Combined Buoyancy Effects of Thermal and Mass Diffusion on Laminar Mixed Convection in Vertical and Horizontal Semicircular Ducts

Abstract

The development of laminar mixed convection with heat and mass transfer in vertical and horizontal semicircular ducts has been investigated for the case of thermal boundary conditions of uniform heat input, concentration at the fluid–solid interface axially, and uniform peripheral wall temperature at any axial station. The governing equations were solved numerically over the following conditions: Pr = 0.7, Le = 1, Re = 500, Grt = 1.66 × 105, and Grc = 1.66 × 105. The combined effects of solutal and thermal Grashof numbers on the flow and thermal fields were observed in terms of the axial velocity, temperature, and concentration distributions, as well as, friction factor, Nusselt number, and Sherwood number. Further, the development of velocity, temperature, and concentration at different axial stations was found to be influenced by the solutal and thermal Grashof numbers. The results also showed that the forced-convection boundary layer development dominates very close to the duct inlet, while further downstream, the heat and mass transfer rates are enhanced due to the effect of solutal buoyancy.