Enhancement of Heat Transfer Using Pins Swimming in Non-isothermal Fluidic Systems: Exact Solutions

Abstract

Heat transfer to pins swimming in non-isothermal fluidic systems is theoretically analyzed. Four different cases are considered: [A] pins aligned longitudinally in flowing fluid having constant temperature gradient, [B] pins aligned transversely in flowing fluid flow with constant temperature gradient, [C] pins moving longitudinally towards a heated surface, and [D] pins moving transversely towards the heated surface. The Appropriate unsteady energy transport equations are solved and closed form solutions for the fin temperatures are obtained. Accordingly, different performance indicators are calculated. It is found that heat transfer to the swimming fin increases as the fin thermal length, Peclet number and fluid temperature difference along the fin length increase. It decreases as fluid temperature index along the motion direction increases. Moreover, the swimming pins of case C are found to produce the maximum system effective thermal conductivity. In addition, pins of case B with thermal lengths above 11 produce system thermal conductivity independent on the thermal length. Meanwhile, pins of case A having thermal lengths above 10 produce system thermal conductivities less responsive to the thermal length. The system thermal conductivity is noticed to increase as the thermal length and Peclet number increase. Eventually, pins of case D produce system thermal conductivities that are independent on the transverse temperature. Finally, the results of this work provide a basis for modeling super convective fluidic systems that can be used in cooling of electronic components.