MHD Natural Convection and Radiation over a Flame in a Partially Heated Semicircular Cavity Filled with a Nanofluid

Abstract

The numerical analysis of MHD-free convective heat transfer and its interaction with the radiation over a heated flame inside a porous semicircular cavity loaded with SWCNTs–water nanofluid was explored for the very first time in the present work. The two circular arcs of the upper wall of the enclosure were preserved at a constant cold temperature, whereas the middle region of it was considered adiabatic. The midland region of the lower wall was heated partially, while other regions were also assumed adiabatic. An internal hot flame was included inside the cavity, while the cavity was exposed to a magnetic field. The results were illustrated for Hartmann number (0 ≤ Ha ≤ 100), Rayleigh number (104 ≤ Ra ≤ 106), heated region length (0.1 ≤ L ≤ 0.3), solid volumetric fraction (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.04), Darcy number (10−3 ≤ Da ≤ 10−5) and radiation parameter (0 ≤ Rd ≤ 1). It was found that decreasing L is the best option for enhancing natural convection. Moreover, it was noted that (Nuout) is directly proportion to (Ra), (ϕ), (Rd) and (Da) increase. In contrast, it was in reverse proportion to (Ha). Furthermore, the results showed that augmentation of about (4%) and a decrement of (56.55%) are obtained on the average (Nu) on the heated length by increasing the radiation and the Hartmann number, respectively. Moreover, raising the radiation number from (0 to 1) causes an augmentation of about (73%) in the average (Nu) of the heated flame. Results also indicated that increasing the Hartmann number will cause a decrement of about (82.4%) of the maximum velocity profile in the vertical direction.