International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

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International Journal of Thermal Sciences

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Effect of nanofluid variable properties on mixed convection in a square cavity

Saeed Mazrouei Sebdania, Mostafa Mahmoodia, *, Seyed Mohammad Hashemib
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kashan, Kashan, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KN Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The problem of mixed convection fluid flow and heat transfer of Al2O3ewater nanofluid with temper-
Received 9 May 2011 ature and nanoparticles concentration dependent thermal conductivity and effective viscosity inside
Received in revised form a square cavity has been investigated numerically. The geometry of the present work was a square cavity
3 September 2011
with a heat source on the bottom wall, insulated top wall and moving downward cold side walls. The
Accepted 3 September 2011
Available online 1 October 2011
effects of increase in shear force while the buoyancy force was constant and effects of increase in
buoyancy force when the shear force was kept constant were investigated. When the heat source was
located in the middle of bottom wall, when the Rayleigh number was kept constant, the effect of addition
Keywords:
Nanofluid
of nanoparticles on enhancement of heat transfer increased with increase in Reynolds number. For
Variable properties a constant Reynolds number and for high Rayleigh numbers, the rate of heat transfer decreased with
Mixed convection increase in nanoparticle volume fraction. Moreover it was found that the rate of this decrease increased
Cavity with increase in Rayleigh number. Also the obtained results showed that when the heat source moved
Finite volume method toward the side wall, the rate of heat transfer increased. The results obtained using variable thermal
conductivity and variable viscosity models were compared to the results obtained by the Maxwell-
Garnett model and the Brinkman model. The results showed that significant differences existed
between the calculated overall heat transfers for the two different combinations of formulas. Moreover
the difference increased with increase in nanoparticles volume fraction.
Ó 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction experimental and analytical studies on the effective thermal

Nanofluid, which is a mixture of nano-sized particles suspended
in a base fluid, has a higher thermal conductivity than the base
fluid. This higher thermal conductivity enhances rate of heat
transfer in industrial applications. Many researchers have investi-
gated different aspects of nanofluids [1].
There are a number of recent studies on the mixed convection
heat transfer in cavities filled with nanofluids. Tiwari et al. [2] used
the finite volume method to investigate flow and heat transfer in
a square cavity with insulated top and bottom walls and differen-
tially-heated moving side walls. The cavity was filled with the
Copperewater nanofluid. Conducting a parametric study, they
investigated effects of the Richardson number and volume fraction
of the nanoparticles on the heat transfer inside the cavity and
observed that for the Richardson number equal to unity the average
Nusselt number increased substantially with increase in the
volume fraction of the nanoparticles. In a review paper Morshed
et al. [3] addressed various investigations of nanofluids such as
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mmahmoodi46@gmail.com (M. Mahmoodi).
conductivity, effective thermal diffusivity, and convective heat
transfer. They concluded that the existing classical models could
not predict viscosity and effective thermal diffusivity of the nano-
fluids. In another study, Ho et al. [4] investigated influences of
uncertainties due to adapting different models for the effective
thermal conductivity and the dynamic viscosity of aluminaewater
nanofluid on the natural convection heat transfer in a square cavity.
Their results showed that the heat transfer across the cavity could
be either enhanced or mitigated with respect to that of the base
fluid depending on the model used for the thermal conductivity
and the viscosity of the nanofluid. Using the control volume
method, Muthtamilselvan et al. [5] investigated the mixed
convection heat transfer in a lid-driven rectangular enclosure filled
with the Copperewater nanofluid. The enclosure’s side walls were
insulated while its horizontal walls were kept at constant
temperatures, with the top wall moving at a constant velocity. They
observed that both the aspect ratio of the cavity as well as the
nanoparticles volume fraction affected the fluid flow and heat
transfer inside the enclosure. Talebi et al. [6] used the finite volume
method to study mixed convection heat transfer in a lid-driven
cavity filled with Copperewater nanofluid. The vertical walls of the
cavity were differentially heated while its top and bottom walls

1290-0729/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2011.09.003
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126 113

