Adiabatic partition effect on natural convection heat transfer inside a square cavity: experimental and numerical studies

• Published in: Heat and mass transfer Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 291 - 304
• Main Authors: Mahmoudinezhad, S., Rezania, A., Yousefi, T., Shadloo, M. S., Rosendahl, L. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2018; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Adiabatic flow; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Convective flow; Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Fluid flow; Fluid mechanics; Free convection; Heat and Mass Transfer; Heat transfer; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Laminar heat transfer; Mechanics; Nusselt number; Original; Partitions; Physics; Rayleigh number; Thermodynamics; Walls; Nusselt number; Natural convection; Verification; Laminar-free convection; Experimental verification; Numerical approaches; Heat convection; Adiabatic partition; Natural convective flow; Partitioned cavities; Finite volume code; Experimental and numerical studies; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0947-7411; 1432-1181
• DOI: 10.1007/s00231-017-2103-7

A steady state and two-dimensional laminar free convection heat transfer in a partitioned cavity with horizontal adiabatic and isothermal side walls is investigated using both experimental and numerical approaches. The experiments and numerical simulations are carried out using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a finite volume code, respectively. A horizontal and adiabatic partition, with angle of θ is adjusted such that it separates the cavity into two identical parts. Effects of this angel as well as Rayleigh number on the heat transfer from the side-heated walls are investigated in this study. The results are performed for the various Rayleigh numbers over the cavity side length, and partition angles ranging from 1.5 × 10 5 to 4.5 × 10 5 , and 0 ° to 90 ° , respectively. The experimental verification of natural convective flow physics has been done by using FLUENT software. For a given adiabatic partition angle, the results show that the average Nusselt number and consequently the heat transfer enhance as the Rayleigh number increases. However, for a given Rayleigh number the maximum and the minimum heat transfer occurs at θ  = 45 ° and θ  = 90 ° , respectively. Two responsible mechanisms for this behavior, namely blockage ratio and partition orientation, are identified. These effects are explained by numerical velocity vectors and experimental temperatures contours. Based on the experimental data, a new correlation that fairly represents the average Nusselt number of the heated walls as functions of Rayleigh number and the angel of θ for the aforementioned ranges of data is proposed.