Numerical Solutions of Two Heat Transfer Limits of MFM Square Duct Flow Using MatLab Program

Abstract

The heat transfer of a magneto-fluid-dynamics (MFM) laminar flow in an electricallyinsulated square duct subjected to two boundary condition limits of constant heat flux and constant wall temperature is examined numerically. The working fluid is electrically conducting fluid (i.e. liquid metal). The central finite difference scheme is used to discretize the governing equations and the resulting equations are solved by MatLab using the iterative Gauss-Seidel method. The solutions for these heat transfer limits, the constant temperature boundary condition (with non-linear energy equation) and the constant heat flux boundary condition (with linear energy equation) are compared with previous work done for ducts of circular cross section subjected to constant heat flux boundary condition. The results show that the circular duct with constant heat flux exhibits the highest heat transfer rate whereas the square duct with constant temperature has the lowest heat transfer rate.