Experimental and analytical study of natural-convection heat transfer of internally heated liquids

Boundary heat transfer from a liquid pool with a uniform internal heat source to a vertical or inclined boundary was investigated. The experiments were performed in an open rectangular liquid pool in which the internal heat source was generated by electrical heating. The local heat flux was measured to a boron nitride test wall which was able to be continuously inclined from vertical. Gold plated microthermocouples of 0.01 inch outside diameter were developed to measure the local surface temperature, both front and back, of the boron nitride. The local heat flux and, thus, the local heat transfer coefficient was measured at nineteen locations along the vertical axis of the test plate. A theoretical analysis of the coupled nonlinear boundary layer equations was performed. The parametric effect of the Prandtl number and the dimensionless wall temperature on the boundary heat transfer were investigated.