Laminar mixed convection in a horizontal channel with protruded heat sources

The problem of laminar mixed convection in a horizontal twodimensional channel with one or two protruded heat sources on one of the walls is studied numerically. The top surface of the protruding heat source is assumed to be isothermal while the rest of the surfaces and the walls are assumed to be adiabatic. The governing dimensionless equations in terms of vorticity, stream function and temperature are solved numerically by the cubic spline collocation method. The effects of the mixed convection parameter, Gr/Re2, height of thermal sources, D/H, and the interaction of the protruded heat sources on fluid and heat transfer characteristics of air in a horizontal channel are presented.The results show that the heat transfer rates increase as the Gr/Re2 and D/H are increased because of the increase of the buoyancy effects. The results also show that the effects of the interaction of the two protruding heat sources are remarkably affected by the flow field and temperature field in the horizontal channel.