LOW REYNOLDS-NUMBER SIMULTANEOUSLY DEVELOPING FLOWS IN THE ENTRANCE REGION OF PARALLEL PLATES

The results of a numerical study of the simultaneously developing flow at low Reynolds number in the entrance region of a cascade of parallel horizontal plates with a uniform flow at upstream infinity are presented. The finite difference equations for the Navier-Stokes and energy partial differential equations, accounting for axial diffusion of momentum and heat, are solved by ADI and QUICK methods and the results extrapolated to zero mesh size with extended Richardson extrapolation. The isothermal flow results, incremental pressure drop and heat transfer numbers, and hydrodynamic and thermal entrance lengths are presented for Pr = 0.7 and Reynolds numbers between 1 and 20; and for constant wall temperature and constant wall heat flux boundary conditions. Accurate engineering correlations for the effects of the Re on various quantities are also obtained.