Heat transfer control in an enclosure by using a rotating plate and stratified fluids

Abstract

AbstractThe effects of an inner rotating plate with horizontal axis on the heat transfer between two vertical walls in a rectangular enclosure with stratified fluid layers were investigated experimentally. The aspect ratio of the enclosure height/width was 1 throughout the experiments. An acrylic plate with small thermal conductivity was installed horizontally at the center of the square enclosure, and was rotated at various speeds for normal and reverse rotations by using the motor installed outside of the enclosure. Purified water and silicon oil were used as the working fluids and were stratified in the enclosure. It is shown here that the heat transfer rate of the enclosure with stratified fluid layers differs largely from that of the enclosure with a single fluid layer. Namely, the heat transfer coefficient increases rapidly at a low rotating speed range, and maintains an almost constant value at a high rotating speed range. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 32(6): 489–500, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.10081