upper walls of the channel. Effects of different baffle heights on heat transfer and pressure drop in the channel are studied and the results of the V-baffle pointing upstream are also compared with those of the V-baffle pointing downstream. It is apparent that in each of the main vortex flows, a pair of streamwise twisted vortex (P-vortex) flows can induce impinging flows on a sidewall and a wall of the interbaffle cavity leading to drastic increase in heat transfer rate over the channel. In addition, the rise in the V-baffle height results in the increase in the Nusselt number and friction factor values. The computational results reveal that the optimum thermal enhancement factor is around 2.6 at baffle height of 0.15 times of the channel height for the V-baffle pointing upstream while is about 2.75 at baffle height of 0.2 times for the V-baffle pointing downstream.     

Experimental study on the unsteady laminar heat transfer downstream of a backwards facing step

The objective of this work is to study experimentally the unsteady heat transfer downstream of a backward-facing step in the 2-D laminar regime when the inlet flow is pulsated. To this aim, an experimental set-up has been prepared with water as the working fluid. The Reynolds number based on the hydraulic diameter of the inlet channel and average inlet velocity is 300. Inlet flow temperature is 30 °C and a region downstream of the step is heated up to 74 °C. Pulsation is achieved using a piston pump and heat transfer is studied up to a maximum pulsation Strouhal number of 1.2. The results obtained confirm previous numerical simulation work in the sense that pulsation could be used to partially recover the heat transfer efficiency that is lost in steady flow conditions downstream of a backward-facing step. It has also been confirmed that the behaviour of the averaged Nusselt number versus pulsation Strouhal number is of the resonant type. That is: the Nusselt number increases from the steady situation up to a certain value of the Strouhal number (0.41 in our case) and, then, it degrades as the frequency of the pulsation is further increased.     

Natural-convection heat transfer around a horizontal array of heated cylinders in air

An experimental study was performed to determine the natural-convection heat transfer characteristics of horizontal cylinders placed in a horizontal line in air. Local heat transfer coefficients were measured for three- and nine-cylinder arrays in various cylinder-spacing arrangements. As a result, it was found that there were no major differences in heat transfer coefficient among cylinders, other than for the array-edge cylinders. The mean value of all cylinders was clearly different from that of the array-edge cylinders. Based on a simple consideration for the effect of cylinder-spacing on heat transfer coefficient, correlation equations were proposed for each kind of heat transfer coefficient mentioned above. All the experimental heat transfer coefficients were expressed well by these equations. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Heat Trans Jpn Res, 25(6): 410–419, 1996     

3D simulation of laminar flow and heat transfer in V-baffled square channel

The article presents a numerical investigation on laminar flow and heat transfer characteristics in a three-dimensional isothermal wall square-channel fitted with inline 45° V-shaped baffles on two opposite walls. The computations based on the finite volume method with the SIMPLE algorithm have been conducted for the airflow in terms of Reynolds numbers ranging from 200 to 2000. The inline V-baffles with its V-tip pointing downstream and the attack angle (or half V-apex angle) of 45° relative to the flow direction are mounted repeatedly on the lower and upper walls. The baffled channel flow shows a fully developed periodic flow and heat transfer profile for BR = 0.2 at x/D≈ 8 downstream of the inlet. Influences of different baffle height ratios (BR) and pitch ratios, (PR) on thermal behaviors for a fully developed periodic condition are investigated. It is apparent that the longitudinal counter-rotating vortex flows created by the V-baffle can induce impingement/attachment flows over the walls resulting in greater increase in heat transfer over the test channel. Apart from speeding up the fully developed periodic flow pattern, the rise of the BR leads to the increase in Nu/Nu₀ and f/f₀ values while that of the PR provides an opposite trend. The V-baffle performs better than the angled baffle at a similar condition. The V-baffle with BR = 0.2 and PR = 1.5 yields the maximum thermal performance of about 3.8 whereas the Nu/Nu₀ is some 14 times above the smooth channel at higher Re.     

