Prandtl number dependence of laminar natural convection heat transfer in a horizontal cylindrical enclosure with an inner coaxial triangular cylinder

A numerical study of laminar convection heat transfer from a horizontal triangular cylinder to its concentric cylindrical enclosure is performed to investigate the Prandtl number effect on flow and heat transfer characteristics. The Prandtl number over several orders of magnitude (10−2 < Pr < 103) as well as different aspect ratios (AR = 1.2 and 2.0) and different Rayleigh numbers (Ra = 103, 104, 105, and 106) are considered. The finite volume approach is used to solve the governing equations, in which buoyancy is modeled via the Boussinesq approximation. The computed flow patterns and temperature fields are shown by means of streamlines and isotherms, respectively, and the local and average heat transfer coefficients are also presented. It is found that the flow and heat transfer characteristics for a low Prandtl number fluid (Pr = 0.03) are unique and they are almost independent of Prandtl number when Pr ⩾ 0.7. The entire spectrum of Prandtl number investigated can be divided into three sections based on the variations of average heat transfer coefficients. In each section, correlating equations of the average Nusselt number to the Rayleigh number are proposed with the maximum deviation less than 3%.