HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF TAYLOR-COUETTE FLOW IN WAVY CONICAL ANNULUS

Numerical simulations of the flow and heat transfer in an annulus fluid confined between two truncated coaxial cones with wavy surfaces are presented. Both the inner and the outer cones are provided with wavy surfaces in order to enhance the heat transfer. Extensive simulations have been performed to analyze the effect of the phase shift of the surface waviness on heat transfer performance. Three levels of modified Taylor numbers (2500, 3500, and 4750) has been selected in order to understand the effect of the rotation on heat transfer. The wavy conical annulus exhibits better heat transfer characteristics than a simple smooth conical annulus. This is attributed by the high shear mixing between the fluid layers achieved by the typical axisymmetric toroidal vortex motion in the wavy annulus. Further increase in the heat transfer performance can be made possible as the Taylor number is increased due to the presence of the enhanced centrifugal force effects.