Fundamental Characteristics of Mixed Convective Laminar Flow in Heated Curved Pipes.

Abstract

The fluid flowing in heated curved pipes is subjected to centrifugal and buoyant forces. Fully developed laminar flow in horizontal, loosely coiled pipes is investigated through similarity arguments and computational studies. The thermal boundary condition at the wall is uniform wall heat flux axially and uniform wall temperature peripherally. Flow and heat transfer are characterized by three parameters: Dean number, Prandtl number and buoyancy parameter. Detailed structures of velocity and temperature fields are shown for a wide range of these parameters.