Thermophoresis and Brownian effects on natural convection of nanofluids in a square enclosure with two pairs of heat source/sink

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study natural convection heat transfer and fluid flow in a square cavity filled with CuO-water nanofluid. Design/methodology/approach – The entire length of the bottom wall of the cavity is covered by two pairs of heat source-sink, whereas the other walls are insulated. The governing equations of fluid flow are discretized using a finite volume method with a collocated grid arrangement. The coupling between velocity and pressure is solved using the SIMPLEC and the Rhie and Chow interpolation is used to avoid the checker-board solutions for the pressure. Findings – The numerical results are reported for the effect of Rayleigh number, solid volume fraction and both presence and absence of thermophoresis and Brownian motion effects. The numerical results show an improvement in heat transfer rate for the whole range of Rayleigh numbers when Brownian and thermophoresis effects are considered. Furthermore, an increase in the Rayleigh number and nanoparticle volume fraction in both cases – when Brownian and thermophoresis effects are neglected or considered – has an excellent influence on heat transfer of nanofluids. Originality/value – The area of nanofluids is very original.