Thermal Convection In Rotating Fluids

Heat Transfer: From Atoms To Continuum Course Project Report

Srikanth.T

Engineering Mechanics Unit

Jawaharlal Nehru Center For Advanced Scientic Research Jakkur, Bangalore -560064

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. K. R. Sreenivas for providing me with this opportunity to work on such an interesting problem. This project has made me realise how dicult an experimentalists work is and has taught me that results obtained from numerical simulations cannot be the ultimate truth until backed up by experimental evidence.

I would like to thank Dr. Vishwanath, Dr. Saurav Diwan, Dinesh, Dhiraj, Pavan, Satyaprasad, Subbu and Avinash for helping me in many ways during the course of this project.

Abstract

An attempt to study thermal convection in a cylindrical annulus with a radial temperature gradient is made. The outer surface of the annulus is kept at a higher temperature than the inner. The whole setup is rotated at an angular speed of 200 rpm. At this speed the centrifugal force dominates over the viscous and Coriolis forces which leads to the instability.

Introduction

Convection is studied in a liquid rotating at an angular speed subjected to a radial temperature gradient. The source of buoyancy, in this case, is the centrifugal force. The motivation comes from the fact that convection processes in stars and in the earths core are driven by centrifugal forces. Convective instability is induced when the outer boundary of the annulus is kept at a higher temperature than the inner boundary. Instability sets in when the uid in the annulus overcomes thermal and viscous dissipations.

The present problem has been studied by Busse et al. for a conical top and bottom boundaries of the cylinder. The study has experimentally shown that there is no convective instability induced if the above conguration is used. For a conguration with constant height convection columns were observed. At high rotation speeds the velocities in the columns were independent of the displacement in the z-direction, in accordance with the Proudman-Taylor theorem.

Here, an attempt is made to study the eects of temperature and angular speed on the convection patterns in a rotating uid.

2
2.1

Dynamics Of Rotating Fluids

Governing Equations

The governing equations of an incompressible rotating uid are: 1. Mass-conservation Equation .V = 0 2. Navier-Stokes Equation DV + 2 V + ( x) = P + Dt (1)

(2)

Here, 2 V represents Coriolis force and ( x) represents the centrifugal force. Order of magnitude estimates of forces indicates that the Coriolis force is less important than centrifugal force. In the earths core the Ek(Ekman number) 109 and Ro(Rossby number) 107 and the velocities are of the order of 10 km/year.

2.2

Proudman-Taylor Theorem

This theorem states that slow, steady relative motions in an inviscid homogeneous uid which otherwise rotates uniformly will be conned to planes perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

With the above stated assumptions the N-S equation reduces to

2 V = P + 4

(3)

Writing P = Po + P1 and = o + 1 we get,

2o V = P1 + 1

(4)

Taking the curl of the above equation gives

2o (. ) V =

(5)

If the ow is homogeneous then

2o (. )V = 0 Taking = k reduces the above equation to V =0 z

(6)

(7)

This shows that at high rotation speeds the velocity of the uid does not vary along the axis of rotation.

Nondimensional Numbers

The nondimensional numbers which are important in the present problem are 1. Reynolds Number It is the ratio of inertial to viscous forces. UD

Re =

(8)

2. Rossby Number It is the ratio of inertial to Coriolis forces. U L

Ro =

(9)

For high rotation speeds Ro << 1. 3. Taylor Number It is the ratio of centrifugal force squared to the viscous force squared. At high rotation speeds T a >> 1. Ta = 2 L4 2 (10)

4. Richardson Number It is the ratio of potential to kinetic energies. For Ri << 1 buoyancy is unimportant in the ow and when Ri is large buoyancy becomes the dominating factor which drives the ow.

Ri = 5. Prandtl Number

UH g 1 / o z z

(11)

It is the ratio of kinematic viscosity to the thermal diusivity of a given uid.

Pr =

(12)

Experimental Setup

The setup consists two co-axial cylinders and a solid cylinder made of aluminium at the center. The top surface is made of pyrex glass to facilitate visualisation and is xed to the cylinders. There are two annular regions. The dimensions of the test section are Rinner = 20cm, Router = 22cm and L = 1cm, where L is the height of the cylinders. A box made of steel is xed on the Al surface. To maintain a temperature dierence ice cubes are placed inside the steel box, which is in contact with the inner surface of test section. Hot water is poured into the outer annulus to maintain the outer region of the test section at a higher temperature. A 3-phase AC motor is used for power supply and a gear box to adjust the speed of rotation. Rotation speed is changed using a controller. A maximum speed of 215 rpm has been used for the present study. 7

(a)

(b)

Figure 1: Experimental Setup

Visualisation Techniques Used

The visualisation techniques used are 1. Potassium Permanganate Potassium Permanganate solution was prepared by adding approximately 0.6 gm of KM nO4 to 250 mL of distilled water. 4 mL of acetone was added to make the solution neutrally buoyant. The disadvantage of this method was that the dye diused out completely even before the required speeds were reached, making any qualitative observation of secondary ow impossible. 2. Milk This method also suered with the same disadvantage as the previous one. 3. Talcum Powder Talcum powder was introduced into the test section before starting the motor. Powder on the surface of water coagulated and formed lumps of considerable sizes.

4. Electrochemical Method In this method a 0.01 percent by weight solution of thymol blue was prepared. This solution was then titrated against 1 N NaOH solution until the solution turned dark blue. After this, one drop of 1 N HCl was added to make the solution slightly acidic. Two copper electrodes were inserted and a potential dierence of 3V was applied. The solution near the electrodes changed colour from light yellow to dark blue. This method is suited for visualisation and will be implemented in the future studies.

Conclusions

Electrochemical method is found to be a promising method for ow visualisation for the present problem. Other methods mentioned are found to have disadvantages with respect to the existing setup.

References
[1] F H Busse and C R Carrigan(1973) Convection Induced By Centrifugal Instability, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 62, 579-592. [2] D James Baker(1966) A Technique For The Precise Measurment Of Small Fluid Velocities, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 26, 573-575. [3] R Hide(1958) An Experimental Study Of Thermal Convection In A Rotating Liquid, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 250, 441-478.