Experimental research on heat transfer enhancement by a wall-proximity circular cylinder under an axial magnetic field

Abstract

This work experimentally investigates the flow and heat transfer of liquid metal around a cylinder in a rectangular channel with a heated bottom wall under an axial magnetic field. Wall electrical potential probes measure the streamwise and vertical velocity components, while an immersed array probe measures the temperature distribution in the vertical profile. The coupling effects of the gap ratio (ratio of the distance between the center of the cylinder and the wall to the diameter of the cylinder) and the magnetic field on heat transfer enhancement are studied. The experimental results suggest that the Lorentz force suppresses the wall recirculation zone from shedding secondary vortices and alters the trajectory of the vortex street, affecting the thermal boundary layer. The probability density function of temperature indicates that the magnetohydrodynamics effect causes a bimodal distribution due to a quasi-two-dimensional vortex street and a trimodal distribution due to additional secondary vortices. The vortex street notably reduces the thermal boundary layer thickness and the local temperature of the heated wall. The analysis of the correlation coefficients between velocity and temperature fluctuations and the frequency spectrum reveals the physical mechanism enhancing heat transfer. The wall-proximity effect and buoyancy strengthen flow fluctuations and enhance heat transfer. For Ha (Hartmann number) ranging from 161.6 to 646.4, optimal heat transfer occurs at G/d = 1.0, whereas for 808 ≤ Ha ≤ 1131.2, optimal heat transfer is achieved at G/d = 0.5, which is attributed to the coupling effect of the magnetic field and gap flow on vortex dynamics.