Experimental Study of Partial Open Side Effect on Natural Convection in a Porous Cavity

Abstract

This research provides information on the heat transfer in the cavity by natural convection which has a partially open side with a ratio (A = 1, 0.75, 0.5, 0.25) to the surroundings for cooling. It is filled with porous media (glass beads) and saturated with air. The bottom wall was heated with a constant heat flux (q = 1500, 3000, 4500, 6000) W/m2 while the top and other walls of the cavity were well insulated. The porous media had small porosity (0.418), a range of Rayleigh number Ra (57.6-1470). The distribution of temperatures, the local Nusselt number, and the average Nusselt number were all extracted from the testing rig's temperature data. It is clear that the fluid flow and heat transfer are affected by heat flux and the ratio of partially open side. Observed that, the greatest temperature values at maximum heat flux (q) and minimum open ratio (A). Thus, the temperature rising at all values of the constant heat flux and the enhancement of the local Nusselt number at (q = 6000) W/m2 about (5.47%, 3.85%, 1.76%) for (A = 1, 0.75, 0.5) respectively, when compared with (A = 0.25). The enhancement of the average Nusselt number at (q = 6000) W/m2 is about (7.28%, 4.55%, 2.27%) for (A = 1, 0.75, 0.5) respectively, compared with (A = 0.25).