Insights of thermal characteristics with tri-hybrid nanofluid boundary layer flow past a thin needle

Abstract

The innovative ternary nanofluid that we report herein is intended to improve the performance of heat transfer and thermal conductivity compared to conventional fluids. In view of the aforementioned significance, the goal of continuing research is to investigate the fluid flow and thermal efficiency of water-ethylene glycol (EG)-based ternary nanofluids (TiO2, MoS2, and CoFe2O4) past a thin needle that is subjected to a transverse magnetic field along the normal direction of the flow as well as resistive heating. The governing transport flow equations for ternary nanofluid have been converted into a system of ordinary differential equations using self-similarity variables and solved with the use of the BVP4C function in MATLAB. The significance of each flow factor on temperature and velocity profiles is illustrated using graphs, and the local Nusselt number, and skin friction parameters are computed. The study reveals that the addition of nanoparticles exerts a greater adverse effect on the exchange of heat, and it is found that the water-ethylene glycol based ternary nanofluid has a rate of heat transfer of up to 16% compared to hybrid nanofluid even at very low volume fractions (0.0025–0.03). It is inspected that in the presence of resistive heating, the ternary nanofluid has greater heat transfer than hybrid nanofluids. It is also observed that as the volume proportion of nanoparticles increases, the Nusselt number rises and wall friction decreases.