Title: MHD natural convective Ag-water nanofluid flow in an enclosure having internal heat generation with centre heater and bottom heat source

Authors: Nagarajan Nithyadevi; Thangavelu Mahalakshmi; C. Udhaya Shankar

Addresses: Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, 641 006, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: Numerical study on MHD natural convection inside enclosure filled with Ag-water with centre heater is conducted. The vertical walls of enclosure are maintained at temperature T_c whereas its top wall is insulated and bottom wall is considered with constant heat source. The governing equations are solved numerically by finite volume method and SIMPLE algorithm. The effects of heater length, Rayleigh number, Hartmann number and heat generation parameter are investigated. Results are presented with streamlines, isotherms, variation of average Nusselt number and mid height velocity profile. It is found that high heat transfer is obtained for the vertical heater and Hartmann number is a good control parameter for suppressing heat transfer. Moreover, the fluid flow, thermal fields and rate of heat transfer are strongly depending on heater length and heat generation parameter. Also, increasing solid volume fraction of nanoparticles cause better enhancement of heat transfer inside enclosure.

Keywords: magnetic field; nanofluid; internal heat generation; length of heater; heat source.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNP.2017.089449

International Journal of Nanoparticles, 2017 Vol.9 No.4, pp.244 - 264

Received: 20 Apr 2017
Accepted: 12 Aug 2017
Published online: 24 Jan 2018 *

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