Numerical Simulation of Transient Natural Convection in a Channel-Chimney System

Author(s):  
Assunta Andreozzi ◽  
Bernardo Buonomo ◽  
Oronzio Manca

In the present numerical investigation, a transient numerical analysis for natural convection in air, between two vertical parallel plates (channel), heated at uniform heat flux, with adiabatic parallel plates downstream (chimney), is carried out by means of the finite volume method. The analyzed transient problem is two-dimensional and laminar. Results are presented in terms of wall temperature, mass flow rate and air velocity profiles. They are given at different Rayleigh number and expansion ratios (chimney gap/channel gap) for a fixed channel aspect ratio (channel height/channel gap) equal to 10 and extension ratio (channel-chimney height/channel height) equal to 2.0. Wall temperature profiles vs time show the presence of overshoots and undershoots. The comparison among the maximum wall temperatures shows that the simple channel is the most critical configuration at steady state condition, but the best configuration during the transient heating at the first overshoot. Velocity profiles in the chimney allow for identification of some different fluid dynamic behaviors such as the vortex in lower corner and the cold inflow in the chimney. According to the temperature profiles, average Nusselt number profiles as a function of time show minimum and maximum values and oscillations before the steady state.

Author(s):  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Sergio Nardini ◽  
Vincenzo Naso

The effect of heat conduction on air natural convection in a vertical channel, symmetrically heated, with flush-mounted strips at the walls, was numerically analyzed. Reference was made to laminar two-dimensional steady-state flow and to full elliptic Navier-Stokes equations on a I-shaped computational domain. Solutions were carried out by means of the FLUENT code. Results are presented in terms of wall temperature profiles, air velocity and temperature profiles in the channel. The wall temperature is affected by the location of the strip on the channel wall and maximum wall temperature is far larger when the heater is located in the upper region of the channel. Heat conduction in the channel wall lowers maximum wall temperature below the heater and the thicker the wall the larger the temperature reduction.


Author(s):  
Bernardo Buonomo ◽  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Sergio Nardini

In this paper transient natural convection in a vertical convergent channel with or without saturated porous medium is studied numerically. The investigation is carried out in laminar, two dimensional regime and employing the Brinkman-Forchheimer-extended Darcy model. The physical domain consists of two non-parallel plates which form a convergent channel. Both plates are heated at uniform heat flux. The solutions are achieved using the commercial code FLUENT. A finite-extension computational domain is employed to simulate the free-stream condition. The results are obtained for different convergence angles, for 0° to 5°, and porosity coefficient (0.4, 0.6 and 0.9), a channel aspect ratio equal to 10, a Rayleigh number equal to 104 and a Darcy number equal to 0.01. The dimensionless results are reported in terms of average and maximum wall temperatures, average Nusselt number as a function of time and at steady state wall temperature, local Nusselt number and temperature and stream function fields. The cases with porous medium in the channel shows that in conductive regime dominant, at initial time, average and maximum wall temperatures are lower than the case without porous medium in the channel. For the convective regime dominant, the lowest average and maximum wall temperatures are attained for the case without porour medium in the channel. At steady state, in the inlet zone the cases with porous medium present wall temperature lower than the no porous case. In the other part of the channel the opposite behaviour is detected.


Author(s):  
Assunta Andreozi ◽  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Yogesh Jaluria

The configuration of two horizontal parallel walls can be found in many applications, such as the cooling of electronic components, solar energy systems and chemical vapor deposition systems (CVD). In the present investigation a transient numerical analysis for laminar natural convection in air between two horizontal parallel plates, with the upper plate heated at uniform heat flux and the lower one unheated, is carried out by means of the finite volume method. The model was assumed to be two-dimensional. The full two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations together with the continuity and energy equations are solved by a numerical scheme derived from a SIMPLE-like algorithm in an H-shaped domain. Results are presented in terms of velocity and temperature profiles, wall temperature profiles and the temporal behavior of several significant variables, such as the penetration length, is reported for different Rayleigh numbers and aspect ratio values.


