Maximum Air Suction Into a Louvered Funnel Through Optimum Design

Abstract

The rate of air suction into a louvered cylindrical funnel with lateral openings has been computed numerically by solving the equations of conservation of mass, momentum, and energy along with the two k-z turbulence closure equations. It was found that the air suction rate into a louvered funnel can be maximum for an optimum nozzle protrusion length into the funnel irrespective of the nozzle fluid temperature. There also exists an optimum funnel diameter (irrespective of the nozzle fluid temperature) and funnel height for which the air suction rate can be the maximum. Keeping the volume of the funnel constant, the shape of the funnel was changed to a frustum. It was found that an inverted frustum with a value of r1/r2 = 0.8 could suck the maximum amount of air compared to a cylindrical funnel of the same volume. The cylindrical sucking funnel has interestingly a much shorter entrance length compared to a simple pipe flow case with the same entrance Reynolds number. The entrance length for the sucking funnel is also a function of the nozzle fluid temperature, and a simple relation for the entrance length as a function of Ren and Tn/T∞ could also be developed for a sucking funnel. Numerical experiments were done for an inclined funnel to compute the mass suction into it. It was found that for Gr/Re2 ≤ 0.4 (where Gr is the Grashof number and Re is the Reynolds number) given by the funnel inclination had no effect on the rate of mass suction while for 0.4 < Gr/Re2 < 1 the funnel inclination had marginal influence. As the value of Gr/Re2 increased beyond 1 the influence of the funnel inclination on rate of mass suction was found to be significant.