Mixed convection boundary layer flow from a horizontal circular cylinder in a nanofluid

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the steady mixed convection boundary layer flow of a nanofluid past a horizontal circular cylinder in a stream flowing vertically upwards for both cases of a heated and cooled cylinder.Design/methodology/approach – The resulting system of nonlinear partial differential equations is solved numerically using an implicit finite‐difference scheme known as the Keller‐box method. This method is very efficient for solving boundary layer problems.Findings – The solutions for the flow and heat transfer characteristics are evaluated numerically for various values of the parameters, namely the nanoparticle volume fraction φ and the mixed convection parameter λ at Prandtl number Pr=1 and 6.2. Three different types of nanoparticles considered are Cu, Al2O3 and TiO2 by using water‐based fluid with Pr=6.2. It is found that for each particular nanoparticle, as the nanoparticle volume fraction φ increases, the skin friction coefficient and heat transfer rate at the surface a...