TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION-NONGRAY GAS RADIATION ANALYSIS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE

Abstract

A numerical study of the turbulent natural convection-radiation interaction and the associated heat transfer in a square enclosure with differentially heated vertical walls and insulated horizontal walls is reported. The enclosure is either filled with a single participating gas (H₂O or C0₂) or a homogeneous mixture of two participating gases along with a diluent (N₂). A two-dimensional computational domain was used to simulate the steady state turbulent flow within the enclosure. The surface and gas radiation were treated by the discrete ordinates method. The wavelength dependent radiative properties of the gases were considered by the ‘weighted sum of gray gases’ model. A new correlation relating Nusseli number at the isothermal vertical walls as a function of the Rayleigh number and optical thickness of the medium is proposed. Detailed information about heat transfer variations along the length of the vertical walls is also given. The results are compared with previous numerical data obtained by other radiation models for similar problems.

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Bakhtier Farouk

Address correspondence to Bakhtier Farouk, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Drexel University, 32nd and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.