Abstract
A study of three dimensional laminar forced convection with conjugated heat transfer for water flowing inside a circular pipe with variable cross-section area has been numerically conducted. The thermal performance and pressure drop under constant heat flux are also estimated. In this paper, using FLUENT ANSYS, the finite volume method (FVM) is used to evaluate the continuity, momentum, and energy governing equations. For a range of Reynolds numbers less than 2000, heat transfer rates were computed, and Prandtl number equal to 3.7. The effects of Reynolds number and divergent angles (ratio) on the convection coefficient of heat transfer (h) drop in pressure (ΔP), and the thermal-hydraulic performance (η) are analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the use of the divergent ratio increases the thermal-hydraulic performance. Compared to the uniform pipe, it is increased by 23% with a maximum pressure drop decrease by about 240% for ratio=1.8. With the empirical Shah equation, the current model is validated, and the results showed excellent agreement.
Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.