Numerical simulation of steady natural convection heat transfer in a 3-dimensional single-ended tube subjected to a nanofluid

In this paper, 3-dimensional numerical simulation of steady natural convective flow and heat transfer are studied in a single-ended tube with non-uniform heat input. Apart from some other applications, it serves as a simplified model of the single-ended evacuated solar tube of a water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heater. It is assumed that the sealed end of tube to be adiabatic and also the tube opening to be subjected to copper–water nanofluid. Governing equations are derived based on the conceptual model in the cylindrical coordinate system. The governing equations have been then approximated by means of a fully implicit finite volume control method (FVM), using SIMPLE algorithm on the collocated arrangement. The study has been carried out for solid volume fraction 0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.05 and maximum heat flux 100 ≤ q_m ≤ 700. Considering that the driven flow in the tube is influenced by the dimensions and the inclination angle of the solar tube, the flow patterns and temperature distributions are presented on different cross sectional planes and longitudinal sections, when the tube is positioned at different orientations.