Mesoscopic simulation of MHD mixed convection of non-newtonian ferrofluids with a non-uniformly heated plate in an enclosure

Abstract

Mixed convective study has been popular in recent years because of its large applications, including the cooling of electronic devices, furnaces, lubrication technologies, high-performance building insulation, multi-shield structures used in nuclear reactors, food processing, glass manufacturing, solar power collectors, drying technologies, chemical processing equipment, and others involve mixed convection in a lid-driven cavity flow problems. Graphics process unit (GPU) based multiple-relaxation-time(MRT) lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has been employed for investigating the numerical simulation of magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) mixed convection with a non-uniformly heated plate at the mid of an enclosure. The physical model consists of a two-dimensional square enclosure with the top wall moving at a constant speed. Thermally adiabatic conditions are imposed on the top and bottom walls, while the two vertical walls are cold. In the center of the enclosure, a plate has been placed that is non-uniformly heated. A magnetic field is applied with different angles of inclination. Numerical simulations were performed for various influential parameters such as Richardson number (Ri), Hartmann number (Ha), power-law index (n), ferroparticles volume fraction (ϕ), magnetic field angle (γ) to study the flow phenomena in terms of the velocity and temperature distributions as well as streamlines and isotherms, respectively. The present study also investigates entropy generation due to the convective heat transfer flow for industrial purposes. The results reveal that as the Richardson number rises, the average Nusselt number rises, and as the Hartmann number rises, the average Nusselt number reduces. Furthermore, it is found that the average Nusselt number is inversely proportional to the power-law index. Total entropy generation increases with the increase of the power-law index and Richardson number. Entropy due to fluid friction, heat transfer, and total entropy shows a maximum at γ = 90°. Previously, MHD natural convection of the ferrofluid has been studied in a square cavity with a non-uniformly heated plate for the Newtonian fluid using the finite volume method. The aim of the present investigation is to study the MHD mixed convection with non-Newtonian ferrofluid using the GPU-based lattice Boltzmann method, which provides quicker and more robust results.