Abstract
The natural convection flow phenomena that occur inside an enclosed space are very interesting examples of complex fluid systems that may yield to analytical, empirical and numerical solutions, and many reports have looked into this basic problem. In the present study, heat transfer and fluid flow for natural convection in a horizontal rectangular container with a free surface are investigated using infrared thermography. The temperature field was measured and visualized at a gas-liquid (air — silicon oil) interface using infrared thermography. The heat transfer phenomena were also investigated by statistically analyzing the temperature data. The applicability of the infrared thermography to quantitative heat transfer measurement at the gas-liquid interface was evaluated. It is revealed that infrared thermography is effective not only in visualization of a gas-liquid interface but also in heat transfer measurement. A new heat transfer correlation is proposed for the gas-liquid interface of this flow system. The coefficient of heat transfer can be summarized by a specific heat transfer correlation formula regardless of several conditions, including container aspect ratio, fluid viscosity and fluid layer depth.
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Terumi Inagaki: He received B.E. (1984), and M.E. (1986) in Toyohashi University of Technology, D.E. (1991) in University of Tokyo. He is an associate professor (1996) in the department of mechanical engineering, Ibaraki University. His research interests are heat transfer, flow visualization, infrared sensing, non-destructive diagnosis and biological sensing.
Masakazu Hatori: He received his B. E. in mechanical engineering in 2002 from Ibaraki University. He also received his M. E. in mechanical engineering in 2004 from Ibaraki University. He is now a member of Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute. His research interests are heat transfer, thermal visualization, Benard-cell convection, infrared sensing and measurement at gas-liquid interface.
Tomohiro Suzuki: He received his B. E. in mechanical engineering in 2004 from Ibaraki University. He will also receive his M. E. in mechanical engineering in 2006 from Ibaraki University. His research interests are heat transfer, thermal visualization, Benard-cell convection, infrared sensing and measurement at gas-liquid interface.
Yasuaki Shiina: He received the B.E. (1970), and M.E. (1973), D.E. (1990) in University of Tokyo. He is a senior scientist, department of advanced nuclear heat technology, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and is also a guest professor of Tsukuba University.
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Inagaki, T., Hatori, M., Suzuki, T. et al. Heat transfer and fluid flow of benard-cell convection in rectangular container with free surface sensed by infrared thermography. J Vis 9, 145–160 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181758
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03181758