Transient Destratification in a Rectangular Enclosure

An experimental study of transient destratification in a rectangular air-filled enclosure is described. The test cell, which is 1 m high, 0.5 m wide, and 0.25 m deep, is made of plexiglass with a variety of side and bottom thermal boundary conditions. The initial vertical stratification is 30°C. A number of transient tests are reported in which a destabilizing heat source is introduced after the initial stratification. Temperature maps of the middepth plane are recorded and analyzed. Basic enclosure destratification dynamics are described in terms of developing thermal and flow fields. Separate effects of horizontal partitioning, stabilizing side heating, and asymmetric heating are studied. Certain large fractional horizontal blockages are shown to enhance destratification, while side heating is demonstrated to be a stablizing effect that produces a steady-state inversion.