Evaluation of the effect of rotational speed and rheological nature on heat transfer of complex fluid between two cylinders

Abstract

This paper presents numerical results for flow behavior between a cold inner cylinder and a hot outer cylinder. Both cyl-inders are placed horizontally. The space separating the two compartments is completely filled with a fluid of a complex rheological nature. In addition, the outer container is subjected to a constant and uniform rotational speed. The results of this work were obtained after solving the differential equations for momentum and energy. The parameters studied in this research are: the intensity of thermal buoyancy, the speed of rotation of the outer container and the rheological nature of the fluid. These elements are expressed mathematically by the following values: Richardson number (Ri = 0 and 1), Reyn-olds number (Re = 1 to 40), power-law number (n = 0.8, 1 and 1.4) and Prandtl number (Pr = 50). The results showed that the speed of rotation of the cylinder and the rheological nature of the fluids have an effective role in the process of heat transfer. For example, increasing the rotational speed of the enclosure and/or changing the nature of fluid from shear-thickening into shear-thinning fluid improves the thermal transfer rate.