ROLE OF MICRO-CONVECTION DUE TO NON-AFFINE MOTION OF PARTICLES IN A MONO-DISPERSE SUSPENSION

Non-affine translation of suspended particles in a flowing suspension causes micro-convection of the fluid in the vicinity of the particle which affects the local transport mechanisms in the suspension. To investigate the importance of micro-convection on heat transport, a unit cell approach is adopted. A parametric study investigates the influence of particle fall velocity in a quiescent fluid and particle volume fraction on micro-convection in a sedimenting suspension. The thermal flux across the unit cell is shown to be a function of modified Peclet number that includes the influence of Volume fraction for the range of volume fractions (O < epsilon < 0.3) and for Pe similar to 0(1). This is used to investigate the influence of hindered settling on transport processes such as heat transfer occurring in a sedimenting suspension.