Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the radiation effect on the natural convective heat transfer of an alumina–water nanofluid in a square cavity in the presence of centered nonuniformly heated plate. Design/methodology/approach The square cavity filled with alumina–water nanofluid has a nonuniformly heated plate placed horizontally or vertically at its center. The plate is heated isothermally with linearly varying temperature. The vertical walls are cooled isothermally with a constant temperature, while the horizontal walls are insulated. The governing equations have been discretized using finite volume method on a uniformly staggered grid system. Simulations were carried out for different values of the heated plate nonuniformity parameter (λ = –1, 0 and 1), the nanoparticles solid volume fraction (Φ = 0.01 − 0.04) and the radiation parameter (Rd = 0 – 2) at the Rayleigh number of Ra = 1e+07. Findings It is found that the total heat transfer rate is enhanced with an increase in the radiation parameter for both the horizontal and vertical plates. The role of nanoparticles addition to the base fluid can have dual effects on the heat transfer rate by augmenting and dampening for the absence of radiation while it dampens the heat transfer rate for the presence of radiation. Originality/value The originality of this work is to analyze steady natural convection in a square cavity filled with a water-based nanofluid in the presence of centered nonuniformly heated plate. The results would benefit scientists and engineers to become familiar with the analysis of convective heat and mass transfer in nanofluids, and the way to predict the properties of nanofluid convective flow in advanced technical systems, in industrial sectors including transportation, power generation, chemical sectors, electronics, etc.

No abstract

The heat transfer enhancement and fluid flow control in engineering systems can be achieved by addition of ferric oxide nanoparticles of small concentration under magnetic impact. To increase the technical system life cycle, the entropy generation minimization technique can be employed. The present research deals with numerical simulation of magnetohydrodynamic thermal convection and entropy production in a ferrofluid chamber under the impact of an internal vertical hot sheet. The formulated governing equations have been worked out by the in-house program based on the finite volume technique. Influence of the Hartmann number, Lorentz force tilted angle, nanoadditives concentration, dimensionless temperature difference, and non-uniform heating parameter on circulation structures, temperature patterns, and entropy production has been scrutinized. It has been revealed that a transition from the isothermal plate to the non-uniformly warmed sheet illustrates a rise of the average entropy generation rate, while the average Nusselt number can be decreased weakly. A diminution of the mean entropy production strength can be achieved by an optimal selection of the Lorentz force tilted angle.

Purpose The study aims to investigate magnetohydrodynamics thermal convection energy transference and entropy production in an open chamber saturated with ferrofluid having an isothermal solid block. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of thermal convection phenomenon was performed for an open chamber saturated with a nanofluid having an isothermal solid unit placed inside the cavity with various aspect ratios. The left border temperature is kept at Tc. An external cooled nanofluid of fixed temperature Tc penetrates into the domain from the right open border. The nanofluid circulation is Newtonian, incompressible, and laminar. The uniform magnetic field of strength B at the tilted angle of γ is applied. The finite volume technique is used to work out the non-linear equations of liquid motion and energy transport. For Rayleigh number (Ra=1e+7), numerical simulations were executed for varying the solid volume fractions of the nanofluid (ϕ = 0.01–0.04), the aspect ratios of a solid body (As = 0.25–4), the Hartmann number (Ha = 0–100), the magnetic influence inclination angle (γ = 0–π/2) and the non-dimensional temperature drop (Ω = 0.001–0.1) on the liquid motion, heat transference and entropy production. Findings Numerical outcomes are demonstrated by using isolines of temperature and stream function, profiles of mean Nusselt number and entropy generations. The results indicate that the entropy generation rate and mean Nu can be decreased with an increase in Ha. The inner solid block of As = 0.25 reflects the maximum heat transfer rate in comparison with other considered blocks. The addition of nano-sized particles results in a growth of energy transport and mean entropy generations. Originality/value An efficient computational technique has been developed to solve natural convection problem for an open chamber. The originality of this research is to scrutinize the convective transport and entropy production in an open domain with inner body. The outcomes would benefit scientists and engineers to become familiar with the investigation of convective energy transference and entropy generation in open chambers with inner bodies, and the way to predict the energy transference strength in the advanced engineering systems.

Purpose This study/paper aims to deal with thermal convection and entropy production of a ferrofluid in an enclosure having an isothermally warmed solid body placed inside. It should be noted that this research deals with a development of passive cooling system for the electronic devices. Design/methodology/approach The domain of interest is a square chamber of size L including a rectangular solid block of sizes l1 and l2. Thermal convection of ferrofluid (water–Fe3O4 nanosuspension) is analyzed within this enclosure. The solid body is considered to be isothermal with temperature Th and also its area is L2/9. The vertical borders are cold with temperature Tc and the horizontal boundaries are adiabatic. The flow driven by temperature gradient in the cavity is two-dimensional. The governing equations, formulated in dimensionless primitive variables with corresponding initial and boundary conditions, are worked out by using the finite volume technique with the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations algorithm on a uniformly staggered mesh. The influence of nanoparticles volume fraction, aspect ratio of the solid block and an irreversibility ratio on energy transport and flow patterns are examined for the Rayleigh number Ra = 107. Findings The results show that the nanoparticles concentration augments the thermal transmission and the entropy production increases also, while the augmentation of temperature difference results in a diminution of entropy production. Finally, lower aspect ratio has the significant impact on heat transfer, isotherms, streamlines and entropy. Originality/value An efficient numerical technique has been developed to solve this problem. The originality of this work is to analyze convective energy transport and entropy generation in a chamber with internal block. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the effects of irreversibility ratio are scrutinized for the first time. The results would benefit scientists and engineers to become familiar with the analysis of convective heat transfer and entropy production in enclosures with internal isothermal blocks, and the way to predict the heat transfer rate in advanced technical systems, in industrial sectors including transportation, power generation, chemical sectors, electronics, etc.