Mixed convection of hybrid nanofluid in a porous trapezoidal chamber

Abstract

A new class of nanofluids, called «hybrid nanofluids» is being used recently to enhance the heat transfer rate. The problem of mixed convection in a porous trapezoidal cavity filled with a hybrid nanofluid (Cu-Al2O3/water), is presented and the numerical results are obtained and discussed. Governing equations, transformed in terms of the dimensionless variables, have been worked out by the developed numerical algorithm based on the finite difference technique. The numerical results of streamlines and isotherms are investigated and the effect of different important parameters, such as: Reynolds number, Darcy number and the nanoparticles volume fraction is discussed. The variation of the average Nusselt number and fluid flow rate is obtained and observed that, by choosing different and appropriate nanoparticle combinations in hybrid nanofluid, the desired heat transfer rate can be obtained. The results are compared and successfully validated with previous reported results of the literature.