LECTURE 7

Natural Convection
Inside Enclosures

Lesson Outcomes
At the end of this lecture, students should be able to :

Understand natural convection inside enclosures

Understand the correlation at different arrangement (vertical, horizontal and inclined) Solve problems on natural convection inside enclosures

Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Generally, heat loss in typical residence occurs through the windows.
Air is transparent, and considered a better insulator than most common insulating materials. Basically, a pair of glass is used to trap air which is known as enclosure such as double pane window or double glazed window The most common examples of enclosures include solar collectors and concentric cylinders/spheres.
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Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Aspect ratio = H/L

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Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

A simple example enclosures - a solar panel that is a closed box with a top made of a transparent material such as glass or plastic

Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Heat energy passes through the glass and heats up inside of the box. The heat that is collected inside the box can then be used for several purposes - to heat air or water.

Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

To heat the water, heating coil/pipe is installed inside the box. Heat energy is transferred to the coil/pipe and transferred to the water.

Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

A rotary motion of convection current due to temperature and density differences enhances the rate of heat transfer through in vertical enclosure

Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Hotter plate at the bottom, heavier fluid will be on top of the lighter fluid, and there will be a tendency for the lighter fluid to topple the heavier fluid & rise to the top

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Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Hotter plate on top, no convection currents will develop in the enclosure since the lighter fluid is always on top.

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Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

The rate of heat transfer through enclosure :

(T1 T2 ) Q hAs (T1 T2 ) kNuAs

Conduction heat transfer :

(T1 T2 ) Q keff As

Convection heat transfer inside enclosure is analogy of conduction across fluid layer, k is replaced by kNu which known as effective thermal conductivity keff.
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Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

Aspect ratio = H/L

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Natural Convection Inside Enclosures

The Rayleigh Number (Ra), for an enclosure is determined from :

Ra Gr Pr

g (T1 T2 ) 3

Pr

= distance between the hot and cold surfaces T1 and T2 : temperatures of hot and cold surfaces Fluid properties are evaluated at average temperature Tavg = (T1 + T2) / 2
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