Numerical simulation of MHD mixed convection heat transfer of nanofluid in a lid-driven porous medium C-shaped enclosure

Abstract

The present numerical simulation considers of MHD mixed convection heat transfer of nanofluid in a lid-driven porous medium C-shaped enclosure. The finite element method based on Galerkin weighted residual method is used to solve the governing equations in order to investigate the effect of Darcy number, Richardson number and CuO - water nanoparticles on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics inside the enclosure. A set of graphical results are presented in terms of streamlines, isotherms, dimensionless temperature, velocity profiles, local Nusselt number, average Nusselt numbers and average fluid temperature. The simulation results indicate that there is an optimal volume fraction of the nanoparticles for each Darcy number and Richardson number act which the maximum heat transfer rate occurs. Moreover, CuO - water nanofluid has greater merit to be used for heat transfer enhancement. The method used is validated against previous published works.