Enhanced Thermal Energy Transport Through Nanofluid Saturated in Entrapped Porous Triangular Cavities

Abstract

Numerical simulations are carried out for natural convective flow through nanofluid confined in entrapped triangular porous medium. Inclined walls of cavities are taken as cold while horizontal walls are assumed heated uniformly. Numerical results obtained are shown in terms of flow patterns, isotherms, heat transfer rate and average heat transfer rate against various ranges of physical parameters including solid volume fraction, Porosity parameter, Darcy, Prandtl and Rayleigh numbers. Most of results presented in this article are obtained using nanoparticles of copper because the combination of water-Cu nonofluid returns better heat transfer rate as compared to other combinations (Al 2 O 3 and TiO 2 ). This investigation shows that the Darcy and Rayleigh numbers produce noticeable effects on flow patterns and temperature distribution in both cavities. Increasing Darcy and Rayleigh numbers increase the strength of stream line circulations. Similarly, average Nusselt number along the cold walls of lower triangular enclosure is found increasing function of Darcy and Rayleigh numbers. Further it has been investigated that the local Nusselt number is maximum at edges of horizontal boundaries of the cavities and it decreases while moving toward center from edges.