A NUMERICAL STUDY OF FREE CONVECTIVE HEAT-TRANSFER FROM A HEATED HALF-CYLINDER IN AN ENCLOSURE

Two-dimensional free convective flow in an enclosure which has a heate d half-cylinder on the floor has been numerically studied. The half-cy linder is kept at a uniform high temperature. The enclosure has horizo ntal upper and lower walls and inclined side-walls. The side-walls are also kept at uniform temperatures and the top and bottom surfaces are adiabatic. In general, the side-walls have been assumed to be at diff erent temperatures. The situation considered is an approximate model o f that which occurs in some simple crop dryers. The flow has been assu med to be steady and laminar. Fluid properties have been assumed const ant except for the density change with temperature which has been trea ted using the Boussinesq approximation. The governing equations have b een written in dimensionless form and solved using a finite element me thod. Results have been obtained for a wide range of the governing par ameters for a Prandtl number of 0.7, i.e. for air, and the effects of these governing parameters on the heat transfer rate has been studied.