Convection

This figure shows a calculation for thermal convection. Colors closer to red are hot areas and colors closer to blue are cold areas. In this figure, a hot, less-dense lower boundary layer sends plumes of hot material upwards, and likewise, cold material from the top moves downwards. This figure is from a model of convection in the Earth's mantle. Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids (i.e. liquids, gases) and rheids. It cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion can take place in solids. Convection is one of the major modes of heat transfer and mass transfer. Convective heat and mass transfer take place through both diffusion the random Brownian motion of individual particles in the fluid and by advection, in which matter or heat is transported by the larger-scale motion of currents in the fluid. In the context of heat and mass transfer, the term "convection" is used to refer to the sum of advective and diffusive transfer. [1] Note that a common use of the term convection refers specifically to heat transfer by convection, as opposed to convection in general.

Terminology
The term "convection" may have slightly different but related usages in different contexts. The broader sense is in fluid mechanics, where "convection" refers to the motion of fluid (regardless of cause). [2] However in thermodynamics "convection" often refers specifically to heat transfer by convection.[3] Additionally, convection includes fluid movement both by bulk motion (advection) and by the motion of individual particles (diffusion). However in some cases, convection is taken to mean only advective phenomena. For instance, in the transport equation, which describes a number of different transport phenomena, terms are separated into "convective" and "diffusive" effects. A similar differentiation is made in the NavierStokes equations. In such cases the precise meaning of the term may be clear only from context.

Examples and applications of convection

Convection occurs on a large scale in atmospheres, oceans, and planetary mantles. Fluid movement during convection may be invisibly slow, or it may be obvious and rapid, as in a hurricane. On astronomical scales, convection of gas and dust is thought to occur in the accretion disks of black holes, at speeds which may closely approach that of light.

Heat transfer

A heat sink provides a large surface area for convection to efficiently carry away heat. Convective heat transfer is a mechanism of heat transfer occurring because of bulk motion (observable movement) of fluids. Heat is the entity of interest being advected (carried), and diffused (dispersed). This can be contrasted with conductive heat transfer, which is the transfer of energy by vibrations at a molecular level through a solid or fluid, and radiative heat transfer, the transfer of energy through electromagnetic waves. Heat is transferred by convection in numerous examples of naturally occurring fluid flow, such as: wind, oceanic currents, and movements within the Earth's mantle. Convection is also used in engineering practices to provide desired temperature changes, as in heating of homes, industrial processes, cooling of equipment, etc. The rate of convective heat transfer may be improved by the use of a heat sink, often in conjunction with a fan. For instance, a typical computer CPU will have a purpose-made fan to ensure its operating temperature is kept within tolerable limits.

Convection cells

Convection cells in a gravity field A convection cell, also known as a Bnard cell is a characteristic fluid flow pattern in many convection systems. A rising body of fluid typically loses heat because it encounters a cold surface; because it exchanges heat with colder liquid through direct exchange; or in the example of the Earth's atmosphere, because it radiates heat. Because of this heat loss the fluid becomes denser than the fluid underneath it, which is still rising. Since it cannot descend through the rising fluid, it moves to one side. At some distance, its downward force overcomes the rising force beneath it, and the fluid begins to descend. As it descends, it warms again and the cycle repeats itself.

Atmospheric circulation

Idealised depiction of the global circulation on Earth Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air, and the means (together with the smaller ocean circulation) by which thermal energy is distributed on the surface of the Earth. The large-scale structure of the atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but the basic climatological structure remains fairly constant. Latitudinal circulation is the consequence of the fact that incident solar radiation per unit area is highest at the heat equator, and decreases as the latitude increases, reaching its minimum at the poles. It consists of two primary convection cells, the Hadley cell and the polar vortex. Longitudinal circulation, on the other hand, comes about because water has a higher specific heat capacity than land and thereby absorbs and releases more heat, but the temperature changes less than land. This effect is noticeable; it is what brings the sea breeze, air cooled by the water, ashore in the day, and carries the land breeze, air cooled by contact with the ground, out to sea during the night. Longitudinal

