Convective Heat Transfer in a Vertical Rectangular Duct Filled with a Nanofluid

Abstract

An analysis is performed to study natural convective heat transfer in a vertical rectangular duct filled with a nanofluid. One of the vertical walls of the duct is cooled by a constant temperature, while the other wall is heated by a constant temperature. The other two sides of the duct are thermally insulated. The transport equations for a Newtonian fluid are solved numerically with a finite volume method of second-order accuracy. The influence of pertinent parameters such as Grashof number, Brinkman number, aspect ratio and solid volume fraction on the heat transfer characteristics of natural convection is studied. Results for the volumetric flow rate and skin friction for Copper and Diamond nanoparticles are also drawn. The Nusselt number for various types of nanoparticle such as silver, copper, diamond and titanium oxide are also tabulated. The results indicate that inclusion of nanoparticles into pure water improves its heat transfer performance; however, there is an optimum solid volume fraction which maximizes the heat transfer rate. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.