Effect of Obstacles Geometry on Temperature Variations of a Flowing Fluid in an Open Channel – Experimental Investigation and Numerical Modelling

Subject Areas : Fluid Mechanic

نادر رهبر ¹ , Mahdi Hamzei ² , Siavash Zabeti-Jahromi ³

1 - عضو هیات علمی/ دانشگاه آزاد سمنان
2 - عضو هیات علمی / دانشگاه آزاد اهواز
3 - دانشجوی کارشناسی ارشد

Received: 2015-07-04 Accepted : 2015-07-19 Published : 2013-02-19

Keywords: Open channel flow, Temperature variation, heat transfer, VOF, obstacle geometries,

Abstract :

In this paper the effect of placing various obstacles on heat transfer between the air and water in an open channel was investigated. For this purpose, seven different obstacles were placed into the water while incorporating underwater aeration and forced air movement on the water, to measure input and output water temperatures at eleven different flow rates. The results indicated that placing an obstacle in the channel is associated with an increase in heat transfer from the water. Furthermore, the highest rate of heat transfer was achieved when there was a forced convection of air on water. Under natural convection, the highest rate of heat transfer was observed for the turbulent flow up to middle of the channel, while under forced convection, it was observed in forced air movement on water surface. Also in this research, open channel flow was numerically simulated in Fluent software via RSM model. A Comparison between the numerical results and experimental data may indicate the ability of Fluent software in accurate flow simulation in the open channel.