Experimental Study of Transient Natural Convection in an Inclined Porous Enclosure With Time-Periodically-Varying Wall Temperature

Author(s):  
M. Zeng ◽  
G. Wang ◽  
Y. C. Ren ◽  
H. Ozoe ◽  
Q. W. Wang

The transient natural convection in an inclined enclosure filled with porous media is studied experimentally and numerically for the time-periodically-varying wall temperature on one side wall and constant average temperature on the opposing side wall. This system has no temperature difference between the opposing two side walls in time-averaged sense. The porous media with three kinds of porosity consist of water and three kinds of glass ball with different diameter. The temperature and heat flux across the two above-mentioned walls are measured by a heat flux meter. The effects of inclined angles and porosity of the enclosure on heat transfer characteristics have also been studied. The experimental results show that, with the upper wall temperature oscillating, the heat flux across the enclosure is also periodically varied with time. However, the net heat flux is always from the lower wall to the upper wall and reaches maximum at a certain inclined angle. Numerical computations are also conducted and numerical results are qualitatively assured by the experimental measurements.

Author(s):  
Ammar I. Alsabery ◽  
Ishak Hashim ◽  
Ali J. Chamkha ◽  
Habibis Saleh ◽  
Bilal Chanane

Purpose This paper aims to study analytically and numerically the problem of transient natural convection heat transfer in a trapezoidal cavity with spatial side-wall temperature variation. Design/methodology/approach The governing equations subject to the initial and boundary conditions are solved numerically by the finite difference scheme consisting of the alternating direction implicit method and the tri-diagonal matrix algorithm. The left sloping wall of the cavity is heated to non-uniform temperature, and the right sloping wall is maintained at a constant cold temperature, while the horizontal walls are kept adiabatic. Findings It is shown that the heat transfer rate increases in non-uniform heating increments, whereby low wave number values are more affected by the convection. The best heat transfer enhancement results from larger side wall inclination angle; however, trapezoidal cavities require longer time compared to that of square to reach steady state. Originality/value The study of natural convection heat transfer in a trapezoidal cavity filled with nanofluid and heated by spatial side-wall temperature has not yet been undertaken. Thus, the authors of the present study believe that this work is valuable.


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.


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