Comparison of Nusselt number and stream function in tall and narrow enclosures in the mixed convection of hybrid nanofluid

Abstract

In this research, the average Nusselt number in tall and narrow enclosures in the presence of mixed convection of a water-based nanofluid (H2O–Cu–TiO2) is determined and compared. The effect of quantities such as Richardson number of 0.01–100, the volume fractions of 0–2% and geometric shape of the enclosure on average Nusselt number and maximum value of flow function is numerically investigated. The FVM and SIMPLER algorithm are used for resolving the nonlinear equations. According to numerical results, for all the Richardson number and two tall and narrow enclosures, the average Nusselt number rises with growing the nanoparticles volume fractions. Comparison of the tall and narrow enclosures shows that for obtaining the highest heat transfer, by growing the nanoparticles volume fractions under similar conditions, it is better to use tall enclosures for large Richardson number and narrow enclosures for small Richardson number. The highest enhancement of the average Nusselt number with increasing the nanoparticles volume fractions for narrow enclosures was 10.44% at the Ri = 0.01. Whereas in the tall enclosures, the highest increase in the average Nusselt number was 14.51% at Ri = 100. For all the Richardson number and two tall and narrow enclosures, the maximum flow function value of the nanoparticles increases with increasing volume fractions. This increase in small Richardson number is greater than in large Richardson number.