| A Mach-Zehnder interferometer was used to experimentally evaluate the natural convective heat transfer characteristics of an isothermal, vertical flat plate adjacent to a set of horizontal louvers. Heat transfer results were obtained at three different plate-to-louver spacings and four different blade angles. Visual perception of the streamlines, attained from flow visualization using tobacco smoke, are presented for three different blade angles for a constant plate-to-louver spacing. Air was the working fluid and the Rayleigh number based on the plate height was 9 $times$ 10$sp7$ for all experiments. Results show that, although the local heat transfer characteristics vary considerably, little change was noted on the average convective heat transfer coefficient compared to an isolated plate at the same Rayleigh number. |
