Numerical Computation of Natural Convection of Nanofluid in an Open Wavy Porous Cavity Heated Partially

Abstract

In this work, we emphasise the heat transfer and fluid flow due to buoyancy force in a wavy open porous cavity, placed horizontally having filled with porous media and, its top wall is being kept open, whereas the right cold wall is wavy and, its left vertical wall is heated partially, keeping all other walls at thermally insulated. The non-dimensional ψ − θ formulation of mass, momentum, and energy conservation laws for porous media are solved by the standard finite difference scheme for a wide range of pertinent parameters such as nanoparticle volume fraction (0.05 ≤ Φ ≤ 0.2), Rayleigh-Darcy number (10 ≤ Ra ≤ 103), length of heat source (0.25 ≤ ε ≤ 1), and parameters controlling waviness of right wall (1 ≤ N ≤ 5) and amplitude (0.05 ≤ a ≤ 0.25). The simulated results are presented in the form of streamlines and isotherms; global and local Nusselt numbers are computed. Obtained results are analyzed and it is observed that the convection process is augmented at the presence of nanoparticle for low Ra but decreases at high Ra for all pertinent parameters; also, the wall waviness augments convection low Ra.