Weather

How Foehn is produced More localized phenomena than global atmospheric movement are also due to convection, including wind and some of the hydrologic cycle. For example, a foehn wind is a type of down-slope wind which occurs in the downwind side of a mountain range. It results from the adiabatic warming of air which has dropped most of its moisture on windward slopes. As a consequence of the different adiabatic lapse rates of moist and dry air, the air on the leeward slopes becomes warmer than equivalent elevations on the windward slopes, leading to the wind.
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A thermal column (or thermal) is a vertical section of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation. The Sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it. The warmer air expands, becoming less dense than the surrounding air mass. The mass of lighter air rises, and as it does, it cools due to its expansion at lower highaltitude pressures. It stops rising when it has cooled to the same temperature as the surrounding air. Associated with a thermal is a downward flow surrounding the thermal column. The downward moving exterior is caused by colder air being displaced at the top of the thermal. Another convection-driven weather effect is the sea breeze.

Oceanic circulation

Ocean currents Solar radiation affects the oceans: warm water from the Equator tends to circulate toward the poles, while cold polar water heads towards the Equator. Oceanic convection is also frequently driven by density differences due to varying salinity, known as thermohaline convection, and is of crucial importance in global ocean circulation. In this case it is possible for relatively warm, saline water to sink, and colder, fresher water to rise, reversing the normal transport of heat.

Mantle convection

An oceanic plate is added to by upwelling (left) and consumed at a subduction zone (right). Mantle convection is the slow creeping motion of Earth's rocky mantle caused by convection currents carrying heat from the interior of the earth to the surface. It is the driving force that causes tectonic plates to move around the Earth's surface. The Earth's surface is divided into a number of tectonic plates that are continuously being created and consumed at their opposite plate boundaries. Creation (accretion) occurs as mantle is added to the growing edges of a plate. This hot added material cools down by conduction and convection of heat. At the consumption edges of the plate, the material has thermally contracted to become dense, and it sinks under its own weight in the process of
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subduction at an ocean trench. This subducted material sinks to some depth in the Earth's interior where it is prohibited from sinking further. The subducted oceanic crust triggers volcanism.

Stack effect
The Stack effect or chimney effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings, chimneys, flue gas stacks, or other containers due to buoyancy. Buoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor air density resulting from temperature and moisture differences. The greater the thermal difference and the height of the structure, the greater the buoyancy force, and thus the stack effect. The stack effect helps drive natural ventilation and infiltration. Some cooling towers operate on this principle; similarly the solar updraft tower is a proposed device to generate electricity based on the stack effect.

Stellar physics

Granulesconvection cells caused by the convection of plasmaon the photosphere of the Sun, with North America superimposed on the same scale The convection zone of a star is the range of radii in which energy is transported primarily by convection. Granules on the photosphere of the Sun are convection cells caused by convection of plasma. The rising part of the granules is located in the center where the plasma is hotter. The outer edge of the granules is darker due to the cooler descending plasma. A typical granule has a diameter on the order of 1,000 kilometers and lasts 8 to 20 minutes before dissipating. Below the photosphere is a layer of "supergranules" up to 30,000 kilometers in diameter with lifespans of up to 24 hours. The image shows the solar photosphere where granules are visible. North America is superimposed to provide a sense of scale.

Convection mechanisms
Convection may happen in fluids at all scales larger than a few atoms. There are a variety of circumstances in which the forces required for natural and forced convection arise, leading to different types of convection, described below. In broad terms, convection arises because of body forces acting within the fluid, such as gravity (buoyancy), or surface forces acting at a boundary of the fluid. The causes of convection are generally described as one of either "natural" ("free") or "forced", although other mechanisms also exist (disscussed below). However the distinction between natural and forced convection is particularly important for convective heat transfer.

Natural convection
Natural convection, or free convection, occurs due to temperature differences which affect the density, and thus relative buoyancy, of the fluid. Heavier (more dense) components will fall while lighter (less dense) components rise, leading to bulk fluid movement. Natural convection can only occur, therefore, in a gravitational field. A common example of natural convection is a pot of boiling water in which the hot and less-dense water on the bottom layer moves upwards in plumes, and the cool and more dense water near the top of the pot likewise sinks. Natural convection will be more likely and/or more rapid with a greater variation in density between the two fluids, a larger acceleration due to gravity that drives the convection, and/or a larger distance through the convecting medium. Convection will be less likely and/or less rapid with more rapid diffusion (thereby diffusing away the gradient that is causing the convection) and/or a more viscous (sticky) fluid. The onset of natural convection can be determined by the Rayleigh number (Ra). Note that differences in buoyancy within a fluid can arise for reasons other than temperature variations, in which case the fluid motion is called gravitational convection (see below).

