Thermal Flows: Basic Equations and Concepts

Abstract

We turn now from the isothermal flows that we have been considering in previous chapters to flows in which temperature variations are introduced. The practical importance of such flows needs little illustration. The use of moving fluids to transport or remove heat is well known, ranging from the circulation of coolant through a nuclear reactor to the mounting of a power transistor on a block with cooling fins. Equally apparent is the importance of thermal processes in meteorology and other branches of geophysics; indeed, the ultimate source of energy for almost all atmospheric motions and much of the oceanic circulation is solar radiation.