Abstract
Airflows established by buoyancy forces within vertical tubes with circular cross-section are analyzed. Obtained (finite-volume) numerical results cover the complete laminar-turbulent range (modified Rayleigh number from 10−3 to 109), through a low-Reynolds turbulence model. Both uniform and non-uniform heating conditions are regarded. Three different types of non-uniform heating along the azimuthal direction are considered, which constitutes an advance in the knowledge of the flow behavior, since it has not sufficiently addressed in the literature. Specifically, two modes of continuous non-uniform heating are proposed (temperature fixed at wall, and heat flux fixed at wall), and another mode through discrete heaters (for heat flux condition). The circumstances under which non-uniform azimuthal heating can be beneficial or detrimental with respect to thermal and dynamic performance are investigated. It is encountered that disrupting effect of discrete heat sources can induce, under given conditions, an improvement in the thermohydraulic performance.
Published Version
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