FRICTION AND HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF TURBULENT FLOW IN A HELICAL VANE FITTED ANNULUS ROTATING ABOUT A PARALLEL AXIS

摘要

In this paper, flow in an annulus with a helical vane insert has been predicted using high Reynolds number form of k-ε model of turbulence. For the stationary annulus, the predictions of friction factor f and Nusselt number Nu are compared with the published experimental data for two radius ratios R~* and one vane twist parameter Y. Excellent agreement is found between predictions and experimental data. The computations are therefore further extended to the case of rotation of the annulus about an an external parallel axis. This results in axially periodic flow and heat transfer under fully developed conditions. Apart from Reynolds number Re, R~* and Y, rotation gives rise to two additional parameters characterizing the flow; these are: Radial distance eccentricity E~* and Rotation number Ro. The effect of these parameters on flow and heat transfer characteristics are numerically computed using SIMPLE algorithm on Colocated (Curvilinear) Grids.