The effect of blockage ratio on the steady flow and heat transfer characteristics of incompressible fluid over a sphere and an in-line array of three spheres placed at the axis of a tube has been investigated numerically. The Navier-Stokes and thermal energy equations have been solved numerically using FLUENT for the following ranges of parameters: for a single sphere, 2 <= beta <= 10; 1 <= Re:<= 100; for the three-sphere system, for two values of sphere-to-sphere distance, namely s=2 and 4. All computations were carried out for two values of the Prandtl number, i.e., 0.74 and 7, corresponding to the flow of air and water respectively. Extensive results on streamline patterns, wake characteristics (angle of separation and recirculation length), drag coefficient and Nusselt number are presented to elucidate the interplay between the blockage and the Reynolds number and their influence on drag and Nusselt number. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.