Horizontal Chimney Effect

Abstract

An analysis of natural convection in horizontal slots has been carried out. It is demonstrated that a proper combination of heating and groove patterns can create a net horizontal fluid movement, which we refer to as the horizontal chimney effect. Groove shapes that can be easily manufactured as well as heating patterns that can be easily created using heating wires were considered. It has been shown that both patterns must be properly tuned. The direction of the net horizontal flow can be changed by changing the relative positions of the patterns. Changes of groove geometry can change the flow rate by up to 100%. Simultaneous use of grooves and heating at both plates can nearly double the system effectiveness. The strength of the flow increases with reduction of the Prandtl number.