Nomenclature T temperature, K
u, v velocity components, m/s
d diameter, m ub lid velocity
cp specific heat, J/kg K U, V dimensionless velocity components
g gravitational acceleration, m/s2 x, y Cartesian coordinates, m
h heat transfer coefficient, W/m2 K X, Y dimensionless Cartesian coordinates
H enclosure height, m
k thermal conductivity, W/m K Greek symbols
Nu Nusselt number a thermal diffusivity, m2/s
p pressure, N/m2 b thermal expansion coefficient, K
1
P dimensionless pressure q dimensionless temperature
Pr Prandtl number m dynamic viscosity, kg/m s
q heat flux per unit area W/m2 n kinematic viscosity, m2/s
Ra Rayleigh number r density, kg/m3
Re Reynolds number 4 volume fraction of the nanoparticles
Ri Richardson number

were kept insulated. Their results showed that for given Reynolds numerically mixed convection of Al2O3ewater nanofluid in rect-
and Rayleigh numbers, increase in the volume fraction of the angular cavities with hot moving bottom lid and cold right, left, and
nanoparticles enhanced the heat transfer inside the cavity. Abu- top walls. Very recently Arefmanesh and Mahmoodi [14] conducted
Nada et al. [7] conducted a numerical investigation on mixed a numerical study to examine effects of uncertainties of viscosity
convection in an inclined square enclosure filled with Al2O3ewater models for the Al2O3ewater nanofluid on mixed convection in
nanofluid. The governing equations written in terms of stream a square cavity with cold left, right, and top walls and moving hot
function-vorticity formulation were solved using the finite volume bottom wall. They used two different viscosity models and found
method. They observed significant enhancement in the heat that significant differences existed between the magnitudes of heat
transfer inside the cavity due to the presence of the nanoparticles. transfer enhancement for the two viscosity models employed.
In another study in the same year, Abu-Nada et al. [8] investigated Moreover their results showed that the average Nusselt number of
the effects of variable properties of Al2O3ewater and CuOewater the hot wall increased with increase in the volume fraction of the
nanofluids on the natural convection heat transfer in rectangular nanoparticles for both of the viscosity models.
enclosures. They observed that at high Rayleigh numbers the The present paper will focus on effects of temperature and
viscosity model had a higher impact on the average Nusselt number nanoparticles concentration dependent thermal conductivity and
than the thermal conductivity model. Results of a numerical study viscosity models on mixed convection of nanofluid in a square
on mixed convection in a lid-driven nanofluid filled square cavity cavity. The Al2O3ewater nanofluid is employed in this way. The
with cold side and top wall and a constant heat flux heater on the correlation derived by Abu-Nada et al. [8] based on the detailed
bottom wall and moving lid were reported by Mansuor et al. [9]. experimental results reported by Nguyen et al. [15] will be used for
The effects of Reynolds number, type of nanofluids, size and loca- nanofluids viscosity as a function of temperature and nanoparticles
tion of the heater and the volume fraction of the nanoparticles were
considered in their study. Their results showed that the rate of heat
transfer increased with increase in the length of the heater, Rey-
nolds number and the nanoparticles volume fraction. The problem
of mixed convection in a vented, partially heated from below
square cavity was investigated numerically by Shahi et al. [10]. The
cavity had an inlet and outlet in lower corner of left wall and upper
corner of right wall, respectively, and a constant heat flux heater on
the middle of the bottom wall. They considered effects of
Richardson number and nanoparticles concentration and found
that increase in solid concentration led to increase in the average
Nusselt number of the heat source. Effects of inlet and outlet
location on mixed convection of nanofluid in a square cavity were
investigated by Mahmoudi et al. [11]. They considered four
different combination of inlet and outlet location and found that
the flow pattern and temperature distribution inside the cavity
were dependent to outlet and inlet location. Ghasemi and Amino-
ssadati [12] studied mixed convection of Al2O3ewater nanofluid
inside a right triangular cavity with insulated horizontal wall, hot
inclined wall and moving cold vertical wall. They considered effects
of Richardson number, nanoparticles volume fraction and two
different upward and downward movement of the cold vertical
wall. Their results showed that addition of the nanoparticles
enhanced the rate of heat transfer for all values of Richardson
number and for each direction of the sliding wall motion. Moreover
they found a stronger flow circulation within the cavity for Fig. 1. A schematic view of the cavity with boundary conditions considered in the
downward motion of the cold wall. Mahmoodi [13] investigated present study.
114 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

Table 1 8.2
Thermophysical properties of water and nanoparticles at T ¼ 25  C.

Physical properties Water Al2O3

cp (J/kg K) 4179 765 8
r (kg/m3) 997.1 3970
k (W/m K) 0.613 40
b (K
1) 21  10
5 0.85  10
5
7.8

Nuavg
concentration. Also, the model derived by Chon et al. [16] will be 7.6
employed for estimation of the thermal conductivity. The results
will be obtained for a wide range of Rayleigh number, Reynolds
number and volume fraction of the solid particles. 7.4

