Thermo-solute natural convection with heat and mass lines in a uniformly heated and soluted rectangular enclosure for low Prandtl number fluids

Abstract

Thermo-solute natural convection with heat and mass lines in a uniformly heated and soluted rectangular enclosure for low Prandtl number fluids is studied. The left and right walls are maintained at constant temperature and solute while the bottom and top walls are adiabatic and non-diffusive. The finite difference method, together with the successive over-relaxation (SOR) technique, is used to solve the flow governing equations after converted into the vorticity-stream function form. Heat and mass lines visualization techniques are used for the better visualization of energy and solute distribution in the enclosure. The results obtained in this study are compared with experimental and numerical those from literature and found to be in good agreement. The influence of Rayleigh number Ra=103,104,105, Prandtl number Pr=0.015,0.025,0.71, Lewis number Le=1,2,5, and Buoyancy ratio N=−1,0,1 on streamlines, isotherms, isosolutes, heatlines, masslines, total heat and mass transfer are examined. The parameters mentioned above considerably influence the total heat and solute transfer rates; moreover, the heat and mass lines play significant roles in understanding the distribution of energy and solute transfers in the enclosure.