Mixed convection heat transfer in a ventilated cavity with hot obstacle: Effect of nanofluid and outlet port location

Abstract

In the present study, the lattice Boltzmann method is implemented to investigate the effect of suspension of nanoparticles on mixed convection in a square cavity with inlet and outlet ports and hot obstacle in the center of the cavity. The effect of outlet port location is examined on heat transfer rate then the effect of nanoparticles is inspected for volume fraction of nanoparticles in the range of 0 to 0.03 at the different position of outlet port. The study was carried out for different Richardson numbers ranging from 0.1 to 10. Grashof number is assumed to be constant (104) so that the Richardson number changes with Reynolds number. The isothermal boundary condition is assumed for obstacle walls and the cavity walls are adiabatic. The result is presented by isotherms, streamlines, and local and average Nusselt numbers. The maximum heat transfer rate occurs when the outlet port is located at P2 for Ri=0.1 and P1 for Ri=1, Ri=10, respectively. Results show that by adding the nanoparticles to base fluid and increasing the volume concentration of nanoparticles the heat transfer rate is enhanced at different Richardson numbers and outlet port positions. But this phenomenon is not observed at Ri=10 when the outlet port is located at P1.