Numerical study of laminar mixed convection in a Cu-water nanofluid filled lid-driven square cavity with an isothermally heated cylinder

A numerical study of two-dimensional, laminar, steady mixed convection heat transfer in a Cu-water nanofluid filled lid-driven square cavity with an isothermally heated cylinder has been conducted. The wall of the cylinder is maintained at a constant high temperature, whereas the walls of the cavity (including the moving lid) are maintained at a constant low temperature. The isothermally heated cylinder is placed at the center of the cavity. The fluid flow in the cavity is driven by the combined effect of the buoyancy force due to temperature gradient and forced flow due to the top moving wall in the +x direction. The developed mathematical model is governed by the two-dimensional continuity, momentum and energy equations, which are solved by using Galerkin finite element method. The working fluid inside the cavity is Cu-water nanofluid, where water has been considered as the base fluid. The influence of the Reynolds number (1 ≤ Re ≤ 500) and the solid volume fraction of the Cu nanoparticle (0≤ ϕ ≤0.05) on fluid flow and heat transfer has been numerically investigated for the case of pure mixed convection heat transfer. Numerical results are presented in terms of the distribution of streamlines and isothermal contours, local as well as average Nusselt number variation on the cylinder surface for different parametric conditions. It is observed that enhancement of heat transfer occurs significantly as Reynolds number and solid volume fraction of nanoparticle change continuously. Thus, the dynamic condition of the moving lid and solid volume fraction of the nanoparticle can be used as parameters for enhancing the heat transfer characteristics and flow behavior in that cavity.