Comparison of 2D and 3D numerical simulation of mixed convection inside a vented cavity for cold room applications

Abstract

Efficient cold room for storage purposes has immense importance due to its wide range of industrial applications. Steady, laminar and incompressible air flow inside a vented cavity representing a realistic cold room model has been investigated numerically in the present work. This model contains a cold air inlet, an outlet, a door and also an isoflux heat source. Two and three dimensional governing Navier-Stokes and energy equations in non-dimensional form are solved numerically by using finite element method with discretization by triangular mesh elements. In this study, numerical solution is obtained for different Richardson numbers (Ri = 0.1-10) and Reynolds numbers (Re = 1-280) in laminar flow regime. Heat transfer and flow characteristics are presented in terms of isotherms, streamlines and average Nusselt number for all the heat sources. All the simulations were performed for both the 2D and 3D models of the cold room keeping Grashof number at a fixed value. Variation of average Nusselt number of the heat sources and average temperature of the flow field inside the room have been plotted against Reynolds and Richardson numbers to understand the contribution of these parameters on mixed convection heat transfer inside the room. Therefore, it is found that at higher Reynolds and Richardson numbers convection heat transfer rate enhances significantly inside the ventilated cold room.