Effects of turbulence on heat and mass transfer in stagnation flows

Abstract

The influence of turbulence on local heat and mass transfer is systematically analyzed. Essential prerequisite is the availability of measurement methods, based on convective mass transfer, which allow the visualization of heat and mass transfer distributions. The results show that, even at low turbulence intensities, the flow and transport phenomena are decisively influenced by the specific design of turbulence grids and the orientation of the grid wires with respect to the stagnation line. Thereby, two different flow mechanisms occur which may interact. The anisotropy of grid turbulence leads to the "wire-gap effect" depending on the actual position of the grid wires in relation to the stagnation line. The other mechanism is based on the wavy wake velocity distribution behind screens and grids which, in conjunction with the centrifugal instability of stagnation flows, may lead to longitudinal vortices. The results indicate why turbulence has not been sufficiently considered in the available (semi-) empirical correlations. Information needed for an accurate prediction of heat and mass transfer in turbulence flows is discussed.