Flow separation in a diverging conical duct Effect of Reynolds number and divergence angle.pdfVIP

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 52 (2009) 3079–3083 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer journal homepage: www.else /locate/ijhmt Flow separation in a diverging conical duct: Effect of Reynolds number and divergence angle E.M. Sparrow a, J.P. Abraham b,*, W.J. Minkowycz c a Laboratory for Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Practice, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0111, USA b Laboratory for Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Practice, School of Engineering, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN 55105-1079, USA c University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Chicago, IL 60607-7022, USA a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Fluid flows in passages whose cross-sectional area increases in the streamwise direction are prone to sep- Received 3 January 2009 aration. Here, the flow in a conical diffuser fed by a fully developed velocity at its inlet and mated at its Received in revised form 9 February 2009 downstream end to a long circular pipe is investigated by means of numerical simulation. A universal Accepted 9 February 2009 flow-regime model was used to accommodate possible laminarization of flows having moderate-turbu- Available online 26 March 2009 lent and transitional Reynolds numbers at the diffuser inlet. It was found that flow separation occurred for a diffuser expansion angle of 5 for inlet Reynolds numbers less t