Numerical study on heat and mass transfer characteristics in a confined enclosure with variable buoyancy ratio

Abstract

This numerical study was conducted to investigate the ventilation and airflow in a confined enclosure undergoing rapid inclusion of heat and contaminants representing air quality changes in working environments. A flow of air is passing inside a square enclosure with a heat source and a pollutant source on the right and bottom wall, creating double-diffusion, as well as two ventilation ducts on the upper sides asserting mixed convection. The Galerkin weighted residual method is implemented, which is based on the finite element method. For fixed values of Lewis number, Le = 0.5, Richardson number, Ri = 1, Reynolds number, Re = 100, and Prandtl number, Pr = 1.01, simulations were done with Buoyancy Ratio, Br = −10, 1, 10 and 20 over dimensionless time, τ = 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0. The results have been shown with the streamline, isothermal lines, iso-concentration lines, average Nusselt and Sherwood number, average fluid temperature, average mass concentration, and the average temperature at the square cavity's exit port plots. The findings have been discussed to ensure understanding of the changes in parameters, and an enhancement in heat as well as mass transfer was seen with the rapid change in dimensionless time. This specific study could be a guide for designing air conditioning and ventilation systems.