Fully Developed Electroosmotically and Hydrodynamically Induced Convection Between Two Parallel Plates

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to understand thermally fully developed convective transport phenomena induced by both electroosmosis and pressure gradients in a narrow parallel channel. A model was developed to describe the fluid flow and associated heat transport phenomena. Both the dimensionless temperature profile and the Nusselt number were obtained analytically with and without Joule heating with an investigation conducted to understand the importance of Joule heating and the ratio of the hydraulic flow rate to the electroosmotic flow rate. The emphasis of the comprehensive discussion is on understanding the physical significance of the singularities of the flow behavior and heat transfer.

This research is supported by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of High Education (Contract 20040003076).