COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF CONVECTION HEAT-TRANSFER TO NONSPHERICAL PARTICLES

Steady laminar axisymmetric thermal flow past solitary oblate spheroids and non-spherical droplets at constant temperature has been numerically analysed. Mean Nusselt number correlations as a function of Reynolds number (i.e. 40 less than or equal to Re less than or equal to 120), aspect ratio (i.e. 0.2 less than or equal to E less than or equal to 1.0) and Prandtl number (i.e. Pr = 0.7 and 7.0) are presented for rigid spheroids. Non-sphericity effects of water and n-hexane fuel droplets on heat transfer mechanisms are also discussed. Thus, the analysis may form a base case for studying spheroidal particle effects in convection heat transfer systems.