Thermal analysis and entropy generation of Darcy-Forchheimer ternary nanofluid flow: A comparative study

Abstract

Ternary nanofluid is a novel class of working fluids with excellent heat transfer properties. A combination of three solid nanoparticles consisting of SWCNTs, TiO2, and MoS2 is investigated for Darcy-Forchheimer water-based ternary nanofluids. The related mathematical models are established by considering linear, quadratic and nonlinear thermal radiations. Numerical results and entropy generation analysis reveal the considerable influence of nonlinear thermal radiation on temperature and the reduced Nusselt number of ternary nanofluids. With the help of multiple quadratic regression, the impact of relevant parameters on the reduced Nusselt number is studied in depth. The results show that the temperature and Nusselt number are always the highest in the nonlinear thermal radiation model compared with the linear and quadratic ones, and they are most sensitive to the changes of Rd and δ. The thermal radiation properties of ternary nanofluids may potentially lead to more efficient solar energy conversion. This comparative study illustrates the advantages of ternary nanofluids in improving solar radiation utilization efficiency with nonlinear thermal radiation.