Numerical Study of Transient Laminar Natural Convection Cooling of high Prandtl Number Fluids in a Cubical Cavity: Influence of the Prandtl Number

This paper presents and discusses the numerical simulations of transient laminar natural convection cooling of high Prandtl number fluids in cubical cavities, in which the six walls of the cavity are subjected to a step change in temperature. The effect of the fluid Prandtl number on the heat transfer coefficient is studied for three different fluids (Golden Syrup, Glycerin and Glycerin-water solution 50%). The simulations are performed at two different Rayleigh numbers (5 ·10 and 5 ·10) and six different Prandtl numbers (3 · 10 ≥Pr≥ 50). Heat conduction through the cavity glass walls is also considered. The propsed correlations of the averaged heat transfer coefficient (Nu) showed that it is dependant on the initial Ra and almost independent on Pr. The instantaneous flow patterns, temperature contours and time evolution of volume averaged temperature and heat transfer coefficient are presented and analyzed. Keywords— Transient natural convection, High Prandtl number, Variable viscosity.