EFFECT OF HEATER AND COOLER LOCATIONS ON NATURAL CONVECTION IN SQUARE CAVITIES

• Published in: Numerical heat transfer. Part A, Applications Applications, 1995-03, Vol.27 (3), p.351-358
• Main Authors: Türkoglu, Hasmet, Yücel, Nuri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Convection and heat transfer; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Physics; Turbulent flows, convection, and heat transfer
• ISSN: 1040-7782; 1521-0634
• DOI: 10.1080/10407789508913705

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 neater 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 wait. 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 Rayleigh numbers considered, the same behavior was observed.