Fluid flow and heat transfer of a stratified system during natural convection – influence of chamfered corners

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the three-dimensional natural convection and entropy generation in the rectangular cuboid cavities included by chamfered triangular partition made by polypropylene. Design/methodology/approach – The enclosure is filled by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)-H2O nanofluid and air as two immiscible fluids. The finite volume approach is used for computation. The fluid flow and heat transfer are considered with combination of local entropy generation due to fluid friction and heat transfer. Moreover, a numerical method is developed based on three-dimensional solution of Navier–Stokes equations. Findings – Effects of side ratio of triangular partitions (SR = 0.5, 1 and 2), Rayleigh number (103 < Ra <105) and solid volume fraction (f = 0.002, 0.004 and 0.01 Vol.%) of nanofluid are investigated on both natural convection characteristic and volumetric entropy generation. The results show that the partitions can be a suitable method to control fluid flow and energy consumption, and three-dimensional solutions renders more accurate results. Originality/value – The originality of this work is to study the three-dimensional natural convection and entropy generation of a stratified system.