Direct numerical simulation of turbulent heat transfer in concentric annular pipe flows

Abstract

The effect of radius ratio on turbulent convective heat transfer within a concentric annular pipe has been studied using direct numerical simulation. Four radius ratios (Ri/Ro = 0.1–0.7) have been compared at a fixed Reynolds number, where Ri and Ro denote the radii of the inner and outer pipes, respectively. The statistical moments of the temperature field, budget balances of the temperature variance and turbulent heat fluxes, and turbulence structures that dominate the heat transfer process have been thoroughly studied in both physical and spectral spaces. It is observed that the radius ratio has a significant impact on the Nusselt numbers and skin friction coefficients of the inner and outer cylinder walls, and on the interaction of thermal boundary layers developed over these two curved walls. Owing to the curvature difference between the two cylinder surfaces, the thermal boundary layer developed over the outer cylinder wall is thicker than that over the inner cylinder wall. Also, turbulent heat transfer is more intense on the outer cylinder side than on the inner cylinder side. As the radius ratio decreases, the difference in turbulence statistics between the inner and outer cylinder sides becomes increasingly pronounced. It is also observed that both axial and azimuthal characteristic length scales of the most energetic turbulent thermal structures are larger on the inner cylinder side than on the outer cylinder side.