2. Mathematical modeling
7.2
A schematic view of the square cavity with boundary condi-
tions considered in the present study is shown in Fig. 1. The
height and the width of the cavity are denoted H. A heat source 7
21 41 61 81 101 121
with the length of H/2 and temperature of Th is located on the
N
bottom wall. The left and right side walls of the cavity which
move downward with a constant velocity, uw, are kept at cold Fig. 3. Average Nusselt number of the heater for different uniform grids.
temperature Tc. The horizontal top wall and the inactive portions
of the horizontal bottom wall of the cavity are kept insulated. The
location of the heater on the bottom wall is shown by l. The
vu vv
dimensionless variable L for the location of the heater is defined þ ¼ 0; (1)
as L ¼ l/H. The length of the cavity perpendicular to its plane is
vx vy
assumed to be long enough; hence the problem is considered two



dimensional. The cavity is filled with Al2O3ewater nanofluid. The vu vu vp v vu v vu
rnf u þv ¼
þ mnf þ mnf ; (2)
thermophysical properties of nanoparticles and the water as the vx vy vx vy vy vx vx
base fluid at T ¼ 25  C are presented in Table 1. The nanofluid is




considered Newtonian and incompressible and the nanofluid vv vv vp v vv v vv
flow is assumed to be laminar. The density varies according to the
rnf u þv ¼
þ mnf þ mnf
vx vy vy vy vy vx vx
Boussinesq approximation [17].
þ ðrbÞnf gðT
Tc Þ; (3)
The two dimensional continuity, momentum and energy equa-
tions for laminar mixed convection fluid flow and heat transfer and
with the Boussinesq approximation in y-direction are as following:



  vT vT v vT v vT
rcp u þv ¼ knf þ knf : (4)
nf vx vy vx vx vy vy
where the density, heat capacity, thermal expansion coefficient,
and thermal diffusivity of the nanofluid are as following, respec-
tively [18]:

rnf ¼ ð1
4Þrf þ 4rs ; (5)

     
rcp nf
¼ ð1
4Þ rcp f þ4 rcp s ; (6)

ðrbÞnf ¼ ð1
4ÞðrbÞf þ4ðrbÞs ; (7)

and

k
anf ¼  nf : (8)
rcp nf

Table 2
Comparisons of the present results for the average Nusselt number of the hot wall
with the results of Oztop and Dagtekin.

Present study Oztop and Dagtekin [22]

Ri ¼ 100 1.051 1.048
Ri ¼ 10 0.965 0.961
Ri ¼ 1 1.928 1.921
Ri ¼ 0.1 3.411 3.406
Fig. 2. Vertical velocity component along the horizontal centerline of cavity for
Ri ¼ 0.01 6.382 6.376
different uniform grids.
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126 115

The effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid is estimated mf rf kb T

by the model reported by Chon et al. [16] that includes temperature PrT ¼ ; and ReT ¼ : (10)
rf af 3pm2f lf
and particle size effects. This model is expressed as following:
!0:7476 The symbol kb is the Boltzmann constant ¼ 1.3807  10
23 J/K,

0:3690
knf df kp and lf is the mean path of fluid particles given as 0.17 nm [16]. This
¼ 1 þ 64:740:7640 PrT0:9955 Re1:2321
T (9) model considers effects of temperature and nanoparticle size for
kf dp kf
the temperature ranging from 21 to 70  C. Abu-Nada et al. [8] used
where PrT and ReT are defined by: this model for prediction of free convection of CuOewater and

Fig. 4. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.5 for Ra ¼ 103 and Re ¼ 1.
116 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

Al2O3ewater nanofluids for nanoparticles up to a volume fraction This correlation defines the viscosity of Al2O3ewater nanofluid
of 0.09. The MG model for thermal conductivity is used too [19]: as a double function of temperature and volume fraction of
    nanoparticles:
keff ks þ 2kf
24 kf
ks 
¼    : (11) mAl2 O3 ¼ exp 3:003
0:04203T
0:54454 þ 0:0002553T 2
kf ks þ 2kf þ 4 kf
ks 
þ 0:052442
1:6224
1 : (12)
The effective dynamic viscosity of Al2O3-water nanofluid is
estimated by the correlation proposed by Abu-Nada et al. [8] based The viscosity in the above equation is expressed in centipoise
on the detailed experimental results reported by Nguyen et al. [15]. and the temperature in  C. The viscosity of the base fluid (water) is

Fig. 5. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.5 for Ra ¼ 103 and Re ¼ 10.
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126 117

considered to vary with temperature according to the following obtained by the Brinkman formula which estimates the effective
equation: dynamic viscosity of nanofluid as following [20]:
 mf
mH2 O ¼ 1:2723  Trc5
8:736  Trc4 þ 33:708  Trc3
246:6 mnf ¼ : (14)
 ð1
4Þ2:5
2
 Trc þ 518:78  Trc þ 1153:9  10
6 ; ð13Þ

where Trc ¼ log (Tr
273). In the results and discussion section, the The following dimensionless variables are introduced to convert
results obtained by Eq. (12) will be compared to the results the governing equations into dimensionless form:

