Investigating the effects of nanoparticles mean diameter on laminar mixed convection of a nanofluid through an inclined tube with circumferentially nonuniform heat flux

In this study, laminar mixed convection of a water-based nanofluid containing Al2O3 nanoparticles in an inclined copper tube, which is heated at the top half surface, is investigated numerically. A heat conduction mechanism through the tube wall was implemented. Three-dimensional equations using a two-phase mixture model were solved to investigate the hydrodynamic and thermal behaviors of the nanofluid over a wide range of nanoparticle volume fractions. To verify the model, the results were compared with previous works and a good agreement between the results was observed. The effect of nanoparticles diameter on the hydrodynamic and thermal parameters over a wide range of Grashof numbers is presented and discussed for a particle volume fraction and Reynolds number. It is shown that the diameter of nanoparticles affects the particle distribution in the cross section perpendicular to the tube axis, heat transfer coefficient, and shear stress.