Effects of composite material fin conductivity on natural convection heat transfer and entropy generation inside 3D cavity filled with hybrid nanofluid

Abstract

The current paper offers a numerical investigation of the combined effects of an inserted composite material fin conductivity ratio and hybrid nanofluid volume fraction on natural convection heat transfer and entropy production inside 3D cubic cavity. In this investigation, a fin is embedded at the left heated wall and is horizontally oriented toward the right cold wall, while the other surfaces are insulated from the surrounding. A broad range of parameters such as composite material conductivity ratio (1 ≤ RC ≤ 103), volumetric fraction of hybrid nanofluid (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.05) and Rayleigh number (103 ≤ Ra ≤ 105) were considered. Obtained results reveal that the flow structure, the temperature distribution and the entropy generation rate are sensitive to nanoparticles volume fraction and composite material fin conductivity. Moreover, regardless of the latter parameter, the heat transfer is found to be enhanced with adding hybrid nanoparticles. However, the effect of increasing the conductivity on the average Nusselt number and the total generated entropy is significant only for RC > 100. The maximum Nusselt number and entropy production rate are achieved for Ra = 105, φ = 0.05 and RC = 1000.