EFFECT OF THE RAYLEIGH NUMBER ON THE MEAN NUSSELT NUMBER AND THE MEAN TEMPERATURE IN A NATURAL CONVECTION FLOW WITH AN ELLIPTICAL-CYLINDRICAL GEOMETRY

Abstract

This study presents the results of a numerical simulation of fluid flow within a chamber bounded by a horizontal, flat wall heated at a constant flow rate and an upper wall with an elliptical outline. The results of this simulation enable the implementation of a cooling system utilising natural convection. The key parameters in this study are dimensionless numbers such as the Rayleigh number and the Nusselt number, which characterise the magnitude of heat transfer by convection. To determine the thermal parameters of the problem, we shall use the heat equation and the equation of motion in our modelling. To obtain results such as the average temperature characterising heat transfer between the fluid and the wall, and the Nusselt number indicating the efficiency of convective cooling, we will solve the non-linear equations using the finite volume method and the Gauss-Siedal iterative method.