In this paper, the effect of non-uniform heating on the conjugate thermal and hydraulic characteristics for Al2O3–water nanofluid flow through a converging duct is examined numerically. An Eulerian–Lagrangian model is employed to simulate the two-phase flow for the following range of parameters: Reynolds number (100 ≤ Re ≤ 800), nanoparticle volume fraction (0% ≤  ϕ ≤ 5%) and amplitude of the sinusoidal heat flux ( A = 0, 0.5 and 1). The results reveal a similar affinity between the applied heat flux and local Nusselt number variation qualitatively, mainly at the middle of the duct. The results also indicate that there is a considerable enhancement of Nusselt number with the increase in Reynolds number and the thermal conductivity of wall materials. In addition, increasing the particle loading contributes to an enhanced rate of heat transfer. The heat transfer rate is lower for non-uniform heating when compared with the constant heat flux and the same can be compensated by the application of volume fraction of nanoparticles

In the present study laminar forced convective flow of nanofluid through a converging minichannel is investigated numerically by employing two phase mixture model. The heat transfer enhancement and the corresponding pressure drop are analyzed for the following range of parameters: Reynolds number (700 ≤ Re ≤ 1650), particle volume concentration (0% ≤ ϕ ≤ 4%) and converging angle (θ = 0.029°, 0.043° and 0.05°). The results indicate that there is a considerable increase in pressure drop coupled with enhancement in heat transfer rate with particle loading due to the improvement in the thermal properties of the resulting mixture. The pressure drop in the converging channel increases with the converging angle. The pressure drop augments as high as 2 times by advancing the particle loading from 0% to 4%. The wall temperature decreases appreciably by 34 K and heat transfer coefficient is enhanced by as high as 98% from Re =  700, ϕ = 0% and straight channel to Re =1650, Hout = 2.75mm and ϕ = 4%. The enhancement in heat transfer and corresponding increase in pressure drop as compared to equivalent straight channel is presented by the performance factor, which increases with decrease in converging angle. There is a significant concern of the pumping power with increase in converging angle, volume fraction and Reynolds number.