Maximum heat transfer density with rotating cylinders aligned in cross-flow

In this paper, we study the thermal behavior of an assembly of rotating cylinders aligned in a cross-flow. The objective is to maximize the heat transfer rate density of the assembly, i.e. the overall heat transfer dissipated per unit of volume, under fixed pressure drop. A numerical model is used to solve the governing equations. Two configurations are studied: i) the cylinders rotate in the same direction, and ii) consecutive cylinders rotate in opposite directions. The spacing between consecutive cylinders is optimized in each case. The second configuration proved to be the more efficient. In that configuration, it is also possible to optimize further the architecture by using a smaller spacing for the flow passage in which the flow is in the direction of the cylinders rotation, and larger spacing for the flow passage in which the cylinders oppose the main stream.