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Abstract: This paper examines numerically the heat transfer enhancement in a pipe partially filled with a porous medium under local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) condition. The flow inside the porous material is modelled using the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model. The effect of different parameters such as, inertia (F), Darcy number (Da), conductivity ratio, porosity and particle diameter on the validity of local thermal equilibrium (LTE) are studied. The optimum porous thickness for heat transfer enhancement under varying F and with reasonable pressure drop is determined. The pipe wall is under constant wall temperature boundary condition. Two models are considered at the interface between the porous medium and the fluid. The differences between these models in predicting the temperature of the fluid and solid phases as well as the Nusselt (Nu) number for different pertinent parameters are discussed. In general, the two interface models result in similar trends of Nu number variation versus porous thickness ratio. However, considerably different values of Nu number are obtained from the two interface models. The effects of inertia term on the Nu number and pressure drop are further studied. For a given model and for Da<10−3, the Nu number is found independent of F. However, for Da>10−3 as F increases the computed Nu number increases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper a fictitious domain method is used to study the local heat transfer from an isothermal circular cylinder at low to moderate Reynolds numbers in order to provide a high quality correlation for the calculation of the local Nusselt numbers. A trigonometric series with 13 coefficients is found to best describe the local Nusselt number curves. A 5th order 2D polynomial in terms of Reynolds and Prandtl numbers is then used to provide a correlation for each of the 13 coefficients. A very high resolution database consisting of 25 Reynolds numbers from 10 to 250 in increments of 10, and 24 Prandtl numbers from 0.1 to 40 comprising a total of 600 simulations is used for the modeling. In addition to the 5th order polynomials cubic interpolants are also used to provide highly accurate fits. The maximum error in calculating the average Nusselt number is always less that 2.5% for the cubic interpolants and is 10% maximum for the 5th order polynomials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines the steady natural convection in a partially opened enclosure filled with porous media using the Brinkman–Forchheimer model. Whilst the part of the left vertical wall of the cavity is heated, the other walls are adiabatic or thermally insulated Based upon numerical predictions, the effects of pertinent parameters such as Grashof number, Darcy number, porosity, length of the heated wall and the location center of the opened cavity are examined. It is found that as the Grashof number increases, due to strengthening buoyancy driven flows, the local Nusselt number from partially heated vertical wall, at a given position on this wall increases. This, in turn, increases the temperature of the heated wall. The results of this study can be used in the design of an effective cooling system for electronic components to help ensure effective and safe operational conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates the mechanisms leading to enhanced heat and/or mass transfer rates in two-phase non-boiling slug flows. The problem is analyzed in a minichannel geometry subjected to a constant heat flux boundary. Local Nusselt numbers, obtained using Infrared thermography are analyzed in both entrance and fully developed flow regions. These novel measurements highlight the physics governing slug-flow heat transfer and results indicate that optimized slug geometries can yield up to an order of magnitude heat transfer enhancement. Finally, based on the physics identified, a heat transfer model is developed which is also applicable to similar mass transfer problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A single-blow transient test technique based on axial dispersion model is proposed for the determination of both heat transfer coefficient and axial dispersion coefficient in plate heat exchangers, characterized by NTU and dispersive Peclet number respectively. The present experimental analysis deals with the effect of flow maldistribution on the transient temperature response for U-type plate heat exchangers. The experiments are carried out with uniform and non-uniform flow distributions for various flow rates and two different numbers of plates. Special effort has been made to differentiate the deviation from plug flow due to flow maldistribution and fluid backmixing. The fluid axial dispersion is used to characterize the backmixing and other deviations from plug flow. Due to unequal distribution of the fluid, the velocity of the fluid varies from channel to channel and hence the heat transfer coefficient variations are also taken into consideration. The computed outlet fluid temperatures are compared with experimental outlet temperatures, and the values of dispersive Peclet numbers are estimated. The results indicate that in order to get parameters independent of the number of plate used in single-blow experiment, it is essential to isolate flow maldistribution from backmixing. This paper has brought out a practical way in which this isolation can be done in the process of data reduction through suitable computational model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper conveys a numerical simulation of an active enhancement device for natural convection in the interfin spaces of a fin array. A baseline solution for the non-enhanced situation revealed that the confinement created by the walls of adjacent fins and the base surface gave rise to a drastic reduction of the heat transfer coefficient values compared with those for the standard vertical plate. This outcome demonstrated the necessity for enhancement. The enhancement device investigated here communicated with the interfin space via an opening in the base surface. Enhancement was achieved by alternately introducing and extracting air into and from the space. The frequency of the introduction/extraction cycle was varied over values of 0, 10, 50, and 100Hz. For each of these cases, spatially local, cycle-averaged heat transfer coefficients were determined on the bounding surfaces of the interfin space and on the outboard surface of a fin that faced a large ambient space. Results were also obtained for the cycle- and spatially averaged coefficients. Even at a low oscillation frequency of 10Hz, the interfin heat transfer coefficients were significantly enhanced but not sufficiently to overcome the confinement effect. At 100Hz, the enhancement gave rise to coefficient values that are about 64 times greater than the unenhanced values. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present study, a 3D numerical simulation of a whole heat exchanger with middle-overlapped helical baffles is carried out by using commercial codes of GAMBIT 2.3 and FLEUNT 6.3. At first, the computational model and numerical method of the whole heat exchanger with middle-overlapped helical baffles is presented in detail, and parallel computation mode is adopted for the simulation of a whole heat exchanger with six cycles of the middle-overlapped helical baffles of 40° helical angle on a grid system of 13.5-million cells; second, the validation of the computational model is performed by comparing the total pressure drop and average Nusselt number of the whole heat exchanger with experimental data. Reasonably good agreement is obtained, and the reasons causing to the discrepancy are analyzed. The shell-side fluid pressure and temperature fields of the whole area are then presented. Finally the cycle average Nusselt number of different cycle in the heat exchanger are compared and it is found that within the accuracy allowed in engineering computation, periodic model for one cycle can be used to investigate the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics for different heat exchanger to save computational source. The companion paper will provide details of simulation results using the periodic model for different helical angles and different structures of helical baffles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]