Slit Wall and Heat Transfer Effect on the Taylor Vortex Flow

Abstract

The Taylor vortex flow in the plain model with a constant temperature gradient effect was studied by experimental measurement, and the preliminary features of Taylor vortex flow affected by heat transfer process were obtained. This flow field in the plain model was also studied by numerical simulation. The reliability of numerical simulation was verified by comparing the numerical results with the experimental ones. To study the slit wall effect on this flow regime under the same temperature gradient conditions, another three models with different slit numbers (6, 9 and 12) were considered. The vortex pairs were found to have a motion along the axial direction. Because of the existence of the temperature gradient, the axial flow in the annulus gap was enhanced, but the radial velocity near the inner cylinder was found to be weakened. The heat flux generated by the inner cylinder was also compared among different models, and it was found that the heat flux generated by the 6-slit model was increased by 4.5% compared to that of the plain model, and the 12-slit model generated the maximum heat flux, which has the best heat transfer ability.