An analytical solution for convective heat transfer in conical gaps with either cone or disk rotating

Abstract

This study is devoted to solving two problems of laminar fluid flow in a conical gap with small conicity angles up to 4°: cone rotation with a fixed disk, and disk rotation with a fixed cone. A new improved asymptotic expansion method for energy equation was used to obtain an approximate analytical solution to the convective heat transfer equation. The characteristic Reynolds number ranged from 0.001 to 1.0, the Prandtl number took values 0.71, 1, 5, and 10, and the exponent n* in the power-law for the disk temperature was 0 (constant disk temperature) or 2 (strongly radially increasing disk temperature). A novel model for the asymptotic expansion of the temperature profile and a novel expansion parameter Sv = Re2Pr, which is a new dimensionless number proposed for the first time in the known scientific literature, was developed. For the first time, new approximate analytical solutions were obtained for temperature profiles and Nusselt numbers on the disk and cone for both problems that agree well with the self-similar solution, if the Re and Pr numbers do not exceed threshold values. These analytical solutions are advantageous in analysis of experimental data and further development of one-dimensional models for gases, water, and aqueous solutions (Pr = 0.71–10).