Effect of Heat Source Placement on Natural Convection from Cylindrical Surfaces

Abstract

Placement of heat source can play a significant role in final heat output, or heat source effectivity. Because of this, there is a need to analyze thermal fields of the heat exchange system by natural convection, where the description by criterion equations is desired, as the net heat output from tubes can be quantified. Based on known theoretical models, numerical methods were adapted to calculate the heat output with natural air flow around tubes, where mathematical models were used to describe the heat transfer more precisely. After validation of heat transfer coefficients, the effect of wall and heat source placement was studied, and the Coanda effect was also observed. The heat source placement also has an effect at the boundary layer, which can change and therefore affect the overall heat transfer process. The optimal wall-to-cylinder distance for an array of horizontal cylinders near a wall was also expressed as a function of the Rayleigh number and number of cylinders in the array.