NUMERICAL STUDY OF OPPOSING MIXED CONVECTION IN A VENTED ENCLOSURE
Abstract
A numerical study has been performed on mixed convection in a vented enclosure by finite element method. An external fluid flow enters the enclosure through an opening in the left vertical wall and exits from another fixed opening in the right vertical wall. Various inlet port configurations are extensively studied with the change of governing parameters. For mixed convection, the significant parameters are Grashof number (Gr), Richardson number (Ri) and Reynolds number (Re) by which different fluid and heat transfer characteristics inside the cavity are obtained. In present study streamlines, isotherms, average temperature and average Nusselt number of the heated wall are reported for Ri = 0 to 10, Re = 50, 100 and 200; Pr = 0.71, 7.5 and 50 and different inlet position Hi = 0.05, 0.50 and 0.95. From the present analysis it is found that with the increase of Reynolds and Richardson numbers the convective heat transfer becomes predominant over the conduction heat transfer and the rate of heat transfer from the heated wall significantly depends on the position of the inlet port. Higher Nusselt number is observed at very large Prandtl number. Empirical correlations are developed to express the above relation mathematically.