ISSN Online: 2377-424X
ISBN Print: 0-89116-909-1
International Heat Transfer Conference 9
CORRELATING EQUATIONS FOR TURBULENT NATURAL CONVECTION IN A SYMMETRICALLY HEATED VERTICAL PARALLEL-PLATE CHANNEL
Abstract
The process of turbulent natural convection in a vertical parallel plate channel heated uniformly on both sides is studied numerically using an implicit finite-difference method. A low-Reynolds-number k − D turbulence model is employed in the problem formulation, taking full account for the effect of density fluctuation and property variations with temperature. Numerical computations have been performed over wide ranges of parameters. Based upon the numerical results, correlating equations are obtained for the induced flow rate in terms of the Reynolds number and for the Nusselt number in the fully developed region as functions of the Grashof number, the thermal loading factor, the aspect ratio of the channel, and the dimensionless parameter characterizing the ambient temperature stratification.