The available finite difference procedures were employed to solve the governing partial differential equations for swirling flows and boundary layer. Some simplifying assumptions were applied for conventional flow momentum and energy equations to model the heat transfer process in the constant heat flux tubes with annulus circular-rings (A-CRs) at different annulus ratios (DRs). The major assumptions are; (1) the flow is steady and incompressible, (2) the flow through the A-CRs is turbulent, (3) natural convection and thermal radiation are neglected and (4) the thermo-physical properties of the fluid are temperature independence. Based on above approximations, the governing differential equations used to describe the fluid flow and heat transfer in the circular tubes equipped with A-CRs were established. The continuity, momentum and energy equations for the three dimensional models were employed.
In the present numerical solution, the time-independent incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and the various turbulence models were discretized using the finite volume technique. QUICK (Quadratic upstream interpolation for convective kineticsdifferencing scheme) and central differencing flow numerical schemes were applied for convective and diffusive terms, respectively. To evaluate the pressure field, the pressure-velocity coupling algorithm SIMPLE (Semi Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equations) was selected. Impermeable boundary condition was implemented over the tube wall. The turbulence intensity was kept at 10% at the inlet, unless otherwise stated. The solution convergence is met when the difference between normalized residual of the algebraic equation and the prescribed value is less than 10-6.