Role of micro-convection due to non-affine motion of particles in a mono-disperse suspension

• Published in: International journal of heat and mass transfer Vol. 38; no. 16; pp. 2945 - 2958
• Main Authors: Gupte, Sunil K., Advani, Suresh G., Huq, Pablo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1995; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Heat transfer; Theoretical studies. Data and constants. Metering; Microcirculation; Two phase flow; Particle interaction; Particle suspension; Modeling; Convection; Heat transfer
• ISSN: 0017-9310; 1879-2189
• DOI: 10.1016/0017-9310(95)00060-M

Non-affine translation of suspended particles in a flowing suspension causes micro-convection of the fluid in the vicinity of the particle which affects the local transport mechanisms in the suspension. To investigate the importance of micro-convection on heat transport, a unit cell approach is adopted. A parametric study investigates the influence of particle fall velocity in a quiescent fluid and particle volume fraction on micro-convection in a sedimenting suspension. The thermal flux across the unit cell is shown to be a function of modified Péclet number that includes the influence of volume fraction for the range of volume fractions (0 < ε < 0.3) and for Pe ≈ O(1). This is used to investigate the influence of hindered settling on transport processes such as heat transfer occurring in a sedimenting suspension.