M'hamed Bouzidi

MODELING OF NATURAL CONVECTION WITH SURFACE RADIATION IN VENTED VERTICAL CHANNEL WITH RECTANGULAR RIB

This paper consists to study numerically the heat transfer and fluid flow in a vertical vented divided channel, which is heated asymmetrically. A specifically developed numerical model, based on the finite-volume method, is used for the solutions of the governing differential-equations. The SIMPLER algorithm was adopted for the treatment of velocity-pressure coupling. Concerning the radiation exchange, we consider that the working fluid is transparent, so only the solid surfaces contribute to the radiation exchange and assumed to be diffuse-gray. A special attention is given to study the effects of Rayleigh numbers, aspect ratio of the channel, thermal conductivity ratio, rib geometry (length and width) on streamlines, temperature fields and average Nusselt number. A parametric study is made for different Rayleigh numbers, aspect ratio of the channel, thermal conductivity ratio, rib geometry (length and width). Results are presented in terms of isotherms, streamlines, and average Nusselt number.