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Article
Publication date: 6 July 2015

Nader Pourmahmoud, Masoud Rashidzadeh and Amir Hassanzadeh

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of convergent nozzles on the thermal separation inside a vortex tube, using a three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of convergent nozzles on the thermal separation inside a vortex tube, using a three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model as predicting tool.

Design/methodology/approach

The 3D finite volume formulation with the standard k-ε turbulence model has been used to carry out all the computations. Six different nozzles for convergence angle have been utilized β=0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10°. All other geometrical parameters were considered fixed at the experimental condition, i.e. main tube and chamber sizes and 294.2 K of gas temperature at inlets.

Findings

The numerical results present that there is an optimum convergence angle for obtaining the highest efficiency and β=2° is the optimal candidate under the simulations. It can be pointed that, some numerical data are validated by the available experimental results which show good agreement.

Practical implications

It is a useful and simple design of nozzle injectors to achieve the maximum cooling capacity.

Originality/value

In the work with assuming the advantages of using convergent nozzles on the energy separation and their considerable role on the creation of maximum cooling capacity of machine, the shape of nozzles was concentrated. This research believes that choosing an appropriate convergence angle is one of the important physical parameters. So far, an effective investigation toward the optimization of convergent nozzles has not been done but the importance of this subject can be regarded as an interesting research theme; so that the machine would operate in the way that the maximum cooling effect or the maximum refrigeration capacity is provided.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 32 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 1999

Shu‐Hao Chuang, Chih‐Sheng Yang and Nein‐Jou Wu

The swirling flow of sudden‐expansion dump combustor with central V‐gutter flameholder and six side‐inlets is studied by employing the SIMPLE‐C algorithm and Jones‐Launder k‐…

Abstract

The swirling flow of sudden‐expansion dump combustor with central V‐gutter flameholder and six side‐inlets is studied by employing the SIMPLE‐C algorithm and Jones‐Launder k‐ε two‐equation turbulent model. Both combustion models of one‐step with infinite chemical reaction rate and two‐step with finite chemical reaction rate of eddy‐breakup (EBU) model are used to solve the present problem. The results agreed well with available prediction data in terms of axial‐velocity and total pressure coefficient along combustor centerline. The flowfield structure of combustor considered is strongly affected by swirling, flameholder and side‐inlet flow. For the fixed strength of swirling, the length of central recirculation zone is decreased when the angle of V‐gutter is increased. The outlet velocity of combustor in reacting flow is higher than that in cold flow because the released heat of combustion causes the decrease of density throughout the combustor flowfield. The distribution of mass fraction of various species in reacting process depends on the mixing effect, chemical kinetic and the geometric configuration of combustor.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 9 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2020

Faraz Hoseininejad, Saeed Dinarvand and Mohammad Eftekhari Yazdi

This study aims to investigate numerically the problem of conjugate conduction and mixed convection heat transfer of a nanofluid in a rotational/stationary circular enclosure…

103

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate numerically the problem of conjugate conduction and mixed convection heat transfer of a nanofluid in a rotational/stationary circular enclosure using a two-phase mixture model.

Design/methodology/approach

Hot and cold surfaces on the wall or inside the enclosure (heater and cooler) are maintained at constant temperature of Th and Tc, respectively, whereas other parts are thermally insulated. To examine the effects of various parameters such as Richardson number (0.01 = Ri =100), thermal conductivity ratio of solid to base fluid (1 = Kr = 100), volume fraction of nanoparticle (0 = φ = 0.05), insertion of conductive covers (C.Cs) around the heater in a different shape (triangular, circular or square), segmentation and arrangement of the conductive blocks (C.Bs) and rotation direction of the enclosure on the flow structure and heat transfer rate, two-dimensional equations of mass, momentum and energy conservation, as well as volume fraction, are solved using finite volume method and Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations (SIMPLE) algorithm.

Findings

The results show that inserting C.C around heater can increase or decrease heat transfer rate, and it depends on thermal conductivity ratio of solid to pure fluid. Also, it is found that by the division of C.B and location of its portions in a horizontal configuration, heat transfer rate reduces. Moreover, it is observed that external heating and cooling of the enclosure causes enhancement of heat transfer relative to that of internal heating and cooling. Finally, results illustrate that under the condition that cylinders rotate in the same direction, the heat transfer rate increases as compared to those that rotate in the opposite direction. Hence rotation direction of cylinders can be used as a desired parameter for controlling heat transfer rate.

