Analysis of electroosmotic flow of silver-water nanofluid regulated by peristalsis using two different approaches for nanofluid

This article deals with mathematical modeling of the electroosmotically boosted peristaltic propulsion of water based silver nanofluid through an asymmetric channel. The inherent Joule heating phenomenon is also included in the mathematical modeling of the flow problem. The no-slip boundary conditions are utilized for velocity and temperature of the fluid and conditions of zero mass flux are considered for nanoparticle volume fraction. The electric potential generated by electroosmosis is formulated by Poisson-Boltzmann ionic distribution. The aim here is to compare the properties of nanofluid flow as predicted by the modified Buongiorno model in combination with the Corcione model for thermal conductivity and that estimated by a combination of the traditional Tiwari-Das model and the Corcione model under the same physical conditions. The numerical solution is computed for the emerging set of nonlinear coupled equations through the built-in command in Maple 17 which uses the finite difference technique in combination with Richardson extrapolation to solve a boundary value problem. Important attributes of electroosmotically controlled peristaltic fluid flow are illustrated subject to variation in different physical parameters. The analysis exhibits that under the same physical conditions, the modified Buongiorno model predicts the nanofluid properties more efficiently than the Tiwari-Das model. It is found that for larger temperature differences within a fluid medium, the Nusselt number declines in the case where the modified Buongiorno model is utilized whereas the Tiwari-Das model does not include the effect of temperature difference. Moreover, peristaltic pumping is boosted by forwarding electric field and opposed by backward electroosmosis, and the magnitude of the Nusselt number tends to raise for larger Joule heating parameter.

Automated summary

This article discusses the mathematical modeling of electroosmotically boosted peristaltic propulsion of water based silver nanofluid through an asymmetric channel. The study compares the predictions of nanofluid properties made by the modified Buongiorno model and a combination of the traditional Tiwari-Das model and the Corcione model. The results show that the modified Buongiorno model is more accurate in predicting nanofluid properties and that temperature difference has a significant impact on the Nusselt number.