CFD analysis of natural convection heat transfer in a square cavity with partitions utilizing Al۲O۳ nanofluid

In the present study, natural convective heat transfer in a partitioned square cavity utilizing nanofluids is studied. The vertical left and right walls are considered as the hot and cold walls, respectively and the partitions assumed to be adiabatic. The nanofluid used in this study is Al۲O۳ with the volume fraction of ۲۰%. It is assumed that nanofluid is a single phase fluid. FLUENT ۶.۳.۲۶ is used to simulate the problem. The influence of different parameters such as Rayleigh number (Ra=۱۰۵ and ۱۰۷), height of partition (h=۰.۱, ۰.۳, ۰.۵H) at a fixed distance from the walls (d=۰.۳H) are studied. According to the results, Rayleigh number and height of the partition are important factors that extremely affect the streamlines and isotherms. At Ra=۱۰۷, the flow is confined in the distance between walls and partitions. Furthermore, at high partitions, the isotherms are horizontal between two partitions. For a fixed amount of the partition height, Nusselt number increases as the Rayleigh number rises. On the other hand, for a fixed Rayleigh, with the increasing partition height, Nusselt number decreases along the hot wall.

Keywords:

nanofluid , Natural convection , cavity , Partition , Rayleigh number , CFD