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Numerical simulation of electrohydrodynamic effect on natural convection through a vertical enclosure channel
Author(s) -
Nahavandi Milad,
MehrabaniZeinabad Arjomand
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.348
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1932-2143
pISSN - 1932-2135
DOI - 10.1002/apj.1719
Subject(s) - electrohydrodynamics , enclosure , mechanics , natural convection , multiphysics , rayleigh number , heat transfer , liquid dielectric , electric field , heat transfer coefficient , fluid dynamics , materials science , thermodynamics , dielectric , physics , electrical engineering , finite element method , engineering , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics
An externally applied electric field beside a plane layer of dielectric liquid can induce secondary flows. This phenomenon is called electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effect and can result in heat transfer enhancement. In this study the effect of EHD force on natural convection heat transfer coefficient of water through a vertical enclosure channel is investigated by numerical simulation, using Comsol Multiphysics software. Also, the interaction between EHD force, fluid flow field, pressure field and temperature field was investigated by computational fluid dynamics technique. Flow pattern, temperature distribution, back pressure and pressure due to suddenly expanded flow are substantially affected by applied electric field, especially at low Rayleigh numbers. The results show that by increasing the temperature difference up to 40 K and the applied voltage up to 100 V, the heat transfer coefficient is increased by more than 1000 kW/cm 2 K for three different enclosure channel lengths. © 2013 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.