Numerical simulation of thermosolutal natural convection of power-law non-Newtonian fluids in a parallelogram with sensitivity analysis by response surface methodology

Abstract

Thermosolutal natural convection originates in a fluid when the density changes due to the presence of two distinct components with varying rates of diffusion. This convection is driven by buoyancy resulting from concurrent temperature and concentration gradients. This study focuses on the thermosolutal free convection flow within a parallelogrammic enclosure. The functioning fluid under consideration is non-Newtonian and formulated by the viscosity model (power-law). The top and bottom walls of the chamber are adiabatic and are assumed to be impermeable. The temperature and concentration on the left side are maintained at a high level, while the conditions on the right side are cold and low. The controlling parameters for the present case include Rayleigh number Lewis number (Le = 5, 10), Prandtl number (Pr = 6.2), buoyancy ratio (N = 0.8, −0.8) along with power-law index (n = 0.6, 1, 1.4). The results obtained from this numerical study are validated with existing results and indicate the correctness of the code. The output of the study is shown in terms of velocity and temperature profiles, streamlines, isotherms, and iso-concentrations, the average rate of heat and mass transmission in terms of the average Nusselt number () and the average Sherwood number (). The correlation equation derived from the RSM approach demonstrates the relationship between the output responses and the input parameters. It concludes that n negatively affects both heat and mass transfer, while Ra affects positively. The findings of this study could be helpful for understanding of thermosolutal natural convection behavior of non-Newtonian (power-law) fluid in an enclosure and therefore accelerate the industrial application of such fluid in the relevant field, such as HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system.