Analysis of Radiative-Convective Heat Transfer about a Circular Cylinder in Crossflow Using Finite Volume Radiation Solution Method

Abstract

A finite volume radiation solution method was applied to a non- orthogonal coordinate system for the analysis of radiative-convective heat transfer about a circular cylinder in crossflow. The crossflow Reynolds number based on the cylinder radius was 20, and the fluid Prandtl number was 0.7. The radiative heat transfer coupled with convection was reasonably predicted by the finite volume radiation solution method. The investigation includes the effects of conduction- to-radiation parameter, optical thickness, scattering albedo and cylinder wall-emissivity on heat transfer about the cylinder. As the conduction- to-radiation parameter decreases, the radiative heat transfer rate increases and conduction rate as well due to the increase in temperature gradient on the cylinder wall which is caused by radiation enhancement. With an increase in the optical thickness, the Nusselt number increases significantly and the temperature gradient shows similar behavior. Though the radiative heat transfer increases with the scattering albedo, the total heat transfer decreases. This is because the decrease in the conduction heat transfer exceeds the increase in the radiation heat transfer. As the wall- emissivity increases, the radiation absorbed in the vicinity of the cylinder wall increases and thereby the total heat transfer increases, even though the conduction heat transfer decreases.