Mixed convection of CuO-water nanofluid in a square enclosure with an intruded rectangular fin

Mixed convection of conventional heat-transfer fluids in enclosures has been studied extensively for many years due to their ever-increasing applications in many engineering fields. In comparison, less effort has been given to mixed convection of nanofluids in enclosures in spite of their applications in solar collectors, electronic cooling, lubrication technologies, food processing, and nuclear reactors. Mixed convection of nanofluids is a challenging issue due to the complex interactions among inertia, viscous, and buoyancy forces. Numerical methods are best suited to resolve some of these complex interactions. Here a two-dimensional numerical model has been developed for a square lid-driven enclosure with an intruded rectangular fin to understand the mixed convection of CuO-water nanofluids and to optimize fin geometry for maximizing the heat transfer. The numerical model has been developed using commercial finite volume software ANSYS-FLUENT for various fin geometries and validated with literature. The flow fields, temperature fields, and heat transfer rates are examined for different values of Rayleigh, Reynolds, and Richardson numbers for several fin geometries for maximizing the heat transfer from the fin to the surrounding CuO-water nanofluid flow.