Effects of Backfill on Heat Transfer From a Buried Pipe

摘要

Natural convection from a buried pipe with a layer of backfill is numerically examined in this study. The objective of the present study is to investigate how a step change in the permeability of the backfill would affect the flow patterns and heat transfer results. Numerical calculations have covered a wide range of the governing parameters (i.e., 10≤Ra{sub}1≤500 and 0.1≤K{sub}1/K{sub}2≤10) for various backfill thicknesses (0.5≤t/r{sub}i≤2). The results suggest that a more permeable backfill can minimize the heat loss and confine the flow to a region close to the pipe.