Numerical simulation of the particle wall mass transfer rates on rough surfaces confining turbulent natural convection flows

Abstract

We performed numerical simulations of the particle mass transfer rates on the horizontal and vertical thermally active rough walls confining a turbulent natural convection flow. We considered the air flow conditions in a cubical cavity (L=1.22m, Ra=5.4·108, Pr=0.71) with two opposed pairs of consecutive walls at different temperatures, for which measurements of the particle deposition velocities are reported in the literature. The simulations were carried out by solving the momentum, thermal energy and particle mass transfer equations using a series of two-dimensional computational cell units to determine spatial evolution and development of the particle concentration boundary layer in the vicinity of hot and cold rough walls. Different flow conditions, wall orientations, sizes of roughness elements, particle diameters and temperature increments between the wall and the bulk fluid, typically found in indoor environments, have been considered and consequently, results can be used to estimate the particle deposition rates in real scenarios. At large mass transfer particle Péclet numbers, corresponding to spherical particles with diameters of 0.5–1 μm, the wall mass transfer rates of particles on rough textures typically increase by a factor of about 3 in comparison with the deposition on smooth surfaces. The thermophoretic effect significantly decreases the particle deposition on hot surfaces and increases it on cold surfaces, especially at large particle Péclet numbers. The numerical predictions of the deposition velocities are in good agreement with the measurements reported in the literature for the same flow conditions considered.