Natural convection and entropy generation in a cubical cavity with twin adiabatic blocks filled by aluminum oxide–water nanofluid.

A finite volume-based three-dimensional numerical simulation on natural convection and entropy generation in a cubical cavity filled with a nanofluid of aluminum oxide–water is presented by vorticity–vector potential formalism. The blocks are adiabatic and the vertical walls are differentially heated unidirectionally. The variables considered areRa, volumetric fraction of aluminum oxide particles, and block size. The results for fluid flow with a single-phase model are elucidated with iso-surfaces of temperature, Nusselt number, and Bejan number. The local entropy generated was due to friction surges when the volumetric fraction of nanoparticles was increased. The average Nusselt number rose with the increase in Ra and volumetric fraction of solid particles and declined with the increase in block size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]