Effect of Inclination on Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in a Finned Enclosure Filled with a Dielectric Liquid

Abstract

The problem of two-dimensional natural convection flow of a dielectric fluid in a square inclined enclosure with a fin placed on the hot wall is investigated numerically. The fin thickness and length are 1/10 and 1/2 of the enclosure side, respectively. The Rayleigh number is varied from 10³ to 5 × 10⁵ and the solid to fluid thermal conductivity ratio is fixed at 10³. The enclosure tilt or inclination angle is varied from 0° to 90°. The streamlines and isotherms within the enclosure are produced and the heat transfer is calculated. It is found that for 2.5 × 10⁴ ≤ Ra ≤ 2.5 × 10⁵, the average Nusselt number is maximum when γ = 0° and minimum when γ = 90°. For Ra = 5 × 10⁵, the values of enclosure tilt angle for which the average Nusselt number is maximum or minimum are completely different due to the transition to unsteady state. In this case, the maximum heat transfer is obtained for γ = 60°, while the minimum heat transfer is predicted for γ = 0°. Monomial correlations relating the average Nusselt number with the different values of the Rayleigh number from 10⁴ to 10⁵ are determined for two different angles, γ = 0° and γ = 90°.

Notes

St. (Steady); Uns. (Unsteady).