Numerical analysis of a symmetrically heated vertical channel with obstruction

In this paper, a numerical investigation of laminar natural convection flows in a vertical channel with obstructions is carried out. The main purpose was to analyze the effects of the locations of symmetric obstructions. The computations were performed in a two-dimensional domain and a symmetric uniform wall temperature has been taken as thermal boundary condition. The governing equations were solved using a control volume method and the SIMPLER algorithm for the velocity-pressure coupling was employed. The profiles of the local Nusselt number were given for three different locations of the obstructions. The variation of the average Nusselt number and inlet flow rate versus the modified Rayleigh number were investigated. The results demonstrated that the average Nusselt number decreases as the distance of the obstructions from the inlet increases.