Investigations of convective heat transfer in ferrofluid microflows using lattice-Boltzmann approach

By using the lattice-Boltzmann method, the mesoscopic models for the ferrofluid are developed to simulate flow and thermal processes of the ferrofluid flowing through a micro channel. The models include a variety of forces and potentials acting on the ferrofluid system as well as heat exchange between the suspended magnetic nanoparticles and the ambient liquid. Some numerical examples are given to discuss the enhancement or suppression mechanism of heat transfer of the ferrofluid by adjusting the orientation and magnitude of the magnetic field gradient. (C) 2006 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.