Turbulent mixed convection heat transfer experiments in a vertical cylinder using analogy concept

A series of the turbulent mixed convection heat transfer experiments in a vertical cylinder was carried out. In order to achieve high Grashof number easily, the analogy concept was adopted and the heat transfer system was simulated by a mass transfer system. With reasonable facility heights, large Grashof numbers could be achieved using a copper electroplating system. The tests in buoyancy-aided and opposed flow configurations, were performed for Reynolds numbers from 4000 to 10,000 with a constant Grashof number of 6.2 × 109 and Prandtl number of about 2000. The test results reproduced the typical of the mixed convection heat transfer phenomena in a turbulent situation and agreed well with the study performed by Palratan et al. The analogy experimental method simulated the mixed convection heat transfer phenomena successfully and proved itself to be a useful tool for the draft estimation of the heat transfer rate in the highly buoyant systems such as the VHTR.