Forced convection
In forced convection, also called heat advection, fluid movement results from external surface forces such as a fan or pump. Forced convection is typically used to increase the rate of heat exchange. Many types of mixing also utilize forced convection to distribute one substance within another. Forced convection also occurs as a byproduct to other processes, such as the action of a propeller in a fluid or aerodynamic heating. Fluid radiator systems, and also heating and cooling of parts of the body by blood circulation, are other familiar examples of forced convection. Forced convection may produce results more quickly than free convection. For instance, a convection oven works by forced convection, as a fan which rapidly circulates hot air forces heat into food faster than would naturally happen due to simple heating without the fan.

Gravitational or buoyant convection

Gravitational convection is a type of natural convection induced by buoyancy variations resulting from material properties other than temperature. Typically this is caused by a variable composition of the fluid. If the varying property is a concentration gradient, it is known as solutal convection.[4] For example, gravitational convection can be seen in the diffusion of a source of dry salt downward into wet soil due to the buoyancy of fresh water in saline.[5] Variable salinity in water and variable water content in air masses are frequent causes of convection in the oceans and atmosphere which do not involve heat, or else involve additional compositional density factors other than the density changes from thermal expansion (see thermohaline circulation). Similarly, variable composition within the Earth's interior which has not yet achieved maximal stability and minimal energy (in other words, with densest parts deepest) continues to cause a fraction of the convection of fluid rock and molten metal within the Earth's interior (see below). As buoyant convection is due to the effects of gravity, it does not occur in microgravity environments.

Convection of a fluid

Granular convection
Vibration-induced convection occurs in powders and granulated materials in containers subject to vibration where an axis of vibration is parallel to the force of gravity. When the container accelerates upward, the bottom of the container pushes the entire contents upward. In contrast, when the container accelerates downward, the sides of the container push the adjacent material downward by friction, but the material more remote from the sides is less affected. The net result is a slow circulation of particles downward at the sides, and upward in the middle. If the container contains particles of different sizes, the downward-moving region at the sides is often narrower than the largest particles. Thus, larger particles tend to become sorted to the top of such a mixture. This is one possible explanation of the Brazil nut effect.

Thermomagnetic convection
Thermomagnetic convection can occur when an external magnetic field is imposed on a ferrofluid with varying magnetic susceptibility. In the presence of a temperature gradient this results in a nonuniform magnetic body force, which leads to fluid movement. A ferrofluid is a liquid which becomes strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field. This form of heat transfer can be useful for cases where conventional convection fails to provide adequate heat transfer, e.g., in miniature microscale devices or under reduced gravity conditions.

Capillary action
Capillary action is a phenomenon where liquid spontaneously rises in a narrow space such as a thin tube, or in porous materials. This effect can cause liquids to flow against the force of gravity. It occurs because of intermolecular attractive forces between the liquid and solid surrounding surfaces; If the diameter of the tube is sufficiently small, then the combination of surface tension and forces of adhesion between the liquid and container act to lift the liquid.

Marangoni effect
The Marangoni effect is the convection of fluid along an interface between dissimilar substances because of variations in surface tension. Surface tension can vary because of inhomogeneous composition of the substances, and/or the temperature-dependence of surface tension forces. In the latter case the effect is known as thermocapillary convection. A well-known phenomenon exhibiting this type of convection is the "tears of wine".

Weissenberg effect
The Weissenberg effect is a phenomenon that occurs when a spinning rod is placed into a solution of liquid polymer. Instead of being thrown outward, entanglements cause the polymer chains to be drawn towards the rod instead of being thrown outward as would happen with an ordinary fluid (i.e., water).

