Effect of heater and cooler locations on natural convection in square cavities
- Gazi Univ., Ankara (Turkey). Mechanical Engineering Dept.
The flow and heat transfer in partially heated and partially cooled cavities were numerically analyzed. A square enclosure with a heater and a cooler on the vertical walls was considered. The size of the heater and cooler was kept constant, but the locations of the heater and cooler were changed. Using the control volume approach, a computer program based on the SIMPLE algorithm was developed. Computations were carried out to investigate the effects of the heater and cooler locations on the fluid flow and heat transfer. It was observed that for a given cooler location, the mean Nusselt number increases as the heater moves closer to the bottom wall. On the other hand, for a given heater location, the mean Nusselt number increases as the cooler moves closer to the top horizontal wall. For the problem considered, the maximum mean Nusselt number is obtained when the heater is slightly above the bottom wall and the cooler is slightly below the top horizontal wall. For all Raleigh numbers considered, the same behavior was observed. Natural convection heat transfer and fluid flow in enclosures are seen in many engineering applications, i.e., solar collectors, building heating, insulation with double-pane windows, and cooling of electronic equipment.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 63006
- Journal Information:
- Numerical Heat Transfer. Part A, Applications, Journal Name: Numerical Heat Transfer. Part A, Applications Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 27; ISSN NHAAES; ISSN 1040-7782
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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