Modelling convective transport of hybrid nanofluid in a lid driven square cavity with consideration of Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis

Abstract

Previously, the homogenous models were predominant in hybrid nanofluid's studies. However, there is a serious deficiency in these models, that is, the heat transfer coefficients obtained by these models are inconsistent with the experimental results. To overcome this issue, we develop a novel hybrid nanofluid model based on the major slip mechanisms of nanofluids caused by Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis. The problem of flow and heat transfer of a hybrid nanofluid in a lid driven square cavity filled with porous medium is studied as an example to show the correctness and validity of this new model. Numerical results are given by means of the novel Coiflet wavelet homotopy analysis method in the terms of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The physical behaviors of hybrid nanofluids flow are discussed in terms of various quantities such as the stream-function, the isotherms, and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. The average Nusselt number evaluated with the help of the quadratic multiple regression analysis justifies that the thermophoretic effect is more dominant than the Brownian motion on Nusselt numbers at both walls.