Simulation of the natural convection in an electrical oven

Abstract

Meat and bakery products are widely consumed in many countries and this process presents a high energy consumption. At the same time the use of electric ovens is increasing. In this regard, the development of efficient ovens becomes more important.The aim of this work was to develop a preliminary model of the natural convection fluid-dynamics in an electric oven. A domestic oven was employed in the experiments, for simulation purposes a model of a quarter of its actual volume was employed. The air flow inside the oven was described using a laminar incompressible 3D model coupled to the energy balance, using the Boussinesq approximation to describe buoyancy forces. In the energy balance the temperature was imposed on the roof and the floor, whilst energy loss by convection was established at the side walls and the door. The model was reasonably validated with temperature profiles measured in different positions in the oven. The measured temperature variations indicate that the laminar model and the Boussinesq approximation are hardly applicable, then turbulence models will be used in future works.