Analysis of nanofluid natural convection in a particular shape of a cavity.

In this study, natural laminar convection of Al 2 O 3 /water nanofluid in a cavity slightly different from shaped H was investigated using the monophasic model. The various parameters of this flow were determined numerically using CFD-Fluent software using the finite-volume method by introducing Boussinesq approximation. The analysis is carried out for three values of the Rayleigh number (10 5 ; 2.3 · 10 5 and 3.072 · 10 5) and for three values of the form factor defined for this enclosure (0.2; 0.3 and 0.4). The impact of Rayleigh number, nanofluid concentration and cavity form factor on dynamic and thermal structure of the flow was analyzed. The results are shown in form of streamlines, isotherms, and profiles of velocity, temperature, and Nusselt number. Nusselt number rises with increasing Rayleigh number and nanofluid concentration and decreases with the form factor of the cavity. This study is well developed relative to those carried out before. With using Al 2 O 3 nanofluid, the heat transfer is improved because its thermal conductivity is increased compared to that of the base fluid. Finally, to predict heat transfer inside cavity, correlations for the Nusselt number were proposed for each form factor of the cavity. These correlations are rarely presented in this type of study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]