Effects of Thermal Boundary Conditions on Entropy Generation during Natural Convection

Abstract

A comprehensive numerical study on entropy generation during natural convection is studied in a square cavity subjected to a wide variety of thermal boundary conditions. Entropy generation terms involving thermal and velocity gradients are evaluated accurately based on the elemental basis set via the Galerkin finite element method. The thermal and fluid irreversibilities during the conduction and convection dominant regimes are analyzed in detail for various fluids (Pr = 0.026,988.24) within Ra = 10³–10⁵. Further, the effect of Ra on the total entropy generation and average Bejan number is discussed. It is observed that thermal boundary conditions significantly affect the thermal mixing, temperature uniformity, and the entropy generation in the cavity. A case where the bottom wall is hot isothermal with linearly cooled side walls and adiabatic top wall is found to result in high thermal mixing and a higher degree of temperature uniformity with minimum total entropy generation.