Originality/value

A comprehensive report of results for the problem of conjugate conduction and mixed convection heat transfer in a circular cylinder containing different shapes of C.C, conducting obstacle and heater and cooler has been presented. An efficient numerical technique has been developed to solve this problem. The achievements of this paper are purely original, and the numerical results were never published by any researcher.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 31 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2018

Alessandro Quintino, Marta Cianfrini, Paweł Ocłoń, Elisa Ricci and M. Corcione

Laminar natural convection of nanofluids in a square cooled cavity enclosing a heated horizontal cylinder is studied numerically. This paper aims to investigate in what measure…

Abstract

Purpose

Laminar natural convection of nanofluids in a square cooled cavity enclosing a heated horizontal cylinder is studied numerically. This paper aims to investigate in what measure the nanoparticle size and average volume fraction, the cavity width, the cylinder diameter and position, the average temperature of the nanofluid and the temperature difference imposed between the cylinder and the cavity walls, affects the basic heat and fluid flow features, as well as the thermal performance of the nanofluid relative to that of the base liquid.

Design/methodology/approach

The four-equation system of the mass, momentum and energy transfer governing equations has been solved using a computational code incorporating three empirical correlations for the evaluation of the effective thermal conductivity, the effective dynamic viscosity and the coefficient of thermophoretic diffusion, all based on a high number of experimental data available in the literature. The SIMPLE-C algorithm has been used to handle the pressure-velocity coupling. Simulations have been performed using Al2O3 + H2O, for different values of the average volume fraction of the suspended solid phase in the range 0-0.04, the diameter of the nanoparticles in the range 25-75 nm, the temperature difference imposed between the cylinder and the cavity walls in the range 5-20 K, the average nanofluid temperature in the range 300-330 K, the ratio between the cylinder diameter and the cavity width in the range 0.1-0.5 m, the ratio between the distance of the cylinder axis from the bottom wall and the cavity width in the range 0.2-0.8 and the ratio between the distance of the cylinder axis from the left sidewall and the cavity width in the range 0.2-0.5.

Findings

The main results obtained may be summarized as follows: the overall solid phase migration from hot to cold results in a cooperating solutal buoyancy force which tends to compensate the friction increase consequent to the viscosity growth due to the dispersion of the nanoparticles into the base fluid; the effect of the increased thermal conductivity consequent to the nanoparticle dispersion into the base fluid plays the major role in determining the heat transfer enhancement of the nanofluid, at least in the upper range of the investigated average temperatures; at high temperatures, the nanofluid heat transfer performance relative to that of the pure base liquid increases with increasing the average volume fraction of the suspended solid phase, whereas at low temperatures, it has a peak at an optimal particle loading; the relative heat transfer performance of the nanofluid increases notably with increasing the average temperature, and just moderately as the imposed temperature difference, the width of the cavity and the distance of the cylinder from the bottom of the cavity, are increased; the relative heat transfer performance of the nanofluid increases as the nanoparticle size, the cylinder diameter and the distance of the cylinder from the sidewall, are decreased; as a consequence of the local competition between the thermal and the solutal buoyancy forces, a periodic flow arises when the cylinder is located in the vicinity of one of the cooled walls of the enclosure.

Originality/value

Framed in this general background, a comprehensive numerical study on buoyancy-driven convection of alumina-water nanofluids inside a cooled square cavity containing a heated circular cylinder is executed by the way of a two-phase model based on the double-diffusive approach accounting for the effects of the Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 28 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 August 2007

G. Comini and S. Savino

Joint descriptions of both heat and mass transfer and thermodynamic aspects of air‐cooling applications cannot be easily found in the literature. Numerical analyses are a notable…

1158

Abstract

Purpose

Joint descriptions of both heat and mass transfer and thermodynamic aspects of air‐cooling applications cannot be easily found in the literature. Numerical analyses are a notable exception since suitable physical models and realistic boundary conditions are a prerequisite of accurate simulations. Thus, it is believed that the experience gained with numerical simulations might be of some help also to designers of air‐conditioning and drying systems. This paper seeks to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

In the text, the physical implications of governing equations and boundary conditions utilized in numerical simulations are extensively discussed. Particular attention is paid to the thermodynamically consistent definition of latent and sensible heat loads, and to the correct formulation of the heat and mass transfer analogy.

Findings

Comparisons of analytical and numerical results concerning forced flows of humid air over a cooled plate validate the assumptions made in numerical simulations, both for air‐conditioning applications (almost always characterized by low rates of mass convection) and drying applications (almost always characterized by high rates of mass convection).

