NATURAL/FREE CONVECTION

Prabal Talukdar
Associate Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT Delhi E-mail: prabal@mech.iitd.ac.in p

Natural/free convection

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Natural Convection

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Buoyancy Force
The upward force exerted by a fluid on a body completely or partially immersed in it is called the buoyancy force. The magnitude of the b buoyancy f force is i equal lt to th the weight i ht of f th the fl fluid id di displaced l db by th the b body d

F = fluidgVbody

Fnet = W Fbouyancy = bodygVbody - fluidgVbody = (body - fluid)g )gVbody

It is i the th buoyancy b f force that th t keeps k the th ships hi afloat fl t in water (W = Fbuoyancy ) for floating objects
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Volume Expansion Coefficient

The coefficient of volume expansion is a measure of the change in volume of a substance with temperature at constant pressure
= 1 1 = T P T P
1 1 = T T T

At constant P

= (T T )

For an ideal gas P = RT

ideal gas = 1 T
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Equation of Motion

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Newtons Newton s 2nd law

Newtons 2nd law gives: Mass

m a x = Fsurface, x + Fbody y,x

m = (dx dy 1)
A Acceleration l ti

ax =

du u dx u dy u u = + =u + dt x dt y dt x y
Forces

P Fx = dy y ( dx 1 ) dx (dy y 1) g(dx.dy y.1) y x 2 u P = g (dx dy 1) y 2 x = u y

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Momentum Equation
u u 2 u P = 2 x g u x + y y
The x-momentum equation for the quiescent field outside the boundary layer can be found by applying the above equation as u = 0

P = g x
The y-momentum equation results:

P =0 y

P = P( x ) = P ( x )

P P = g = x x

u u 2u u x + y = 2 + ( )g y
u u 2u u x + y = 2 + g(T T ) y

= (T T )
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Grashof Number

g(Ts T )L3 T 1 2u c u +v = 2 + 2 2 Re Re y x y L L

Gr L =

g ( Ts T ) L3 c 2

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The Grashof number Gr is a measure of the relative magnitudes of the buoyancy force and the opposing viscous force acting on the fluid.

Limits
For a vertical plate Gr < 109 Laminar > 109 Turbulent
Forced convection dominates Free convection dominates

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Nu for Free Convection

Nu = hL c = C(GrL Pr) n = CRa n L k

Ra L = GrL Pr =

g(Ts T )L3 c
2

Pr

Values of n and C depend on g geometry y of the surface and flow regime The value of n is usually for laminar flow and 1/3 for turbulent flow. The value of the constant C is normally less than 1 1.
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Vertical Plate Relations

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 ConstantheatfluxconditionforVertical surface:Samerelationasconstant . qs L temperaturecase Nu = hL =

k k (TL / 2 T )

Verticalcylinders: y

35L
1/ 4 GrL

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Inclined Hot Plate

Inclinedhotplatethatmakes ananglefromtheverticalina coolerenvironment. ThenetforceF=g( ) (thedifferencebetweenthe buoyancyandgravity)acting onaunitvolumeofthefluid intheboundarylayerisalways intheverticaldirection
The reason for this curious behavior for the upper surface is that the force component Fy initiates upward motion in addition to the parallel motion along the plate, and thus the boundary layer breaks up and forms plumes, as shown in the figure Inthecaseofacoldplateinawarmer environment?? 14

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Inclined Plate

Use vertical plate equations for the upper surface of a cold plate and the lower surface of a hot plate L. Replace g by g cos for Ra < 109 and < 60

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Horizontal Surface
For a hot surface in a cooler environment, the net force acts upward, forcing the heated fluid to rise. If the hot surface is facing upward, the heated fluid rises freely, inducing strong natural convection currents and thus effective heat transfer. But B t if the th hot h t surface f is i facing f i downward, the plate will block the heated fluid that tends to rise (except near the edges) edges), impeding heat transfer
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Identifytheconditions:Ts </>T

Ts < T

Ts < T

Ts > T
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Ts > T

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Horizontal sphere and cylinder

The local Nusselt number is highest at the bottom, and lowest at the top of the cylinder when the boundary layer flow remains laminar What will happen for a cold cylinder?

