Ao. Elmoctar et al., NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF DIRECT ELECTRIC CONDUCTION IN A CHANNEL FLOW, International journal of heat and mass transfer, 39(5), 1996, pp. 975-993
Heat generation by direct electric conduction in a fully developed cha
nnel flow was studied to clarify interaction between the hydrodynamic,
electric and thermal phenomena involved. The equations governing the
system were solved numerically by a finite volume code. It was found t
hat the difference between the residence time of the fluid flowing clo
se to the wall and in the center of the channel causes deformation of
the velocity profiles. This phenomenon creates a competition between t
he fluid particles flowing in these two regions and results in equaliz
ing the temperature and velocity distribution in the channel span. An
experimental investigation carried out in parallel with the numerical
study yielded good agreement. An array of longitudinal streaks found o
n the channel electrode wall, with LIF visualization, is attributed to
an instability phenomenon caused by electric body force. The waveleng
th of the streaks was measured and the control parameters of the insta
bility were determined.