r and the top wall of the annulus are insulated.

The numerical technique used is a second

orderaccurate hybrid finite element-finite volume method. A pressure boundary condition at the opening
in conjunction with an iterative scheme is employed to predict the regions of inflow, outflow and the
velocity distributions. An in-house code developed has been validated by solving the natural
convection through an open ended vertical annulus. The characteristics of flow andheat transfer in the
annulus is presented using contour plots of stream lines, isotherms and isovorticities; and variations of
velocity, volume rate of flow, Nusselt number, and temperature of adiabatic wall. Heat transfer through
the annulus is subjected to sharp spatial variations due to the typical flow pattern at high values of
Rayleigh number and is