The present study numerically investigates two-dimensional laminar fluid flow and heat transfer past a circular cylinder near a moving wall. For the purpose of a careful analysis of the modification of flow and thermal fields around a cylinder by a moving wall, numerical simulations to calculate the fluid flow and heat transfer past a circular cylinder are performed for different Reynolds numbers of 100, 140 and 180 and a fixed Prandtl numbers of 0.7 (air) in the range of 0.1 <= G/D <= 4, where G/D is the ratio of the gap between the cylinder and a moving wall, G and the cylinder diameter, D. The present study reports the detailed information of flow and thermal quantities on the cylinder surface at different gap ratios. As the gap ratio decreases, the vortex shedding formed in the wake is suppressed and the oscillating amplitude of lift coefficient decreases. Thus the drag, lift coefficients and Nusselt number representing the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics also vary as a function of the gap ratio with the dependence of Reynolds number. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.