Thermal Analysis of Natural Convection in A Pipe

The aim of this work is to make a thorough study of natural convection from a heated pipe having fins of various configurations using ANSYS WORKBENCH. The material under consideration is aluminum and the free stream fluid is air. The heat transfer rate from the fins, outer wall and the overall heat transfer rate has been calculated and compared for various fin configurations. The surface Nusselt number and surface overall heat transfer co-efficient has been found out. Temperature contours for various fin configuration has been plotted showing the convection loops formed around the heated pipe surface. Velocity contours for various fin configurations has been plotted and the motion of heated fluid is shown. Path lines were also drawn indicating the path of the heated air molecules along their flow .The Nusselt number and heat transfer co-efficient plots are also shown. The assumptions during the analysis have been taken considering the manufacturing and practical applications and working conditions. Hence the results obtained can be referred to while solving any such kind of problems in the practical field where only natural convection is under consideration. After comparing it is shown that we can find that the best configuration for this type of convective heat transfer of a heated pipe is a TRAPEZOIDAL fin as they have the highest total heat transfer rate.