Abstract
The design of a drying or cooling store aims to provide an even airflow distribution, when aerated, for preservation purposes. The airflow in some curved bottom bins are studied in this paper. The flow is modelled, using Darcy's law. A generalized Schwarz-Christoffel transformation is employed to reduce the problem of computing streamlines and isobars of airflow to solving a single nonlinear equation for the flow angle along the wall. Corresponding to different bin shapes, a few computed streamlines and isobars of airflow are presented, showing the effect of changing bottom geometries on the air flow. Heat transfer in such bins is also investigated. Based on an analysis of the far field of airflow, finite-height bins are considered. Analytical solutions of the heat conduction equation in terms of streamlines and isobars are obtained.
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Peng, W., Smith, E.A. & de Ville, A. Airflow and temperature distribution in two-dimensional drying bins. Journal of Engineering Mathematics 36, 241–254 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004488010532
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004488010532