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Empirical E i i l Correlations

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Natural Convection

inside Enclosure

Vertical enclosure Ra L = GrL Pr =

g(T1 T2 )L3 c
2

Pr
Horizontal enclosure

Initially, the heat transfer is by pure conduction and Nu = 1. When Ra > 1708, the buoyant force overcomes the fluid resistance and initiates natural convection currents, , which are observed to be in the form of hexagonal g cells called Bnard cells. For Ra > 3 x 105, the cells break down and the fluid motion becomes turbulent
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Rayleigh Bnard Convection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_pHQzEFJg

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(a) Formation of evolutional hexagonal structures for Ra = 2x105, Pr = 2.0. Temperature and vector-field. (b) Comparison of temperature field between numerical solution (lines) and results (dots) in the middle plane. for Ra = 2.5x105 Pr = 1.5
N.M. Evstigneev g , N.A. Magnitskii g , S.V. Sidorov, Nonlinear dynamics y of laminar-turbulent transition in three dimensional Rayleigh?Benard convection, Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation Volume 15, Issue 10 2010 2851 2859 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cnsns.2009.10.022

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Convection cell in Silicone Oil

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Effective Thermal Conductivity

& = hA (T T ) = kNuA T1 T2 Q s 1 2 s Lc
T1 T2 & Q kA = cond s Lc

The fluid in an enclosure behaves like a fluid whose thermal conductivity is kNu as a result of convection currents. Therefore, the quantity kNu is called the effective thermal conductivity of the enclosure. keff = kNu
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Horizontal Rectangular Enclosure

Hot plate at the top : Nu = ? Hot plate at the bottom: Significant convective current occurs when Ra > 1708

For horizontal enclosures that contain air, Jakob recommends

/4 N = 0.195Ra Nu R 1 L /3 Nu = 0.068Ra1 L

10 4 < Ra R L < 4 x105 4 x105 < Ra L < 107

can also be used for other g gases with 0.5 < Pr < 2. Using water, silicone oil, and mercury in their experiments, Globe and Dropkin (1959) obtained correlation for horizontal enclosures heated from below,
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/3 0.074 Nu = 0.069Ra1 L Pr

3x105 < Ra L < 7 x109

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Inclined Rectangular Enclosure

Example: Air Ai spaces between b t two t inclined i li d parallel ll l plates flat-plate solar collectors (between the glass cover and the absorber p g plate) ) and the double-pane skylights on inclined roofs For large aspect ratios (H/L > 12), 12) this equation correlates experimental data extremely well for tilt angles up to 70,
1708 Nu = 1 + 1.44 1 Ra L cos
+

1708 (sin 1.8)1.6 ( Ra L cos )1 / 3 + 1 1 Ra cos 18 L

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for RaL <105, 0 < < 70 70, and H/L 12. 12 Any quantity in [ ]+ should be set equal to zero if it is negative. This is to ensure that Nu = 1 for RaL cos < 1708 26

Vertical Rectangular Enclosure

Small aspect ratio
Nu = 0.18( 1< H/L < 2

Pr Ra L ) 0.29 0.2 + Pr

A prandtl Any dtl number b

Pr Ra L > 103 0.2 + Pr 2 < H / L < 10

Pr H Nu = 0.22( Ra L ) 0.28 ( ) 1 / 4 0.2 + Pr L

Any prandtl number

R L < 1010 Ra

Large aspect ratio

Nu
/4 0.012 H = 0.42Ra1 L Pr
0.3

10 < H / L < 40
L 1 < Pr < 2x10 4 10 4 < Ra L < 107

/3 Nu = 0.46Ra1 L
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1 < H / L < 40 1 < Pr < 20 106 < Ra L < 109

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Concentric Cylinders and Spheres

Raithby and Hollands (1975):

Lc = (Do - Di)/2. )/2 for 0.70 Pr 6000 and 102 FcylRaL 107. For FcylRaL 100, natural convection currents are negligible and thus keff = k.
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Combined Natural Convection and dR Radiation di i

Natural convection heat transfer coefficients are typically very low compared to those for forced convection. Therefore, radiation is usually disregarded in forced convection problems, but it must be considered in natural convection p problems that involve a g gas.

This is especially the case for surfaces with high emissivities. For example, about half of the heat transfer through the air space of a double pane window is by radiation

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Combined Free and Forced Convection

Naturalconvectionisnegligible g g whenGr/Re2 <0.1 forcedconvectionisnegligiblewhenGr/Re2 >10,and g g when0.1<Gr/Re / 2 <10. neitherisnegligible

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A review of experimental data suggests a correlation of the form Nu combined = (Nunforced Nunnatural)1/n
The value of the exponent n varies between 3 and 4 4, depending on the Determined from pure forced and geometry involved. It is observed that n natural convection correlations = 3 correlates experimental data for vertical surfaces well. Larger values of n are better suited for horizontal surfaces

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