Numerical investigation of laminar heat transfer in a square channel with 45° inclined baffles

A numerical investigation of laminar periodic flow and heat transfer in a three-dimensional isothermal-wall square channel fitted with 45° inclined baffles on one channel wall is carried out in the present work. The finite volume method is introduced and the SIMPLE algorithm has been implemented for all computations. The fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics are presented for Reynolds numbers ranging from 100 to 1200. The 45° baffle mounted only on the lower channel wall has a height of b and an axial pitch length (L) equal to channel height (H). Effects of flow blockage ratios, BR = b/H = 0.1–0.5, on heat transfer and pressure loss in the square channel are examined and also compared with the typical case of the transverse baffle (or 90° baffle). It is found that apart from the rise of Reynolds number, the increase in the blockage ratio with the attack angle (α) of 45° results in considerable increases in the Nusselt number and friction factor values. The use of the 45° baffle can help to generate a streamwise main vortex flow throughout the channel leading to fast and chaotic mixing of flow between the core and the wall regions. In addition, the computational results reveal that the significant increase in heat transfer rate is due to impingement jets induced by a longitudinal vortex pair (P-vortex) of flow, appearing on the upper, lower and baffle trailing end side walls. The appearance of vortex-induced impingement flows created by the baffles leads to the maximum thermal enhancement factor of about 2.2 at BR = 0.4 and Re = 1200. The enhancement factor of the 45° baffle investigated is found to be higher than that of the 90° baffle for all Reynolds numbers and baffle heights.     

Numerical study of heat transfer in a laminar mist flow over a isothermal flat plate

A model for predicting heat and mass transfer in a laminar two-phase gas-vapor-drop mist flow over a flat isothermal flat is developed. Using this model, a numerical study is performed to examine the influence of thermal and flow parameters, i.e., Reynolds number, flow velocity, temperature ratio, concentration of the liquid phase, and drop size, on the profiles of velocity, temperature, composition of the two-phase mixture, and heat-transfer intensification ratio. It is shown that, as the concentration of the liquid phase in the free flow increases, the rate of heat transfer between the plate surface and the vapor-gas mixture increases dramatically, whereas the wall friction increases only insignificantly.     

Mixed convection heat transfer in a differentially heated square enclosure with a conductive rotating circular cylinder at different vertical locations

In this investigation, a numerical simulation using a finite volume scheme is carried out for a laminar steady mixed convection problem in a two-dimensional square enclosure of width and height (L), with a rotating circular cylinder of radius (R = 0.2 L) enclosed inside it. The solution is performed to analyze mixed convection in this enclosure where the left side wall is subjected to an isothermal temperature higher than the opposite right side wall. The upper and lower enclosure walls are considered adiabatic. The enclosure under study is filled with air with Prandtl number is taken as 0.71. Fluid flow and thermal fields and the average Nusselt number are presented for the Richardson numbers ranging as 0, 1, 5 and 10, while Reynolds number ranging as 50, 100, 200 and 300. The effects of various locations and solid-fluid thermal conductivity ratios on the heat transport process are studied in the present work. The results of the present investigation explain that increase in the Richardson and Reynolds numbers has a significant role on the flow and temperature fields and the rotating cylinder locations have an important effect in enhancing convection heat transfer in the square enclosure. The results explain also, that the average Nusselt number value increases as the Reynolds and Richardson numbers increase and the convection phenomenon is strongly affected by these parameters. The results showed a good agreement with further published works.     

Modelling of roughness effects on heat transfer in thermally fully-developed laminar flows through microchannels

In this paper, roughness was modelled as a pattern of parallelepipedic elements of height k periodically distributed on the plane walls of a microchannel of height H and of infinite span. Two different approaches were used to predict the influence of roughness on heat transfer in laminar flows through this microchannel. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were conducted in a computational domain based on the wavelength λ. A one-dimensional model (RLM model) was also developed on the basis of a discrete-element approach and the volume averaging technique. The numerical simulations and the rough-layer model agree to show that the Poiseuille number Po and the Nusselt number Nu increase with the relative roughness. The RLM model shows that the roughness effect may be interpreted by using effective roughness heights k_eff and k_effθ for predicting Po and Nu respectively. k_eff and k_effθ depend on two dimensionless local parameters: the porosity of the rough-layer and the roughness height normalized with the distance between the rough elements. The present results show that roughness increases the friction factor more than the heat transfer coefficient (performance evaluation criteria < 1), for a relative roughness height expected in the fabrication of microchannels (k/(H/2) < 0.46) or k/D_h < 0.11).     