Combustion
In a zero-gravity environment, there can be no buoyancy forces, and thus no natural (free) convection possible, so flames in many circumstances without gravity, smother in their own waste gases. However, flames may be maintained with any type of forced convection (breeze); or (in high oxygen environments in "still" gas environments) entirely from the minimal forced convection that occurs as heat-induced expansion (not buoyancy)
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of gases allows for ventilation of the flame, as waste gases move outward and cool, and fresh high-oxygen gas moves in to take up the low pressure zones created when flame-exhaust water condenses.[6]

Mathematical models of convection

Mathematically, convection can be described by the convectiondiffusion equation or the generic scalar transport equation.

Quantifying natural versus forced convection

In cases of mixed convection (natural and free occurring together) one would often like to know how much of the convection is due to external constraints, such as the fluid velocity in the pump, and how much is due to natural convection occurring in the system. The relative magnitudes of the Grashof and Reynolds number squared determine which form of convection dominates. if forced convection may be neglected, whereas if natural convection may be neglected. If the ratio is approximately one both forced and natural convection need to be taken into account.

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. ^ Frank P. Incropera; David P. De Witt and D. P. Dewitt (1990). Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-51729-1. ^ Munson, Bruce R.. Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 047185526X. ^ engel, Yunus A.; Boles, Michael A.. Thermodynamics:An Engineering Approach. McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN 007121688X. ^ "CiteSeerX Pattern Formation in Solutal Convection: Vermiculated Rolls and Isolated Cells". Citeseerx.ist.psu.edu. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.15.8288. Retrieved 2010-09-12. ^ Raats, P. A. C. (1969). "Steady Gravitational Convection Induced by a Line Source of Salt in a Soil". Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 33 (4): 483. doi:10.2136/sssaj1969.03615995003300040005x. ^ Does a candle burn in zero-g?

Dimensionless quantity
In dimensional analysis, a dimensionless quantity or quantity of dimension one is a quantity without an associated physical dimension. It is thus a "pure" number, and as such always has a dimension of 1. [1] Dimensionless quantities are widely used in mathematics, physics, engineering, economics, and in everyday life (such as in counting). Numerous well-known quantities, such as , e, and , are dimensionless. Dimensionless quantities are often defined as products or ratios of quantities that are not dimensionless, but whose dimensions cancel out when their powers are multiplied. This is the case, for instance, with the engineering strain, a measure of deformation. It is defined as change in length over initial length but, since these quantities both have dimensions L (length), the result is a dimensionless quantity.

Properties

Even though a dimensionless quantity has no physical dimension associated with it, it can still have dimensionless units. To show the quantity being measured (for example mass fraction or mole fraction), it is sometimes helpful to use the same units in both the numerator and denominator (kg/kg or mol/mol). The quantity may also be given as a ratio of two different units that have the same dimension (for instance, light years over meters). This may be the case when calculating slopes in graphs, or when making unit conversions. Such notation does not indicate the presence of physical dimensions, and is purely a notational convention. Other common dimensionless units are % (= 0.01), (= 0.001), ppm (= 106), ppb (= 109), ppt (= 1012) and angle units (degrees, radians, grad). Units of amount such as the dozen and the gross are also dimensionless. The dimensionless ratio of two quantities with the same dimensions has the same value regardless of the units used to calculate them. For instance, if body A exerts a force of magnitude F on body B, and B exerts a force of magnitude f on A, then the ratio F/f will always be equal to 1, regardless of the actual units used to measure F and f. This is a fundamental property of dimensionless proportions and follows from the assumption that the laws of physics are independent of the system of units used in their expression. In this case, if the ratio F/f was not always equal to 1, but changed if we switched from SI to CGS, for instance, that would mean that Newton's Third Law's truth or falsity would depend on the system of units used, which would contradict this fundamental hypothesis. The assumption that the laws of physics are not contingent upon a specific unit system is also closely related to the Buckingham theorem. A formulation of this theorem is that any physical law can be expressed as an identity (always true equation) involving only dimensionless combinations (ratios or products) of the variables linked by the law (e. g., pressure and volume are linked by Boyle's Law they are inversely proportional). If the dimensionless combinations' values changed with the systems of units, then the equation would not be an identity, and Buckingham's theorem would not hold.

Buckingham theorem
Another consequence of the Buckingham theorem of dimensional analysis is that the functional dependence between a certain number (say, n) of variables can be reduced by the number (say, k) of independent dimensions occurring in those variables to give a set of p = n k independent, dimensionless quantities. For the purposes of the experimenter, different systems which share the same description by dimensionless quantity are equivalent.

