Mixed Convection with Conduction and Surface Radiation from a Vertical Channel with Discrete Heating

Abstract

A numerical investigation into fluid flow and heat transfer for the geometry of a vertical parallel plate channel subjected to conjugate mixed convection with radiation is attempted here. The channel considered has three identical flush-mounted discrete heat sources in its left wall, while the right wall that does not contain any heat source acts as a sink. Air, assumed to be a radiatively non-participating and having constant thermophysical properties subject to the Boussinesq approximation, is the cooling agent. The heat generated in the left wall gets conducted along it and is later dissipated by mixed convection and radiation. The governing equations, considered in their full strength sans the boundary layer approximations, are converted into vorticity-stream function form and are then normalized. These equations along with pertinent boundary conditions are solved through finite volume method coupled with Gauss-Seidel iterative technique. The effects of modified Richardson number, surface emissivity, thermal conductivity and aspect ratio on local temperature distribution along the channel, maximum channel temperature and relative contributions of mixed convection and radiation have been thoroughly studied. The prominence of radiation in the present problem has been highlighted.