FORTRESS--Forced cOnvection in squaRe ducT flow with vaRiablE phySical propertieS

The FORTRESS project will study heat transfer by forced convection in square duct flow, by including the effect of variable physical properties. Most studies on forced convection rely on the passive scalar assumption, which is only valid in the limit of small temperature variations, where the fluid properties can be considered constant, however, in several engineering applications this hypothesis is invalid. 

The team will perform unprecedented direct numerical simulations (DNS) of forced air convection in square ducts considering the effect of several heating and cooling rates, Reynolds numbers and boundary conditions. The recently developed theory will be leveraged for predicting heat transfer and friction coefficients in flows with variable properties and extend it from the case of plane channel flow to the case of square duct, which is more relevant for engineering applications. 

The engineering outcome of the project will be a web-based tool for predicting friction and heat transfer in air with variable properties, which will leverage the insights from the newly developed DNS dataset. The data developed during the project can have an important impact on the design of more efficient heat exchangers, thus aiding the energy transition plan envisioned by the EU.