Numerical Study of Natural Convection in an Inclined Cavity with Partially Active Side Walls Filled with Cu-water Nanofluid

Abstract

The buoyancy-driven fluid flow and heat transfer in a square cavity with partially active side walls filled with Cu-water nanofluid is investigated numerically. The active parts of the left and the right side-walls of the cavity are maintained at temperatures Th and Tc, respectively, with Th>Tc. The enclosure’s top and bottom walls, as well as, the inactive parts of its side walls are kept insulated. The governing equations are discretized using the finite volume method and the hybrid scheme. Using the developed code, a parametric study is undertaken and the effects of the Rayleigh number, the locations of the active parts of the side walls, the volume fraction of nanoparticles, and inclination angle of cavity on the fluid flow and heat transfer inside the cavity are investigated. It is observed from the results that the average Nusselt number increases with increasing both the Rayleigh number and the volume fraction of the nanoparticles. Moreover, the maximum average Nusselt number occurs for the middle-middle location of the thermally active parts.