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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to carry out a numerical study on the dynamic and thermal behavior of a fluid with a constant property and flowing turbulently through a two-dimensional horizontal rectangular channel. The upper surface was put in a constant temperature condition, while the lower one was thermally insulated. Two transverse, solid-type obstacles, having different shapes, i.e. flat rectangular and V-shaped, were inserted into the channel and fixed to the top and bottom walls of the channel, in a periodically staggered manner to force vortices to improve the mixing, and consequently the heat transfer. The flat rectangular obstacle was put in the first position and was placed on the hot top wall of the channel. However, the second V-shaped obstacle was placed on the insulated bottom wall, at an attack angle of 45°; its position was varied to find the optimum configuration for optimal heat transfer. Design/methodology/approach The fluid is considered Newtonian, incompressible with constant properties. The Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations, along with the standard k-epsilon turbulence model and the energy equation, are used to control the channel flow model. The finite volume method is used to integrate all the equations in two-dimensions; the commercial CFD software FLUENT along with the SIMPLE-algorithm is used for pressure-velocity coupling. Various values of the Reynolds number and obstacle spacing were selected to perform the numerical runs, using air as the working medium. Findings The channel containing the flat fin and the 45° V-shaped baffle with a large Reynolds number gave higher heat transfer and friction loss than the one with a smaller Reynolds number. Also, short separation distances between obstacles provided higher values of the ratios Nu/Nu0 and f/f0 and a larger thermal enhancement factor (TEF) than do larger distances. Originality/value This is an original work, as it uses a novel method for the improvement of heat transfer in completely new flow geometry.

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Purpose This paper aims to report the results of numerical analysis of turbulent fluid flow and forced-convection heat transfer in solar air channels with baffle-type attachments of various shapes. The effect of reconfiguring baffle geometry on the local and average heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop measurements in the whole domain investigated at constant surface temperature condition along the top and bottom channels’ walls is studied by comparing 15 forms of the baffle, which are simple (flat rectangular), triangular, trapezoidal, cascaded rectangular-triangular, diamond, arc, corrugated, +, S, V, double V (or W), Z, T, G and epsilon (or e)-shaped, with the Reynolds number changing from 12,000 to 32,000. Design/methodology/approach The baffled channel flow model is controlled by the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, besides the k-epsilon (or k-e) turbulence model and the energy equation. The finite volume method, by means of commercial computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT is used in this research work. Findings Over the range investigated, the Z-shaped baffle gives a higher thermal enhancement factor than with simple, triangular, trapezoidal, cascaded rectangular-triangular, diamond, arc, corrugated, +, S, V, W, T, G and e-shaped baffles by about 3.569-20.809; 3.696-20.127; 3.916-20.498; 1.834-12.154; 1.758-12.107; 7.272-23.333; 6.509-22.965; 8.917-26.463; 8.257-23.759; 5.513-18.960; 8.331-27.016; 7.520-26.592; 6.452-24.324; and 0.637-17.139 per cent, respectively. Thus, the baffle of Z-geometry is considered as the best modern model of obstacles to significantly improve the dynamic and thermal performance of the turbulent airflow within the solar channel. Originality/value This analysis reports an interesting strategy to enhance thermal transfer in solar air channels by use of attachments with various shapes

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Convection heat transfer mode is the principal topic in thermal transfer. So, it is the matter of many numerical and experimental studies. In recent years, much attention was given to the use of free/forced/mixed convection heat transfer with nanofluids in geothermal engineering, storage of radioactive nuclear waste, solar collectors, transpiration cooling, performance of cold storage, separation processes in chemical industries, thermal insulation of buildings, filtration, space technology, transport processes in aquifers, nuclear reactor cooling system, groundwater pollution, underground nuclear wastes disposal, geothermal extraction, and fiber insulation, etc, and many researches were reported in this topic. This paper presents a detailed review of the numerical and experimental studies carried out by various researchers in order to obtain enhanced heat transfer in free, forced, and mixed convection by using nanofluids in porous media. Critical information of all studies in three categories (analytical, experimental. and numerical) has been collected.