Brownian Motion Effects on Natural Convection of Alumina-Water Nanofluid in 2-D Enclosure

This article reports a numerical study of natural convection heat transfer in a differentially heated enclosure filled with a Al2O3-water nanofluid. Fluent v6.3 is used to simulate nanofluid flow. Simulations have been carried out for the pertinent parameters in the following ranges: the Rayleigh number, Ra = 10(6), 10(7), and the volumetric fraction of alumina nanoparticles, phi = 0-4%. The effect of Brownian motion on the heat transfer is considered and examined. The numerical results show a decrease in heat transfer with an increase in particle volume fraction. Similar to experimental results, the Nusselt number increases with the Rayleigh number in the numerical results. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.