FLOW INTO VERTICAL CHANNELS IN THE PRESENCE OF BLOCKS: HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS

Heat transfer characteristics in a vertical channel in the presence of heat releasing and nonreleasing blocks are investigated. The influence of the spacing between the blocks on the heat transfer characteristics is examined. The blocks are made of the same material, and the location of the heat releasing block is fixed. The temperature and flow fields in the channel are simulated using the control volume approach. It is found that the thermally induced convective current emergent from the first block modifies the flow and temperature fields in the neighborhood of the second block. In this case, the Nusselt number increases along the side walls of the second block in the case of a small spacing, and an increasing spacing results in a reduced Nusselt number at the second block surfaces.