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Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications
An International Journal of Computation and Methodology
Volume 69, 2016 - Issue 7
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Original Articles

Unsteady analysis of natural convection in a carbon nanotube-water filled cavity with an inclined heater

, , , , , & show all
Pages 794-809 | Received 28 May 2015, Accepted 12 Aug 2015, Published online: 21 Jan 2016
 

ABSTRACT

A finite element solution has been performed in this work to solve unsteady governing equations of natural convection in a carbon nanotube–water-filled cavity with inclined heater. The temperature of ceiling and left vertical walls is lower than that of the heater while the other walls are adiabatic. The main governing parameters are nanofluid volume fraction and Rayleigh number (Ra). It is found that the heat transfer rate shows different trends based on Rayleigh number and it increases with increase in nanoparticle volume fraction. It has been estimated that average Nusselt number (Nu) is dependent onRa through power regression models with strong positive linear correlation between ln (Nu) and ln (Ra). In particular, for the maximum time, when the solid volume fraction is varied from 0 to 0.1 the dependence between average Nu and linear Ra, on a logarithmic scale, is very high.

Nomenclature

cp=

specific heat (J kg−1 k−1)

g=

gravitational acceleration (ms−2)

Gr=

Grashof number

H=

enclosure height (m)

k=

thermal conductivity (Wm−1 k−1)

Nu=

Nusselt number

p=

dimensional pressure (kg m−1 s−2)

P=

dimensionless pressure

Pr=

Prandtl number

q=

heat flux (Wm−2)

Ra=

Rayleigh number

Sδ=

source term in Eq. (1)

T=

fluid temperature (K)

t=

dimensional time (s)

u=

horizontal velocity component (ms−1)

U=

dimensionless horizontal velocity component

v=

vertical velocity component (ms−1)

V=

dimensionless vertical velocity component

x=

horizontal coordinate (m)

X=

dimensionless horizontal coordinate

y=

vertical coordínate(m)

Y=

dimensionless vertical coordinate

α=

thermal diffusivity (m2 s−1)

β=

thermal expansion coefficient (K−1)

δ=

dependent variables

Γδ=

diffusion term in Eq. (1)

ϕ=

solid volume fraction

μ=

dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

ν=

kinematic viscosity (m2 s−1)

τ=

dimensionless time

θ=

non-dimensional temperature

ρ=

density (kg m−3)

ψ=

stream function

Subscripts=
av=

average

h=

heat source

c=

cold

f=

fluid

nf=

nanofluid

s=

solid nanoparticle

max=

maximum

min=

minimum

Nomenclature

cp=

specific heat (J kg−1 k−1)

g=

gravitational acceleration (ms−2)

Gr=

Grashof number

H=

enclosure height (m)

k=

thermal conductivity (Wm−1 k−1)

Nu=

Nusselt number

p=

dimensional pressure (kg m−1 s−2)

P=

dimensionless pressure

Pr=

Prandtl number

q=

heat flux (Wm−2)

Ra=

Rayleigh number

Sδ=

source term in Eq. (1)

T=

fluid temperature (K)

t=

dimensional time (s)

u=

horizontal velocity component (ms−1)

U=

dimensionless horizontal velocity component

v=

vertical velocity component (ms−1)

V=

dimensionless vertical velocity component

x=

horizontal coordinate (m)

X=

dimensionless horizontal coordinate

y=

vertical coordínate(m)

Y=

dimensionless vertical coordinate

α=

thermal diffusivity (m2 s−1)

β=

thermal expansion coefficient (K−1)

δ=

dependent variables

Γδ=

diffusion term in Eq. (1)

ϕ=

solid volume fraction

μ=

dynamic viscosity (kg m−1 s−1)

ν=

kinematic viscosity (m2 s−1)

τ=

dimensionless time

θ=

non-dimensional temperature

ρ=

density (kg m−3)

ψ=

stream function

Subscripts=
av=

average

h=

heat source

c=

cold

f=

fluid

nf=

nanofluid

s=

solid nanoparticle

max=

maximum

min=

minimum

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