Cooling enhancement of two fins in a horizontal channel by nanofluid mixed convection

This paper presents a numerical study of the thermal performance of two fins mounted on the bottom wall of a horizontal channel and cooled with either pure water or a Cu-water nanofluid. The bottom wall of the channel is heated at a constant temperature and cooled by mixed convection of laminar flow at a relatively low temperature. The top wall is adiabatic. The effects of pertinent parameters such as the Reynolds and Richardson numbers, the solid volume fraction, and the distance and the thermal conductivity of the fins on their thermal performance are studied. The results of the numerical simulation indicate that the heat transfer rate of fins is significantly affected by the distance and the thermal conductivity of the fins. The influence of the solid volume fraction on the increase of heat transfer is more noticeable at higher values of the Reynolds number. The fins behave differently in terms of their thermal performances at higher values of the Reynolds number. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.