Example

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The power consumption of a stirrer with a given shape is a function of the density and the viscosity of the fluid to be stirred, the size of the stirrer given by its diameter, and the speed of the stirrer. Therefore, we have n = 5 variables representing our example. Those n = 5 variables are built up from k = 3 dimensions which are:

Length: L (m) Time: T (s) Mass: M (kg).

According to the -theorem, the n = 5 variables can be reduced by the k = 3 dimensions to form p = n k = 5 3 = 2 independent dimensionless numbers which are, in case of the stirrer:

Reynolds number (a dimensionless number describing the fluid flow regime) Power number (describing the stirrer and also involves the density of the fluid)

Standards efforts
The CIPM Consultative Committee for Units contemplated defining the unit of 1 as the 'uno', but the idea was dropped.[2][3][4]

Examples
Consider this example: Sarah says, "Out of every 10 apples I gather, 1 is rotten.". The rotten-to-gathered ratio is (1 apple) / (10 apples) = 0.1 = 10%, which is a dimensionless quantity. Another more typical example in physics and engineering is the measure of plane angles. An angle is measured as the ratio of the length of a circle's arc subtended by an angle whose vertex is the centre of the circle to some other length. The ratio, length divided by length, is dimensionless. When using radians as the unit, the length that is compared is the length of the radius of the circle. When using degree as the units, the arc's length is compared to 1/360 of the circumference of the circle.

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Reynolds number
A vortex street around a cylinder. This occurs around cylinders, independently of the fluid, the cylinder size and the fluid speed, provided that there is a Reynolds number of between 250 and 200,000. Picture courtesy, Cesareo de La Rosa Siqueira. In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number Re is a dimensionless number that gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces and consequently quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions. The concept was introduced by George Gabriel Stokes in 1851,[1] but the Reynolds number is named after Osborne Reynolds (18421912), who popularized its use in 1883.[2][3] Reynolds numbers frequently arise when performing dimensional analysis of fluid dynamics problems, and as such can be used to determine dynamic similitude between different experimental cases. They are also used to characterize different flow regimes, such as laminar or turbulent flow:

laminar flow occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where viscous forces are dominant, and is characterized by smooth,
constant fluid motion; while turbulent flow occurs at high Reynolds numbers and is dominated by inertial forces, which tend to produce chaotic eddies, vortices and other flow instabilities.

Definition
Reynolds number can be defined for a number of different situations where a fluid is in relative motion to a surface (the definition of the Reynolds number is not to be confused with the Reynolds Equation or lubrication equation). These definitions generally include the fluid properties of density and viscosity, plus a velocity and a characteristic length or characteristic dimension. This dimension is a matter of convention for example a radius or diameter are equally valid for spheres or circles, but one is chosen by convention. For aircraft or ships, the length or width can be used. For flow in a pipe or a sphere moving in a fluid the internal diameter is generally used today. Other shapes (such as rectangular pipes or non-spherical objects) have an equivalent diameter defined. For fluids of variable density (e.g. compressible gases) or variable viscosity (non-Newtonian fluids) special rules apply. The velocity may also be a matter of convention in some circumstances, notably stirred vessels.

[4]

where:

is the mean velocity of the object relative to the fluid (SI units: m/s) L is a characteristic linear dimension, (travelled length of the fluid; hydraulic diameter when dealing with river systems) (m) is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid (Pas or Ns/m or kg/(ms)) is the kinematic viscosity ( = / ) (m/s) is the density of the fluid (kg/m)

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Note

that

multiplying

the .[5]

Reynolds

number,

by

yields

which

is

the

ratio,

Significance

Flow in Pipe
For flow in a pipe or tube, the Reynolds number is generally defined as:[6]

where:

DH is the hydraulic diameter of the pipe (m).

Q is the volumetric flow rate (m3/s)

A is the pipe cross-sectional area (m).

