Search

A Galerkin spectral method has been applied to solve numerically the problem of fully developed laminar mixed convection in horizontal concentric annuli with axially uniform heat flow per unit length, uniform temperature along the periphery of the heated wall, thermal insulation on the remaining surface. Results have been obtained for PeRa values up to 10 7 , for Pr = 0.7, 5 and ∞, for inner to outer diameter ratio η = 0.2 in case of inner wall heated and for η = 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 in case of outer wall heated. Computations allow understanding the onset of secondary flows and their influence on both fluid dynamics and heat transfer. In particular, the distortion of the axial shear stress effects the reduction of the mass flow rate at a given axial pressure gradient. On the other hand, boundary layer thinning determines an increase in the Nusselt number up to a factor 2.5 on average in the investigated range as summarized by suitable correlations. Eventually, results have been compared with other numerical computations and experimental data only available for restricted ranges of the governing parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to explore the hydrothermal attributes of three types of nanofluid containing the silver nanoparticles, aluminum oxide nanoparticles, and hybrid silver–aluminum oxide nanoparticles in two different types of microchannel, namely Left-Right and Up-Down wavy microchannels. The multi-phase mixture model is utilized to numerically simulate the flow at constant pumping powers. The results unmask that the secondary flow formed due to the wavy structure is more severe for the Left-Right wavy microchannel compared to the Up-Down one. Also, a maximum 330% enhancement in the convective heat transfer coefficient was observed for the Up-Down wavy microchannel working with the silver nanofluid, while the same value for the Left-Right one was 200%. Although the impact of using the nanofluids is more dominant for the Up-Down wavy microchannel, the Left-Right one exhibited better cooling performance in terms of the Nusselt number. It was observed that utilizing the nanofluids has minor impact on improving the bottom surface temperature uniformity for the Left-Right wavy microchannel, while for the Up-Down one this effect is more dominant. Lower amounts of thermal resistance were obtained in the case of using the nanofluids for both wavy structures, with more impact on the Up-Down one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Secondary flow is the flow on the cross section normal to the main flow. It can greatly enhance the convective heat transfer. Mounting or punching vortex generators (VGs) on heat transfer surface can produce secondary flow. The heat transfer of circle tube bank fin heat exchanger with VGs or without VGs on the fin surface having ten different configurations (different fin spacing, height and attack angle of VGs) was numerically studied. It is found that if a non-dimensional parameter based on the absolute vorticity flux is introduced to specify the intensity of secondary flow, the volume average non-dimensional intensity of secondary flow has one-to-one correlation with Nusselt number for all the cases studied, but there is no such correlation with the friction factor. Considering the pressure drop produced by the shape of VGs, the ratio of cross section area reduction after introducing VGs is introduced to modify the friction factor. At the same fin spacing, both Reynolds number and the volume average non-dimensional intensity of secondary flow have one-to-one correlation with the modified friction factor. These results reveal that secondary flow intensity determines the heat transfer characteristics of the fin surfaces of circle tube bank fin heat exchanger only. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]