Heat transfer by mixed convection opposing laminar flow from the inside surface of uniformly heated inclined circular tube

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the effect of the flow pattern on the mixed convection heat transfer. A 28 thermocouples wire were installed along a 900mm copper tube to measure the temperature distribution. Three insulation layers of fiber glass, asbestos and gypsum were used to minimize to heat lost to the surrounding. A forced convection at the entrance region of a fully developed opposing laminar air flow was investigated to evaluate the flow direction effect on the Nusselt number. The investigation covered a wide range of Reynolds number from 410 to 1600 and heat flux varied from 63W/m2 to 1260W/m2, with different angles of tube inclination of 30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°. It was found that the surface temperature variation along the tube for opposed flow higher than the assisted flow but lower than the horizontal orientation. The Reynolds number has a significant effect on Nusselt number in opposed flow while the effect of Reynolds number was found to be small in the case of assisted flow. The Nusselt number values were lower for opposed flow than the assisted flow. The temperature profiles results have revealed that the secondary flows created by natural convection have a significant effect on the heat transfer process. The obtained average Nusselt number values were correlated by dimensionless groups as Log Nu against Log Ra / Re .