Heat transfer around a circular cylinder in separated air flow

An experimental study has been conducted to determine the heat transfer characteristics around a circular cylinder attached to the separated flow of air shed from a fence. The fence was located vertically to the flow with a height of H = 40 mm. d/H was constant at 0.638, where d is the cylinder diameter of 25.5 mm. X/H were 0.50 and 0.775 and Y/H ranged from 0.525 to 1.50, where X and Y are, respectively, the distances between the axis of the cylinder and the front face of the fence, and the bottom wall of the test section. The Reynolds number based on the cylinder diameter and the velocity of the undisturbed flow ranged from 1.9 × 10⁴ to 6.0 × 10⁴. It was found that the maximum local Nusselt number changes drastically in the vicinity of Y/H = 1.0–1.11 and that the maximum mean Nusselt number occurs in the neighborhood of Y/H = 1.24–1.43 for X/H = 0.50 and 1.3–1.4 for X/H = 0.775. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 28(3): 211–226, 1999     

Flow field and heat transfer of a two‐dimensional impinging jet disturbed by an elastically suspended circular cylinder

The flow field around a circular cylinder elastically suspended with a cantilever‐type plate spring in the jet impingement region was visualized to investigate the mechanism of the impingement heat transfer. The impingement distance H was kept constant at 3 or 5 times as large as the jet slot width, h = 15 mm.The Reynolds number was fixed at 10,000, or 5000 in the case of flow visualization. The self‐induced periodic swing motion of the cylinder across the jet axis was caused by the interaction between the jet and the elastically suspended cylinder. It was found that this swing motion has direct effects on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the stagnation region. The ensemble‐averaged values of the flow velocity and its fluctuations depended on the cylinder diameter and the impingement distance. The local Nusselt number in the case of H/h = 3 with the oscillating cylinder of the smallest diameter D = 4 mm was increased to 1.15 times as large as that without the cylinder. The interesting patterns of the intermittency function defined with a certain threshold level of turbulence intensity were obtained under the above experimental conditions. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 30(4): 313–330, 2001     

Flow and heat transfer around a single row of circular cylinders

A numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer around a single row of circular cylinders was conducted using a boundary-fitted coordinate system. Numerical calculations for center-to-center distance between cylinders L/d=2.0, 2.5, 3.3, and ∞ were made of water flows in the Reynolds number range from 75 to 500. Numerical values of average Nusselt number for uniformly heated cylinders are in relatively good agreement with those obtained from experiments in water (Prandtl number Pr ≒ 8). The interaction of wake flows behind cylinders, observed in the experiments, was also found to occur with decreasing cylinder spacing L/d. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. 25(3): 192–200, 1996     

Heat transfer characteristics of microencapsulated phase change material slurry in laminar flow under constant heat flux

Due to its large apparent specific heat during the phase change period, microencapsulated phase change material slurry (MPCMS) has been suggested as a medium for heat transfer. In this paper, the convective heat transfer characteristics of MPCMS flowing in a circular tube were experimentally and numerically investigated. The enhanced convective heat transfer mechanism of MPCMS, especially in the thermal fully developed range, was analyzed by using the enthalpy model. Three kinds of fluid–pure water, micro-particle slurry and MPCMS were numerically investigated. The results show that in the phase change heat transfer region the Ste number and the Mr number are the most important parameters influencing the Nusselt number fluctuation profile and the dimensionless wall temperature. Re_b, d_p and c also influence the Nusselt number profile and the dimensionless wall temperature, but they are independent of phase change process.