Mixed convection heat transfer and transient flow of high-pressure gas in a large-scale cavity with rotating blade

Abstract

Mixed convection heat transfer phenomenon, incorporating natural and forced convection process, occurs widely in natural and industrial fields. Nevertheless, few works have investigated numerically the turbulent mixed convection heat transfer within the large-scale structure under high-pressure condition. In this study, a three-dimensional numerical model of a large-scale closed cavity with two rotating blades and reactor has been built on account of the finite volume method, aiming to explore the mixed convection heat transfer and turbulent flow of internal high-pressure gas. Compressible gas with varying thermophysical properties was chosen as the heat transfer medium and the numerical model was solved by Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS). Turbulent flow and heat transfer, inside the enclosure and reactor, were compared through the variation of the Reynolds number (Re), gas pressure (P) and heating surface temperature (Th). The results signify that for given P and Th, varying Re has a consistent impact on the transient flow and heat transfer process inside the enclosure and reactor. The turbulent flow and thermal transport are enhanced as increasing the Re. When the Re = 900,000, an enhanced forced convection effect is found inside the reactor. Dissimilar impacts on the flow field and thermal transport inside the enclosure and reactor are found with changing gas pressure owing to the interaction of natural and forced convection. The flow field attenuates gradually as the increment in P, and thereby larger high-temperature zone is achieved at a smaller pressure inside the enclosure, whilst inside the reactor, faster heat conduction is attained at a bigger pressure. Changing heating surface temperature has a more significant influence on the flow field and heat transfer inside the reactor compared to the enclosure. Additionally, increasing the Re and Th has a smaller effect on the average Nusselt number (Nuavg) while a positive correlation between the Nuavg and P is obtained.