Simulation of Turbulent Flow and Heat Transfer Through a Duct with Baffle Plates

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical study of the turbulent air flow and heat transfer through a duct with baffle plates is performed. The effect of baffles arrangement baffles number, baffle height and baffle thickness on the flow and heat transfer characteristics is investigated. The fully elliptic differential equations that describe the flow and heat transfer are integrated using the finite volume approach. The standard k-є model with wall functions has been submitted to model the turbulence. The obtained computed results show that the boundary layer separation and recirculation regions are significantly affected with the height, thickness and arrangements of the baffle plates. Also the results demonstrate that in the presence of the baffle, the heat is significantly enhanced. The bulk temperature values along the duct are decreased with the increase of Reynolds number for all the studied cases