Viscous dissipation effects of power-law fluid flow within parallel plates with constant heat fluxes

Both hydro-dynamically and thermally fully developed laminar heat transfer of non-Newtonian fluids between fixed parallel plates has been analyzed taking into account the effect of viscous dissipation of the flowing fluid. Thermal boundary condition considered is that both the plates kept at different constant heat fluxes. The energy equation, and in turn the Nusselt number, were solved analytically in terms of Brinkman number and power-law index. The findings show that the heat transfer depends on the power-law index of the flowing fluid. Pseudo-plastic and dilatant fluids manifest themselves differently in the heat transfer characteristics under the influence of viscous dissipation. Under certain conditions, the viscous dissipation effects on heat transfer between parallel plates are significant and should not be neglected. (C) 2010 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.