Numerical Investigation of Thermo Fluid Mechanics of Differentially Heated Rotating Tubes

Three-dimensional simulation of incompressible flow in rotating tubes for both laminar and turbulent flows has been performed using a finite-volume method for elliptic flows. The influence of Reynolds number on the velocity field and the effects of temperature gradient on temperature profiles have been presented by numerical simulations. Also the effects of velocity field, flow regime, and temperature distribution along the tube have been studied from different points of view. The results have been calculated for rotational Reynolds numbers ranging from 1000 to 320,000. The comparisons between numerically calculated velocity field and the Nusselt number have shown satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.