A Numerical Investigation of the Performance of Linear Interpolation Schemes Coupled Finite Volume Method in the Analysis of Confined Convection-Diffusion Turbulent Flow Field

Numerical solutions are never exact due to errors emanating from the scheme used in discretizing the governing equations and the flow domain. For convection-diffusion flow, the magnitude of these errors varies depending on the scheme used to interpolate the nodal values of the flow quantities to the interfaces. An interpolation scheme that minimizes these errors would give results that are consistent to experimental results. This paper documents the performance of three linear interpolation schemes; upwind differencing, central differencing scheme and the hybrid scheme in obtaining temperature profiles for a convection-diffusion turbulent flow field. To eliminate the enormous scales inherent in turbulent flow, the field variables present in the governing equations are decomposed into a mean and a fluctuating component and averaged. The closure problem was solved using the turbulence model. The resulting equations are discretized using the robust finite volume discretization technique. The discretized equations are solved using a segregated pressure-based algorithm. The results revealed that the central difference interpolation scheme generate temperature profiles that were consistent with experimental results of Ampofo and Karayiannis, (2003).