A finite volume analysis of turbulent convective heat transfer for accelerating radial flows

This article describes a finite volume analysis for the three-dimensional n umerical prediction of the thermofluid behavior of accelerating turbulent r adial flows. The method employs nonorthogonal control volumes with a flux s plit method to assist the discretization of the general transport equations . A flux blended deferred correction interpolation scheme is employed toget her with the Rhie and Chow pressure correction equation and interfacial vel ocity interpolation scheme. The standard k-epsilon turbulence model is appl ied and modified to include roughness effects on boundaries. The SIMPLE sol ution algorithm is applied and the semi-implicit procedure (SIP) of Stone i s employed to solve the transported variable solution matrices. The numeric al code presented is used to predict the friction factors and local heat tr ansfer characteristics for thermally and hydrodynamically developing radial flows such as found within a solar chimney collector. The results are veri fied and show good agreement with analytical predictions and expected flow characteristics.