Purpose The purpose of this study is analysis of the natural convection and entropy production in a two-dimensional section of the considered heat exchanger. For this purpose, the lattice Boltzmann method which is equipped with Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook model is used. This model proposes a significant accurate prediction for thermal and hydro-dynamical behaviors over free convection phenomenon. The heat exchanger is filled with Fe2O3-water nanofluid. To improve the accuracy of prediction, it is neglected to use the theoretical models for properties of nanofluid. At this end, some experimental observations are conducted, and the required rheological and thermal properties of nanofluid are measured based on laboratory work.. Design/methodology/approach The present work focuses on the influence of different factors on the thermal behaviors and entropy production of a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is consisted by an inner tube, an outer tube and some fins which are implanted at the surface of inner tube. Findings The effects of various factors like structure of inner fins, nanoparticle concentration and Rayleigh number over the heat transfer rate, local and volumetric entropy production, Bejan number, flow configuration and temperature distributions are provided. Originality/value The originality of this work is using a new-developed numerical method for treating natural convection and experimental measurements for thermal and rheological properties of nanofluid.

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Purpose This study aims to employ a modern numerical approach for conducting the simulations, which uses the smoothed-profile lattice Boltzmann method. Two separate distribution functions for flow and temperature fields are used to solve the Navier–Stokes equations in the most efficient manner. In addition, the Koo–Kleinstreuer–Li model is used to calculate the dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity in the desired volume fractions, and the effect of Brownian motion is taken into consideration. Design/methodology/approach Nowadays, because of enhanced global price of oil and critical issue of global warming, a significant demand for using renewable energy exists. The solar energy is one of the most popular forms of renewable energy. The solar collector can be used to collect and trap the energy received from the sun. The present work focuses on introducing and investigating a parabolic-trough solar collector. Findings To analyze all hydrodynamic and thermal views of the solar collector, the structure of nanofluid stream, distribution of temperature, local dissipations because of flow and heat transfer, volumetric entropy production, Bejan number vs Rayleigh number and volume fraction are presented. Also, three different configurations for profile of solar receiver are designed and studied. Originality/value The originality of the present work is in using a modern numerical approach for a well-known application. Also, the effect of Brownian motion is taken into account which significantly enhances the accuracy.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to present a comprehensive hydrothermal analysis on an inclined mini-channel using numerical and experimental techniques. The fin array acts as heat source within the channel, and a wavy wall located at the top of the channel is heat sink. The side walls are insulated with curved profiles. Also, the channel is inclined with four known inclination angles. To solve the governing equations, the dual-multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method with D2Q9 and D2Q5 lattice models for flow and temperature fields is used, respectively. Also, the channel is filled with SiO2-glycol nanofluid. Design/methodology/approach Identifying the behavior of a thermal component during natural convective flow is a challenging topic due to its complexities. This paper focuses on analyzing the thermal and hydrodynamic aspects of a narrow channel equipping with fin array. Findings Two correlations are proposed considering temperature and volume fraction ranges for thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity according to measured experimental data which are used in the numerical phase. Finally, the structure of flow, temperature distribution of fluid, local thermal and viscous dissipations, volume-averaged entropy production, Bejan number and heat transfer rate are extracted by numerical simulations. The results show that the average Nusselt number enhances about 57% (maximum enhancement percentage) when volume fraction increases from 1% to 3% at Ra = 106 and θ = 90°. In addition, the value of entropy generation is maximum at φ = 1%, Ra = 106 and φ = 90°. Also, the maximum enhancement of entropy generation in range of Ra = 103 to 106 is about 4 times at φ = 1% and θ = 90°. Originality/value The originality of the present study is combining a modern numerical method (i.e. dual/multi-relaxation-time LBM) with experimental observation on characteristics of SiO2-glycol nanofluid to study the thermal and hydrodynamic properties of the studied mini-channel.