Numerical Study of Heat Transfer over Cylinder with Annular Fins

Abstract

Natural convection heat transfer from an annular finned cylinder has been studied numerically. The present numerical simulation captures a complete picture of natural convection over an annular finned cylinder. Full Navier-Stokes equations along with the energy equation have been solved in the range of 5 ≤ Ras≤ 108. The flow field and temperature field over finned cylinder surface is observed and has been analyzed. The optimum fin spacing has also been found for given Raleigh number and cylinder diameter for the maximum heat transfer rate. The heat transfer rate increases with decrease in fin spacing. However, beyond a value of fin spacing, the heat transfer rate gets decreased indicating the fact that the addition of fins increases the convection heat transfer resistance. The role of orientation of the finned cylinder on heat transfer has also been studied.