THERMAL CONVECTION IN A CYLINDRICAL CAVITY WITH UNIFORM VOLUMETRIC ENERGY GENERATION.

Thermal convection, driven by uniformly distributed volumetric energy sources in a vertical cylinder, has been studied numerically. The upper and lower surfaces of the cylinder are rigid and held at equal constant temperatures. The cylindrical side wall is in one case considered to be insulated, in another at constant temperature, equal to that of the upper and lower boundaries. Momentum and continuity equations are transformed into the vorticity-streamfunction form; these equations, together with the energy equation are then solved using an explicit finite difference scheme. Temperature, vorticity and streamfunction fields have been obtained. The computed values are in good agreement with previous theoretical and experimental studies The effect of aspect ratio on the Nusselt number is presented.