Originality/value

Finally, with reference to the cold plate problem investigated here, the effects of the suction flow induced by condensation on the Nusselt number are quantified.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2023

Kashif Irshad, Amjad Ali Pasha, Mohammed K. Al Mesfer, Mohd Danish, Manoj Kumar Nayak, Ali Chamkha and Ahmed M. Galal

The entropy and thermal behavior analyses of non-Newtonian nanofluid double-diffusive natural convection inside complex domains may captivate a bunch of scholars’ attention…

Abstract

Purpose

The entropy and thermal behavior analyses of non-Newtonian nanofluid double-diffusive natural convection inside complex domains may captivate a bunch of scholars’ attention because of the potential utilizations that they possess in modern industries, for example, heat exchangers, solar energy collectors and cooling of electronic apparatuses. This study aims to investigate the second law and thermal behavior of non-Newtonian double-diffusive natural convection (DDNC) of Al2O3-H2O nanofluid within a C-shaped cavity emplacing two hot baffles and impacted by a magnetic field.

Design/methodology/approach

For the governing equations of the complicated and practical system with all considered parameters to be solved via a formidable numerical approach, the finite element method acts as an approach to achieving the desired solution. This method allows us to gain a detailed solution to the studied geometry.

Findings

This investigation has been executed for the considered parameters of range, such as power-law index, baffle length, Lewis number, buoyancy ratio, Hartmann number and Rayleigh number. The main results reveal that isothermal and concentration lines are significantly more distorted, indicating intensified concentration and temperature distributions because of the growth of baffle length (L). Nuave decreases by 8.4% and 0.8% while it enhances by 49.86% and 33.87%, respectively, because of growth in the L from 0.1 to 0.2 and 0.2 to 0.3.

Originality/value

Such a comprehensive study on the second law and thermal behavior of DDNC of Al2O3-H2O nanofluid within a C-shaped cavity emplacing two hot baffles and impacted by magnetic field has not yet been carried out.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 34 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Prodyut Chakraborty and Pradip Dutta

The purpose of this paper is to present a new numerical approach for modeling the multi‐phase flow during an alloy solidification process. In many solidification processes…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a new numerical approach for modeling the multi‐phase flow during an alloy solidification process. In many solidification processes, advection of solid may have a dramatic effect on bulk convection field as well as on the solid front growth and hence on the macro‐segregation pattern. In the present work, a numerical model is developed to simulate directional solidification in presence of melt convection as well as solid advection in the form of sedimentation. A 2D cavity filled with hyper‐eutectic aqueous ammonium chloride solution (25 wt.% of ammonium chloride) being chilled from one of the side walls has been chosen as the model problem for the numerical simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

A fixed grid volume averaging technique has been used for solving mass, momentum, energy, and species equation while taking into account the solid phase advection and local re‐melting. Two different criteria have been identified for the solid particles in the mushy zone to be mobile. These two criteria are represented by a critical solid fraction, and a critical velocity. Based on these two criteria, the mushy zone has been subdivided into two different regions namely, an immobile coherent zone consisting of packed equiaxed crystals and a mobile non‐coherent zone where the solid crystals are able to move.

Findings

The numerical results are compared with corresponding experimental observations.

Originality/value

The solid advection velocity and source terms dealing with solid velocity have been calculated using an explicit scheme, whereas the main conservation equations are solved using an implicit scheme.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 21 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2023

Ebrahim Tavousi, Noel Perera, Dominic Flynn and Reaz Hasan

The purpose of the study is to numerically investigate the characteristics of laminar heat transfer and fluid flow in a double tube heat exchanger (DTHE) using water-aluminum…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to numerically investigate the characteristics of laminar heat transfer and fluid flow in a double tube heat exchanger (DTHE) using water-aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanofluid. The study examines the effects of nanofluid in both counter and parallel flow configurations. Furthermore, an exergy analysis is conducted to assess the impact of nanofluid on exergy destruction.

Design/methodology/approach

The single-phase method has been used for Al2O3 nanoparticles in water as base fluid in a laminar regime for Reynolds numbers from 400 to 2,000. The effects of nanoparticle volume fractions (0 to 0.1), Nusselt number, Reynolds number, heat transfer coefficient, pressure drop, performance evaluation criteria (PEC) and the impact of counter and parallel flow direction have been studied.

