NATURAL-CONVECTION HEAT-TRANSFER IN OVERLAPPING DISCRETE PLATE ARRAYS

A numerical solution of the boundary layer equations was obtained usin g a finite difference formulation for natural convection in an array o f vertical overlapping discrete plate segments. The results obtained a re presented along with a comparison with the results for a continuous plate array. It was found that the overlapping arrays can enhance the heat transfer rate by as much as 89-90% for fixed values of the wall- to-ambient temperature difference and heat transfer area. The attainme nt of heat transfer enhancement by the use of discrete plates is possi ble only in certain ranges of the modified Rayleigh number.