Natural Convection Heat Transfer of Cold Water Within an Eccentric Horizontal Cylindrical Annulus

Natural convection heat transfer of cold water, encompassing a density inversion, within an eccentric horizontal annulus made of two isothermal cylinders, is numerically studied via a finite difference method. Numerical results have been obtained for an annular radius ratio 2.6 with Rayleigh number ranging from 10³ to 10⁶, the inversion parameter being 0.0 to 1.0, the eccentricity varying from 0 to 0.8, and the orientation angle of the inner cylinder between 0 and π. Results indicate that the flow patterns and heat transfer characteristics are strongly influenced by the combined effect induced by the density inversion of water and the position of the inner cylinder of the annulus. For the cases considered in the present study, a minimum in heat transfer arises with the inversion parameter between 0.4 and 0.5 depending primarily on the position of the inner cylinder.