MIXED CONVECTION FLUID FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER OF THE Al2O3-WATER NANOFLUID WITH VARIABLE PROPERTIES IN A CAVITY WITH AN INSIDE QUADRILATERAL OBSTACLE

This investigation is focused on mixed convection fluid flow and heat transfer of Al2O3-water inside a square enclosure containing a hot rectangular obstacle at its bottom wall. The governing equations have been solved using the finite volume method. The SIMPLER algorithm was employed to couple the velocity and pressure fields. Utilizing the developed code, a parametric study was conducted and the impact of important parameters such as the solid volume fraction, Richardson number, size of the hot obstacle on the fluid flow and thermal fields and heat transfer inside the enclosure were investigated. The results show that for all Richardson numbers, the average Nusselt number increases with increase in the volume fraction of nanoparticles. Moreover, at all values of the Richardson number, heat transfer decreases when the height of the heated obstacle increases.