Abstract

Fluid flow and heat transfer in horizontal ducts are strongly coupled with large changes in thermodynamic and transport properties near the critical region as well as the gravity force. Numerical analysis has been carried out to investigate convective heat transfer in horizontal rectangular ducts for water near the thermodynamic critical point. Convective heat transfer characteristics, including velocity, temperature, and the properties as well as local heat transfer coefficients along the ducts are compared with the effect of proximity on the critical point. When there is flow acceleration because of a density decrease, convective heat transfer characteristics in the ducts show transition behavior between liquid-like and gas-like phases. There is a large variation in the local heat transfer coefficient distributions at the top, side, and bottom surfaces, and close to the pseudocritical temperature, a peak in the heat transfer coefficient distribution resulting from improved turbulent transport is observed. The Nusselt number distribution depends on pressure and duct aspect ratio, while the Nusselt number peak rapidly increases as the pressure approaches the critical pressure. The predicted Nusselt number is also compared with other heat transfer correlations.

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