Numerical Study of Entropy Generation for Natural Convection in Cylindrical Cavities

In this paper, an enhanced computational code was developed using a finite-volume method for solving the incompressible natural convection flow within cylindrical cavities. Grids were generated by an easy method with a view to providing a computer program. An explicit integration algorithm was applied to find the steady-state condition. Also, instead of the conventional algorithms of SIMPLE (Semi Implicit Method) and SIMPLEC (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations–Consistent), an artificial compressibility technique was applied for coupling the continuity to the momentum equations. The entropy generation, which is a representation of the irreversibility and efficiency loss in engineering the heat-transfer processes, has been analyzed in detail. The discretization of the diffusion terms is simplified greatly using an enhanced scheme similar to the flux averaging in the convective terms. Additionally, an analysis of the entropy generation in a cylindrical enclosure is performed. In order to show the validation of this study, the code is reproduced to solve a similar problem from the cited paper. Finally, the solutions were extended for the new cases.