Analysis of Natural Convection in Nanofluid Flow through a Channel with Source/Sink Effect

Abstract

In this study, the natural convection nanofluids flow through a channel formed by two vertical parallel plates having distance $d$ between them has been examined under the influence of the ramped velocity. Sodium alginate is considered as base fluid, and nanoparticles of titania ( ${\text{TiO}}_2$ ) and alumina ( ${\text{Al}}_2{\text{O}}_3$ ) are added to it. Analytical and semianalytical results for temperature and velocity profiles are obtained with Laplace transform and inverse Laplace algorithms (Tzou, Stehfest, Talbot, Honig and Hirdes, and Fourier series), respectively. Furthermore, the impacts of nanoparticles, Prendtl number, heat absorption, and time on velocity and temperature are drawn graphically and discussed. The outcomes show that the high thermal conductivity of particles increases the temperatures, and the high density of particles decreases the velocities of the nanofluids. The current findings are compared to previous findings in the literature. In the tables, the effect of volume fraction on Nusselt numbers and skin frictions is explored.