Author(s):  
Assunta Andreozzi ◽  
Bernardo Buonomo ◽  
Oronzio Manca

A description of transient natural convection in air in a vertical parallel plates channel, with one plate heated and the other one cooled at uniform heat flux, is numerically accomplished. The transient problem is two-dimensional and laminar with constant thermophysical properties. The numerical solution is carried out employing the commercial CFD code Fluent. The computational domain is made up of the physical configuration and two reservoirs, placed downstream and upstream the channel. Results are obtained for Rayleigh number between 103 and 106 and they are presented in terms of wall temperature profiles as a function of time, velocity and temperature profiles along transversal channel sections. The simulation allows to describe the fluid motion structures inside and outside the channel. A complete skew-symmetric motion is detected. For Ra≥105 temperature profiles as a function of time show periodical oscillations. For Ra≥104 overshoots are observed along the profiles and for corresponding average Nusselt number profiles dips are present.


Computation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Aditya Dewanto Hartono ◽  
Kyuro Sasaki ◽  
Yuichi Sugai ◽  
Ronald Nguele

The present work highlights the capacity of disparate lattice Boltzmann strategies in simulating natural convection and heat transfer phenomena during the unsteady period of the flow. Within the framework of Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook collision operator, diverse lattice Boltzmann schemes emerged from two different embodiments of discrete Boltzmann expression and three distinct forcing models. Subsequently, computational performance of disparate lattice Boltzmann strategies was tested upon two different thermo-hydrodynamics configurations, namely the natural convection in a differentially-heated cavity and the Rayleigh-Bènard convection. For the purposes of exhibition and validation, the steady-state conditions of both physical systems were compared with the established numerical results from the classical computational techniques. Excellent agreements were observed for both thermo-hydrodynamics cases. Numerical results of both physical systems demonstrate the existence of considerable discrepancy in the computational characteristics of different lattice Boltzmann strategies during the unsteady period of the simulation. The corresponding disparity diminished gradually as the simulation proceeded towards a steady-state condition, where the computational profiles became almost equivalent. Variation in the discrete lattice Boltzmann expressions was identified as the primary factor that engenders the prevailed heterogeneity in the computational behaviour. Meanwhile, the contribution of distinct forcing models to the emergence of such diversity was found to be inconsequential. The findings of the present study contribute to the ventures to alleviate contemporary issues regarding proper selection of lattice Boltzmann schemes in modelling fluid flow and heat transfer phenomena.


2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjiang Wu ◽  
Chan Y. Ching

The effect of the top wall temperature on the laminar natural convection in air-filled rectangular cavities driven by a temperature difference across the vertical walls was investigated for three different aspect ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. The temperature distributions along the heated vertical wall were measured, and the flow patterns in the cavities were visualized. The experiments were performed for a global Grashof number of approximately 1.8×108 and nondimensional top wall temperatures from 0.52 (insulated) to 1.42. As the top wall was heated, the flow separated from the top wall with an undulating flow region in the corner of the cavity, which resulted in a nonuniformity in the temperature profiles in this region. The location and extent of the undulation in the flow are primarily determined by the top wall temperature and nearly independent of the aspect ratio of the cavity. The local Nusselt number was correlated with the local Rayleigh number for all three cavities in the form of Nu=C⋅Ran, but the values of the constants C and n changed with the aspect ratio.


Author(s):  
Bernardo Buonomo ◽  
Oronzio Manca ◽  
Sergio Nardini ◽  
Alessandra Diana

