A numerical investigation of heat transfer in a rotating enclosure

Abstract

Many thermal techniques are used in various industries in order to enhance cooling and heating of fluids in contact with a surface. Some of these techniques include rotation of fluids inside an enclosure in an attempt to improve the thermal exchange between the fluid flows and the contact surfaces. These methods involve complex heat transfer mechanisms, therefore the need of numerical simulations is crucial for understanding them. In the current study, a numerical investigation of the fluid flow and heat transfer in a rotating enclosure was completed. First, heat transfer from a fluid in a cylindrical enclosure with forced convection boundary conditions was numerically simulated and compared to known analytical solutions for benchmarking purposes. An excellent agreement between the numerical and analytical solutions was obtained. Then, heat transfer and internal flow behaviors in a container rotating at different angular velocities were numerically studied. Velocity and temperature distributions were studied. Comparison between numerical and analytical solutions was completed for cases where analytical solutions are available. For low Reynolds number, temperature distribution in a full container was observed not to depend on the rotation rate which is in good agreement with the analytical findings from the non-dimensional energy equation.