Book Description

Natural convection within confined spaces continues to be an active area of research. Given the complexities involved with the space/time behavior of buoyancy driven flows and the wide range of applicability of even simple models, this should not be surprising. This collection of fifteen papers illustrates the fascination and interest which researchers bring to the area. These papers were presented at a symposium held on the subject at the 1992 National Heat Transfer Conference. The sessions were sponsored and organized by the K-19 Environmental Heat Transfer Committee of the ASME Heat Transfer Division. The contents of this symposium volume provide a good representation of the diversity of natural convection topics. Applications considered within these papers include convection and rollover in storage tanks, energy transport between rooms in buildings, kitchen -stove energy diffusion, fire driven flows, and solar systems. Cavity flows remain a benchmark in this field and are represented by four papers in this volume. One of these includes thermocapillary forces. Extensions to the classic Renard problem are studied in two papers. The diffusion and dissipation of a plume penetrating a stratified, stable layer is given a new look. Partitioned or multizone enclosures are studied in several papers. Time -dependent and moving boundary conditions are also represented. Double diffusion problems study the coupled effects of a solutal to thermal buoyancy ratio on the resulting motion. Several papers deal specifically with double diffusion topics. As session organizers, we thank each of the authors for their contributions to this successful symposium. We also acknowledge each of the reviewers involved; their commitment to the profession is greatly appreciated.