Flow in a non-circular duct (annulus)

For shapes such as squares, rectangular or annular ducts (where the height and width are comparable) the characteristic dimension for internal flow situations is taken to be the hydraulic diameter, DH, defined as 4 times the cross-sectional area (of the fluid), divided by the wetted perimeter. The wetted perimeter for a channel is the total perimeter of all channel walls that are in contact with the flow. [7] This means the length of the water exposed to air is NOT included in the wetted perimeter

For a circular pipe, the hydraulic diameter is exactly equal to the inside pipe diameter, as can be shown mathematically. For an annular duct, such as the outer channel in a tube-in-tube heat exchanger, the hydraulic diameter can be shown algebraically to reduce to

DH,annulus = Do Di
where

Do is the inside diameter of the outside pipe, and Di is the outside diameter of the inside pipe.
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For calculations involving flow in non-circular ducts, the hydraulic diameter can be substituted for the diameter of a circular duct, with reasonable accuracy.

Flow in a Wide Duct

For a fluid moving between two plane parallel surfaces (where the width is much greater than the space between the plates) then the characteristic dimension is twice the distance between the plates.[8]

Flow in an Open Channel

For flow of liquid with a free surface, the hydraulic radius must be determined. This is the cross-sectional area of the channel divided by the wetted perimeter. For a semi-circular channel, it is half the radius. For a rectangular channel, the hydraulic radius is the cross-sectional area divided by the wetted perimeter. Some texts then use a characteristic dimension that is 4 times the hydraulic radius (chosen because it gives the same value of Re for the onset of turbulence as in pipe flow),[9] while others use the hydraulic radius as the characteristic length-scale with consequently different values of Re for transition and turbulent flow.

Object in a fluid
The Reynolds number for an object in a fluid, called the particle Reynolds number and often denoted Rep, is important when considering the nature of flow around that grain, whether or not vortex shedding will occur, and its fall velocity. Sphere in a fluid For a sphere in a fluid, the characteristic length-scale is the diameter of the sphere and the characteristic velocity is that of the sphere relative to the fluid some distance away from the sphere (such that the motion of the sphere does not disturb that reference parcel of fluid). The density and viscosity are those belonging to the fluid. [10] Note that purely laminar flow only exists up to Re = 0.1 under this definition. Under the condition of low Re, the relationship between force and speed of motion is given by Stokes' law.[11] Oblong object in a fluid The equation for an oblong object is identical to that of a sphere, with the object being approximated as an ellipsoid and the axis of length being chosen as the characteristic length scale. Such considerations are important in natural streams, for example, where there are few perfectly spherical grains. For grains in which measurement of each axis is impractical (e.g., because they are too small), sieve diameters are used instead as the characteristic particle length-scale. Both approximations alter the values of the critical Reynolds number. Fall velocity The particle Reynolds number is important in determining the fall velocity of a particle. When the particle Reynolds number indicates laminar flow, Stokes' law can be used to calculate its fall velocity. When the particle Reynolds number indicates turbulent flow, a turbulent drag law must be constructed to model the appropriate settling velocity.

Packed Bed
For flow of fluid through a bed of approximately spherical particles of diameter D in contact, if the voidage (fraction of the bed not filled with particles) is and the superficial velocity V (i.e. the velocity through the bed as if the particles were not there - the actual velocity will be higher) then a Reynolds number can be defined as:
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Laminar conditions apply up to Re = 10, fully turbulent from 2000.[10]

Stirred Vessel
In a cylindrical vessel stirred by a central rotating paddle, turbine or propellor, the characteristic dimension is the diameter of the agitator D. The velocity is ND where N is the rotational speed (revolutions per second). Then the Reynolds number is:

The system is fully turbulent for values of Re above 10 000.[12]

Transition Reynolds number

[citation needed]

In boundary layer flow over a flat plate, experiments can confirm that, after a certain length of flow, a laminar boundary layer will become unstable and become turbulent. This instability occurs across different scales and with different fluids, usually when , where x is the distance from the leading edge of the flat plate, and the flow velocity is the freestream velocity of the fluid outside the boundary layer. For flow in a pipe of diameter D, experimental observations show that for 'fully developed' flow (Note: [13]), laminar flow occurs when ReD < 2300 and turbulent flow occurs when ReD > 4000.[14] In the interval between 2300 and 4000, laminar and turbulent flows are possible ('transition' flows), depending on other factors, such as pipe roughness and flow uniformity). This result is generalised to non-circular channels using the hydraulic diameter, allowing a transition Reynolds number to be calculated for other shapes of channel. These transition Reynolds numbers are also called critical Reynolds numbers, and were studied by Osborne Reynolds around 1895 [see Rott].