Findings

The findings indicate that the incorporation of nanoparticles into the water enhances the heat transfer rate of DTHE. This enhancement is attributed to the improved thermal properties of the working fluid and its impact on the thermal boundary layer. Nusselt number, heat transfer coefficient, and PEC increase by approximately 19.5%, 58% and 1.2, respectively, in comparison to pure water. Conversely, the pressure drop experiences a 5.3 times increase relative to pure water. Exergy analysis reveals that nanofluids exhibit lower exergy destruction compared to pure water. The single-phase method showed better agreement with the experimental results compared to the two-phase method.

Originality/value

Dimensionless correlations were derived and validated with experimental and numerical results for the Nusselt number and PEC for both counter and parallel flow configurations based on the Reynolds number and nanoparticles volume fraction with high accuracy to predict the performance of DTHE without performing time-consuming simulations. Also, an exergy analysis was performed to compare the exergy destruction between nanofluid and pure water.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 September 2022

Hang-Wei Wan, Yu-Quan Wen and Qi Zhang

The reaction dynamics of combustible clouds at high temperatures and pressures are a common form of energy output in aerospace and explosion accidents. The cloud explosion process…

Abstract

Purpose

The reaction dynamics of combustible clouds at high temperatures and pressures are a common form of energy output in aerospace and explosion accidents. The cloud explosion process is often affected by the external initial conditions. This study aims to numerically study the effects of airflow velocity, initial temperature and fuel concentration on the explosion behavior of isopropyl nitrate/air mixture in a semiconstrained combustor.

Design/methodology/approach

The discrete-phase model was adopted to consider the interaction between the gas-phase and droplet particles. A wave model was applied to the droplet breakup. A finite rate/eddy dissipation model was used to simulate the explosion process of the fuel cloud.

Findings

The peak pressure and temperature growth rate both decrease with the increasing initial temperature (1,000–2,200 K) of the combustor at a lower airflow velocity. The peak pressure increases with the increase of airflow velocity (50–100 m/s), whereas the peak temperature is not sensitive to the initial high temperature. The peak pressure of the two-phase explosion decreases with concentration (200–1,500 g/m3), whereas the peak temperature first increases and then decreases as the concentration increases.

Practical implications

Chain explosion reactions often occur under high-temperature, high-pressure and turbulent conditions. This study aims to provide prevention and data support for a gas–liquid two-phase explosion.

Originality/value

Sustained turbulence is realized by continuously injecting air and liquid fuel into a semiconfined high-temperature and high-pressure combustor to obtain the reaction dynamic parameters of a two-phase explosion.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 July 2019

Mohammad Ghalambaz, Mahmoud Sabour, Ioan Pop and Dongsheng Wen

The present study aims to address the flow and heat transfer of MgO-MWCNTs/EG hybrid nanofluid in a complex shape enclosure filled with a porous medium. The enclosure is subject…

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aims to address the flow and heat transfer of MgO-MWCNTs/EG hybrid nanofluid in a complex shape enclosure filled with a porous medium. The enclosure is subject to a uniform inclined magnetic field and radiation effects. The effect of the presence of a variable magnetic field on the natural convection heat transfer of hybrid nanofluids in a complex shape cavity is studied for the first time. The geometry of the cavity is an annular space with an isothermal wavy outer cold wall. Two types of the porous medium, glass ball and aluminum metal foam, are adopted for the porous space. The governing equations for mass, momentum and heat transfer of the hybrid nanofluid are introduced and transformed into non-dimensional form. The actual available thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity data for the hybrid nanofluid are directly used for thermophysical properties of the hybrid nanofluid.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing equations for mass, momentum and heat transfer of hybrid nanofluid are introduced and transformed into non-dimensional form. The thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid are directly used from the experimental results available in the literature. The finite element method is used to solve the governing equations. Grid check procedure and validations were performed.

Findings

The effect of Hartmann number, Rayleigh number, Darcy number, the shape of the cavity and the type of porous medium on the thermal performance of the cavity are studied. The outcomes show that using the composite nanoparticles boosts the convective heat transfer. However, the rise of the volume fraction of nanoparticles would reduce the overall enhancement. Considering a convective dominant regime of natural convection flow with Rayleigh number of 107, the maximum enhancement ratio (Nusselt number ratio compared to the pure fluid) for the case of glass ball is about 1.17 and for the case of aluminum metal foam is about 1.15 when the volume fraction of hybrid nanoparticles is minimum as 0.2 per cent.

Originality/value

The effect of the presence of a variable magnetic field on the natural convection heat transfer of a new type of hybrid nanofluids, MgO-MWCNTs/EG, in a complex shape cavity is studied for the first time. The results of this paper are new and original with many practical applications of hybrid nanofluids in the modern industry.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 29 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000