Numerical study of the conjugate heat transfer in a horizontal pipe heated by Joulean effect

Abstract

The three dimensional mixed convection heat transfer in a electrically heated horizontal pipe conjugated to a thermal conduction through the entire solid thickness is investigated by taking into account the thermal dependence of the physical properties of the fluid and the outer heat losses. The model equations of continuity, momentum and energy are numerically solved by the finite volume method. The pipe thickness, the Prandtl and the Reynolds numbers are fixed while the Grashof number is varied from 104to107. The results obtained show that the dynamic and thermal fields for mixed convection are qualitatively and quantitatively different from those of forced convection, and the local Nusselt number at the interface solid-fluid is not uniform: it has considerable axial and azimuthally variations. The effect of physical variables of the fluid depending on temperature is significant, which justifies its inclusion. The heat transfer is quantified by the local and average Nusselt numbers. We found that the average Nusselt number of solid-fluid interface of the duct increases with the increase of Grashof number. We have equally found out that the heat transfer is improved thanks to the consideration of the thermo dependence of the physical properties. We have tried modelling the average Nusselt number as a function of Richardson number. With the parameters used, the heat transfer is quantified by the correlation: NuA=12.0753 Ri0.156