Reynolds number in pipe friction

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Pressure drops seen for fully-developed flow of fluids through pipes can be predicted using the Moody diagram which plots the DarcyWeisbach friction factor f against Reynolds number Re and relative roughness / D. The diagram clearly shows the laminar, transition, and turbulent flow regimes as Reynolds number increases. The nature of pipe flow is strongly dependent on whether the flow is laminar or turbulent

The similarity of flows

In order for two flows to be similar they must have the same geometry, and have equal Reynolds numbers and Euler numbers. When comparing fluid behaviour at corresponding points in a model and a full-scale flow, the following holds:

quantities marked with 'm' concern the flow around the model and the others the actual flow. This allows engineers to perform experiments with reduced models in water channels or wind tunnels, and correlate the data to the actual flows, saving on costs during experimentation and on lab time. Note that true dynamic similitude may require matching other dimensionless numbers as well, such as the Mach number used in compressible flows, or the Froude number that governs open-channel flows. Some flows involve more dimensionless parameters than can be practically satisfied with the available apparatus and fluids (for example air or water), so one is forced to decide which parameters are most important. For experimental flow modeling to be useful, it requires a fair amount of experience and judgement of the engineer. Typical values of Reynolds number[15][16]

Ciliate ~ 1 x 101 Smallest Fish ~ 1 Blood flow in brain ~ 1 102 Blood flow in aorta ~ 1 103

Onset of turbulent flow ~ 2.3 103 to 5.0 104 for pipe flow to 106 for boundary layers
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Typical pitch in Major League Baseball ~ 2 105 Person swimming ~ 4 106 Fastest Fish ~ 1 x 106 Blue Whale ~ 3 108 A large ship (RMS Queen Elizabeth 2) ~ 5 109

Reynolds number sets the smallest scales of turbulent motion

In a turbulent flow, there is a range of scales of the time-varying fluid motion. The size of the largest scales of fluid motion (sometimes called eddies) are set by the overall geometry of the flow. For instance, in an industrial smoke stack, the largest scales of fluid motion are as big as the diameter of the stack itself. The size of the smallest scales is set by the Reynolds number. As the Reynolds number increases, smaller and smaller scales of the flow are visible. In a smoke stack, the smoke may appear to have many very small velocity perturbations or eddies, in addition to large bulky eddies. In this sense, the Reynolds number is an indicator of the range of scales in the flow. The higher the Reynolds number, the greater the range of scales. The largest eddies will always be the same size; the smallest eddies are determined by the Reynolds number. What is the explanation for this phenomenon? A large Reynolds number indicates that viscous forces are not important at large scales of the flow. With a strong predominance of inertial forces over viscous forces, the largest scales of fluid motion are undampedthere is not enough viscosity to dissipate their motions. The kinetic energy must "cascade" from these large scales to progressively smaller scales until a level is reached for which the scale is small enough for viscosity to become important (that is, viscous forces become of the order of inertial ones). It is at these small scales where the dissipation of energy by viscous action finally takes place. The Reynolds number indicates at what scale this viscous dissipation occurs. Therefore, since the largest eddies are dictated by the flow geometry and the smallest scales are dictated by the viscosity, the Reynolds number can be understood as the ratio of the largest scales of the turbulent motion to the smallest scales.

Example of the importance of the Reynolds number

If an airplane wing needs testing, one can make a scaled down model of the wing and test it in a wind tunnel using the same Reynolds number that the actual airplane is subjected to. If for example the scale model has linear dimensions one quarter of full size, the flow velocity of the model would have to be multiplied by a factor of 4 to obtain similar flow behavior. Alternatively, tests could be conducted in a water tank instead of in air (provided the compressibility effects of air are not significant). As the kinematic viscosity of water is around 13 times less than that of air at 15 C, in this case the scale model would need to be about one thirteenth the size in all dimensions to maintain the same Reynolds number, assuming the full-scale flow velocity was used. The results of the laboratory model will be similar to those of the actual plane wing results. Thus there is no need to bring a full scale plane into the lab and actually test it. This is an example of "dynamic similarity". Reynolds number is important in the calculation of a body's drag characteristics. A notable example is that of the flow around a cylinder.[17] Above roughly 3106 Re the drag coefficient drops considerably. This is important when calculating the optimal cruise speeds for low drag (and therefore long range) profiles for airplanes.

