Laminar free convection with variable fluid properties in vertical ducts having uniform wall temperature

Recently, the research on free convection in vertical ducts has become active again concerning the problem of cooling in nuclear reactor accidents and the cooling of electronic equipment. Generally, in the convection heat transfer in ducts, when the wall temperature is high, the fluid temperature in the ducts conspicuously changes, accordingly, the temperature dependence of the properties cannot be neglected. In this study, about the laminar free convection in parallel plates and a circular pipe having uniform wall temperature, the numerical analysis taking the temperature dependence of all properties into account was carried out, thus the effect of the temperature dependence of properties exerted on free convection heat transfer was clarified, and the relation to the solution in constant properties was examined. Moreover, by introducing a new representative dimension, it was attempted to express mean heat transfer coefficient which is independent of the form of ducts in unified way. The mean Nusselt number of the constant property solution using entrance pressure condition agreed very well with the exact numerical solution. (Kako, I.)