Numerical simulation of turbulent plume spread in ceiling vented enclosure

The buoyancy-induced turbulent flow generated by a heat source in a square enclosure with single and multiple ceiling vents has been studied numerically. A two-dimensional, turbulent natural convection flow is investigated in stream function and vorticity formulation approach. A low Reynolds number k-epsilon turbulence model of Lam Bremhorst is used to solve the governing equations using high accuracy compact finite difference schemes. Results are reported for different Grashof numbers varied from 10(8) to 10(10). The effects of heat source location, vent location and multiple vents on flow characteristics in enclosure are presented. The heat transfer characteristics, ambient entrainment flow rate and the oscillatory nature of the penetrative and recirculating flow inside the vented enclosure are reported. The results indicate significant change in the flow behavior by varying the location of heat source and vent for fixed Grashof number. The effect of entrainment of ambient air is significant with increase in Grashof number. The volume flow rates through the two ceiling vents showed a significant variation depending on the location of vent. Present results are matching very well with the experimental and numerical results available from the literature. (C) 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.