Natural convection in horizontal rectangular channel without or with aluminum foam is experimentally and numerically investigated. In the case with aluminum foam the channel is partially filled. In both cases, the bottom wall of the channel is heated at a uniform heat flux and the upper wall is unheated and it is not thermally insulated to the external ambient. The experiments are performed with working fluid air. Different values of wall heat flux at lower surface are considered in order to obtain some Grashof numbers and different heated wall temperature distributions. Two different aluminum foams are considered in the experimental investigation, one from “M-pore”, with 10 and 30 pore per inch (PPI), and the other one from “ERG”, with 10, 20 and 40 PPI. The numerical simulation is carried out by a simplified two-dimensional model. It is found that the heat transfer is better when the channel is partially filled and the emissivity is low, whereas the heated wall temperature values are higher when the channel is partially filled and the heated bottom plate has high emissivity. The investigation is achieved also by flow visualization which is carried out to identify the main flow shape and development and the transition region along the channel. The visualization of results, both experimental and numerical, grants the description of secondary motions in the channel.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijit Guha ◽  
Subho Samanta

A boundary layer based integral analysis has been performed to investigate laminar natural convection heat transfer characteristics for fluids with arbitrary Prandtl number over a semi-infinite horizontal plate subjected either to a variable wall temperature or variable heat flux. The wall temperature is assumed to vary in the form T¯w(x¯)-T¯∞=ax¯n whereas the heat flux is assumed to vary according to qw(x¯)=bx¯m. Analytical closed-form solutions for local and average Nusselt number valid for arbitrary values of Prandtl number and nonuniform heating conditions are mathematically derived here. The effects of various values of Prandtl number and the index n or m on the heat transfer coefficients are presented. The results of the integral analysis compare well with that of previously published similarity theory, numerical computations and experiments. A study is presented on how the choice for velocity and temperature profiles affects the results of the integral theory. The theory has been generalized for arbitrary orders of the polynomials representing the velocity and temperature profiles. The subtle role of Prandtl number in determining the relative thicknesses of the velocity and temperature boundary layers for natural convection is elucidated and contrasted with that in forced convection. It is found that, in natural convection, the two boundary layers are of comparable thickness if Pr ≤ 1 or Pr ≈ 1. It is only when the Prandtl number is large (Pr > 1) that the velocity boundary layer is thicker than the thermal boundary layer.


Author(s):  
Mohamed-Nabil Sabry

Thermal stresses developed in electronic systems mainly depend, not only on average temperature values, but rather on wall temperature profiles. These profiles are difficult to predict unless one uses detailed finite element or finite difference modeling and simulation techniques. This type of analysis is only suitable at final design phases were geometrical details are available or being finalized. It is not suitable at early design phases to get a rapid estimate of wall thermal gradients to orient design appropriately. Standard approaches involving correlations for the heat transfer coefficient fail to predict temperature profiles for many reasons. In fact, these correlations depend on temperature profile as an input. In most engineering applications, walls are neither infinitely conducting nor of negligible conductivity to justify the usage of either uniform temperature or uniform heat flux assumptions. Correlations addressing conjugate heat transfer would not be able to solve the problem, unless a large number of them were available covering all possible combinations of fluid and wall conditions. Besides, the case of multiple heat sources, quite common in modern systems, can never be correctly handled by such an approach. The flexible profile technology was proposed earlier to model heat transfer in either solids (conduction) or fluids (forced convection. The model depends on domain (fluid or solid) geometry and physical properties, regardless of the particular set of applied boundary conditions, including that of multiple heat sources. Combining a fluid flexible profile model with a solid one, will allow predicting wall temperature profiles, with an adjustable level of precision, depending on the number of degrees of freedom retained. It will be applied in this paper to predict thermally induced stresses in some simple test cases as a demonstrator of the potentials behind this approach.


1989 ◽  
Vol 111 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. W. Webb ◽  
D. P. Hill

Experiments have been performed to determine local heat transfer data for the natural convective flow of air between vertical parallel plates heated asymmetrically. A uniform heat flux was imposed along one heated wall, with the opposing wall of the channel being thermally insulated. Local temperature data along both walls were collected for a wide range of heating rates and channel wall spacings corresponding to the high modified Rayleigh number natural convection regime. Laminar flow prevailed in all experiments. Correlations are presented for the local Nusselt number as a function of local Grashof number along the channel. The dependence of both average Nusselt number and the maximum heated wall temperature on the modified Rayleigh number is also explored. Results are compared to previous analytical and experimental work with good agreement.


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