The influence of the continuous phase Pe numbers on thermal wake phenomenon

Abstract

The reverse of the transfer direction in the unsteady conjugate heat transfer between a spherical particle and a surrounding fluid flow has been analysed. The aspect this work is focused on is the influence of the continuous phase convection on the occurrence and development of this phenomenon. The energy equations are solved by the ADI finite difference method. The range of the Pe numbers investigated is between 0 and 10. The ratios of the thermal conductivity and volume heat capacity between the particle and its ambient flow belong to the interval 0.01–100. It was found that, in creeping flow, the thermal wake occurs at Pe=0.690·10−3. Increasing the Pe number up to 1 the dimension of thermal wake increases. For Pe>1, the increase in Pe decreases thermal wake.