Reynolds number in physiology

Poiseuille's law on blood circulation in the body is dependent on laminar flow. In turbulent flow the flow rate is proportional to the square root of the pressure gradient, as opposed to its direct proportionality to pressure gradient in laminar flow.

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Using the definition of the Reynolds number we can see that a large diameter with rapid flow, where the density of the blood is high, tends towards turbulence. Rapid changes in vessel diameter may lead to turbulent flow, for instance when a narrower vessel widens to a larger one. Furthermore, an atheroma may be the cause of turbulent flow, and as such detecting turbulence with a stethoscope may be a sign of such a condition.

Reynolds number in viscous fluids

Creeping flow past a sphere: streamlines, drag force Fd and force by gravity Fg. Where the viscosity is naturally high, such as polymer solutions and polymer melts, flow is normally laminar. The Reynolds number is very small and Stokes' Law can be used to measure the viscosity of the fluid. Spheres are allowed to fall through the fluid and they reach the terminal velocity quickly, from which the viscosity can be determined. The laminar flow of polymer solutions is exploited by animals such as fish and dolphins, who exude viscous solutions from their skin to aid flow over their bodies while swimming. It has been used in yacht racing by owners who want to gain a speed advantage by pumping a polymer solution such as low molecular weight polyoxyethylene in water, over the wetted surface of the hull. It is however, a problem for mixing of polymers, because turbulence is needed to distribute fine filler (for example) through the material. Inventions such as the "cavity transfer mixer" have been developed to produce multiple folds into a moving melt so as to improve mixing efficiency. The device can be fitted onto extruders to aid mixing.

References and notes

^ Stokes, George (1851). "On the Effect of the Internal Friction of Fluids on the Motion of Pendulums". Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 9: 8106. 2. ^ Reynolds, Osborne (1883). "An experimental investigation of the circumstances which determine whether the motion of water shall be direct or sinuous, and of the law of resistance in parallel channels". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 174 (0): 935982. doi:10.1098/rstl.1883.0029. JSTOR 109431. 3. ^ Rott, N. (1990). "Note on the history of the Reynolds number". Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 22 (1): 111. doi:10.1146/annurev.fl.22.010190.000245. 4. ^ Reynolds Number 5. ^ Batchelor, G. K. (1967). An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 211215. 6. ^ Reynolds Number (engineeringtoolbox.com) 7. ^ Holman, J. P.. Heat Transfer. McGraw Hill.[Full citation needed] 8. ^ Fox, R. W.; McDonald, A. T.; Pritchard, Phillip J. (2004). Introduction to Fluid Mechanics (6th ed.). Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. p. 348. ISBN 0471202312. 9. ^ V. L. Streeter (1962)Fluid Mechanics, 3rd edn (McGraw-Hill) 10. ^ a b M. Rhodes (1989) Introduction to Particle Technology Wiley ISBN 0-471-98482-5 at Google Books 11. ^ Dusenbery, David B. (2009). Living at Micro Scale, p.49. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. ISBN 978-0-674-03116-6. 1.

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12. ^ R. K. Sinnott Coulson & Richardson's Chemical Engineering, Volume 6: Chemical Engineering Design, 4th ed (ButterworthHeinemann) ISBN 0 7506 6538 6 page 473 13. ^ Full development of the flow occurs as the flow enters the pipe, the boundary layer thickens and then stabilises after several diameters distance into the pipe. 14. ^ J.P Holman Heat transfer, McGraw-Hill, 2002, p.207 15. ^ Patel, V. C.; Rodi, W.; Scheuerer, G. (1985). "Turbulence Models for Near-Wall and Low Reynolds Number FlowsA Review". AIAA Journal 23 (9): 13081319. doi:10.2514/3.9086. 16. ^ Dusenbery, David B. (2009). Living at Micro Scale. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780674031166. 17. ^ Cylinder Drag from Eric Weisstein's World of Physics

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