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The onset and decay of convection in a spherical cavity filled with ferromagnetic nanofluid and heated from below are investigated experimentally. It is found that, unlike in a single-component Newtonian fluid where stationary convection sets in as a result of supercritical bifurcation and where convection intensity increases continuously with the degree of supercriticality, convection in a multicomponent ferromagnetic nanofluid starts abruptly and has an oscillatory nature. The hysteresis is observed in the transition between conduction and convection states. In moderately supercritical regimes, the arising fluid motion observed at a fixed temperature difference intermittently transitions from quasiharmonic to essentially irregular oscillations that are followed by periods of a quasistationary convection. The observed oscillations are shown to result from the precession of the axis of a convection vortex in the equatorial plane. When the vertical temperature difference exceeds the convection onset value by a factor of 2.5, the initially oscillatory convection settles to a steady-state regime with no intermittent behavior detected afterward. The performed wavelet and Fourier analyses of thermocouple readings indicate the presence of various oscillatory modes with characteristic periods ranging from one hour to several days.

Stability of a mechanical equilibrium of ferromagnetic nanofluid and transformer oil in a spherical cavity carved inside a Plexiglas block heated from below is investigated experimentally. It is shown that in a fluid left at rest prior to the start of experiment the onset of convection is delayed and the convective motion arises abruptly acquiring a finite equilibrium amplitude at supercritical temperature differences. Convection has an oscillatory character associated with a precession of a vortex axis in the equatorial plane. A hysteresis is detected in the reverse transition to a quiescent state. Oscillations in the investigated ferro-nanofluid have been observed during the complete experimental runs (up to several weeks). Similar oscillations in transformer oil have been detected only in the beginning of experimental runs. They were observed to eventually decay resulting in a stationary convection.

Our experimental study has shown that whereas the application of a uniform magnetic field can significantly intensify heat transfer in ferrofluids, in general, it is a nonmonotonic function of the strength of the applied magnetic field.

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