ABSTRACT
In this study, heat transfer to power-law (pseudo-plastic) fluids from a heated long confined cylinder having square cross-section in the steady flow regime is investigated. The effects of Reynolds number, Prandtl number and power-law index on the heat transfer characteristics of a square obstacle is examined for the range: Reynolds number = 1 − 45, Prandtl number = 1 and power-law index = 0.8 for a fixed blockage ratio of 0.125. The role of two classical thermal boundary conditions, namely, the constant wall temperature (CWT) and constant heat flux (CHF) boundary conditions is investigated. The semi-explicit finite volume method implemented on a collocated grid arrangement has been used to solve the governing equations. The local and average Nusselt numbers and the heat transfer factor ( j ) for CWT and CHF boundary conditions prescribed on the surface of the square obstacle have been calculated. Isotherm plots have been presented in order to show the temperature field around the obstacle. The average Nusselt number increases with an increase in the Reynolds number for the range of conditions covered here.
Keywords: Square cylinder, Pseudo-plastic fluids, Nusselt number, Constant temperature condition, Constant heat flux
condition.
