Two Dimensional-Steady State-Natural Convection During the Buoyancy-Induced Flow of CuO-Water Nanofluid Along a Vertical Channel

In many engineering applications, heat and mass transfer is of vital importance. Therefore a lot of research has been done trying to maximize the heat transfer rate. It is proved, mostly through experimental processes that nanofluids i.e., liquid suspensions of nanometer size particles, have the required capability to augment heat transfer since their efficacy is based on their improved properties compared to those of the base fluid. The present paper examines the two dimensional-steady state-natural convection during the buoyancy-induced flow of the incompressible CuO-water nanofluid along a vertical channel whose walls are uniformly heated. The available literature suggests static and dynamic models for calculating the effective conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids. In this work, both models are assumed so as the Brownian motion of nanoparticles to be considered. The governing equations of continuity, momentum and energy have been solved numerically with the Finite Difference Method (FDM) by using suitable dimensionless variables. The results of the aforementioned analysis prove that the convection coefficient is enhanced due to the presence of nanofluids and it increases further by changing the volume concentration of the nanoparticles. Finally, the effect of the nanoparticles size on heat transfer and the type of the base fluid is investigated.