Computation of steady compressible swirl flows with closed streamlines at high Reynolds numbers

Flows with closed streamlines in a swirl chamber can be computed with equations in which viscosity and heat conduction are neglected provided that the entropy, the swirl, and the Bernoulli constant, in their dependence upon the stream-function, are chosen in such a manner that the cumulative effects of viscosity and heat conduction (computed from the Navier Stokes equations and the energy equation) vanish. The computation of the flow field and an interative modification of the three functions mentioned above are described. The resulting flow fields were analyzed from the point of view of thermodynamics. The particles underwent a thermodynamic cycle with heat input from the dissipation and heat conduction of the primary flow and heat output through heat conduction of the secondary flow. The Prandtl number is shown to be very important. Under present conditions where the prevalent heat input occurs at low temperatures, it is shown to hinder the secondary motion. Physically, this can be explained as a buoyancy effect.