Thermosolutal convection of a nanofluid in ∧-shaped cavity saturated by a porous medium

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to simulate the thermo-solutal convection resulting from a circular cylinder hanging in a rod inside a ∧-shaped cavity. Design/methodology/approach The two dimensional ∧-shaped cavity is filled by Al2O3-water nanofluid and saturated by three different levels of heterogeneous porous media. An incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics (ISPH) method is adopted to solve the governing equations of the present problem. The present simulations have been performed for the alteration of buoyancy ratio (−2≤N≤2), radius of a circular cylinder (0.05≤Rc≤0.3), a height of a rod (0.1≤Lh≤0.4), Darcy parameter (10−3≤Da≤10−5), Lewis number (1≤Le≤40), solid volume fraction (0≤ϕ≤0.06), porous levels (0≤η1=η2≤1.5)and various boundary-wall conditions. Findings The performed numerical simulations indicated the importance of embedded shapes on the distributions of temperature, concentration and velocity fields inside ∧-shaped cavity. Increasing buoyancy ratio parameter enhances thermo-solutal convection and nanofluid velocity. Adiabatic conditions of the vertical-walls of ∧-shaped cavity augment the distributions of the temperature and concentration. Regardless the Darcy parameter, a homogeneous porous medium gives the lowest values of a nanofluid velocity. Originality/value ISPH method is used to simulate thermo-solutal convection of a nanofluid inside a novel ∧-shaped cavity containing a novel embedded shape and heterogeneous porous media.