LAMINAR NATURAL-CONVECTION IN A CYLINDRICAL ENCLOSURE WITH DIFFERENT END TEMPERATURES

Laminar natural convection in a fluid-filled cylinder with different end wall temperatures is investigated in a three-dimensional numerical study and is experimentally verified. The influences of fluid and geometrical parameters, like Rayleigh number (Ra < 8 x 10(4)), Prandtl number (0.023 less-than-or-equal-to Pr less-than-or-equal-to 135), aspect ratio height/diameter (0.5 less-than-or-equal-to H/D less-than-or-equal-to 2), and inclination angle (0-degrees less-than-or-equal-to alpha less-than-or-equal-to 180-degrees) on convective motion and heat transfer are presented. Maximum heat transfer and greatest velocities are found for H/D = 1 at inclination angles of alpha almost-equal-to 45-degrees-60-degrees.