Fig. 6. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.5 for Ra ¼ 103 and Re ¼ 100.
118 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

x y u v T
Tc p knf vq

X ¼ ; Y ¼ ; U ¼ ; V ¼ ; q¼ ; and P ¼ : (15) Nu ¼

: (24)
H H uw uw Th
Tc rnf u2w kf vY
Y¼0
The dimensionless forms of the governing equations are:
3. Numerical implementation
vU vV
þ ¼ 0; (16)
vX vY The set of nonlinear coupled governing mass, momentum, and


 energy equations are discretized using the finite volume method.
vU vU vP 1 1 v vU v vU
U þV ¼
þ m þ m ; (17) The coupling between velocity and pressure in momentum equa-
vX vY vX Re nf rnf vY nf vY vX nf vX tion is done using the SIMPLER algorithm [21]. Secondeorder
central difference scheme and upwind scheme are employed to



vV vV vP 1 1 v vV v vV discretize the diffusion and convective terms in governing equa-
U þV ¼
þ mnf þ mnf
vX vY vY Re nfo rnf vY vY vX vX tions, respectively. The set of discretized equations are solved
iteratively yielding values of the velocity, pressure, and tempera-
ðrbÞnf Ra
þ q; ð18Þ ture at the nodal points. An under-relaxation scheme is employed
rnf bfo PrRe2 to obtain converged solutions.
In order to undertake a grid independence study, a square cavity
and
containing Al2O3ewater nanofluid with 4 ¼ 0.05 and having



vq vq anf 1 1 v vq v vq a heater located in L ¼ 0.5 is chosen. The Rayleigh and Reynolds
U þV ¼ knf þ knf ; (19) numbers are kept at 104 and 10, respectively. Five different uniform
vX vY afo knf PrRe vY vY vX vX
grids, namely, 21  21, 41  41, 61  61, 81  81, and 101  101 are
where the Reynolds number, Re, the Rayleigh number, Ra, and the employed. The results for the Y-component of the velocity along the
Prandtl number, Pr, are defined as: horizontal centerline of the cavity and average Nusselt number of
the heat source for these grids are shown in Figs. 2 and 3, respec-
uw H g bfo ðTh
Tc ÞH3 nfo tively. Based on the results of these figures, an 81  81 uniform grid
Re ¼ ; Ra ¼ ; and Pr ¼ ; (20)
nfo afo yfo afo is used for all of the subsequent numerical calculations.
In order to validate the developed code, the problem of mixed
where the subscript “o” refers to the reference temperature which convection fluid flow and heat transfer in an air filled square cavity
is 25  C in the present work. The local Nusselt number along the with insulated horizontal wall, cold and hot moving upward left
heat source based on the height of the cavity is evaluated from the and right walls, according to the geometry considered in work of
following relation Oztop and Dagtekin [22] is analyzed using the presented code, and
the results are compared with their results. Table 2 shows
hnf H
Nu ¼ ; (21) comparisons between the average Nusselt numbers of the hot wall
kf for different Richardson numbers obtained by the present simula-
tion and by Oztop and Dagtekin. As can be seen from this table, very
The heat transfer coefficient, hnf, is obtained from
good agreements exist between the two results.
q
hnf ¼ : (22)
ðTh
Tc Þ 4. Results and discussion
The wall heat flux per unit area, q, can be written as
In this section, results of the numerical study on combined free

and forced convection heat transfer of Al2O3ewater nanofluid with
ðTh
Tc Þ vq

q ¼
knf (23)
vY
Y¼0
temperature and nanoparticles concentration dependent thermal
H
conductivity and effective dynamic viscosity inside the square
Substituting Eqs. (23) and (22) into Eq. (21) yields the following cavity shown in Fig. 1 are presented. The results have been obtained
relation for the local Nusselt number for Rayleigh number ranging from 103 to 106, Reynolds number

a 16 b 1.1
Re = 1
14 Re = 1
Re = 10
Re = 100
Re = 10
Re = 100 1.05
12
Nu avg

Nu *avg

10
1

6 0.95

4
0.9
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
ϕ ϕ

Fig. 7. Variation of average Nusselt number (a) and normalized Nusselt number (b) with nanoparticles volume fraction for the heater located in L ¼ 0.5, at Ra ¼ 103 and different
Reynolds numbers.
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126 119

ranging from 1 to 100, three different locations of the heat source,
namely, L ¼ 0.25, 0.375, and 0.5, and the volume fraction of the
nanoparticles ranging from 0 to 0.09. It must be noted that when
the Rayleigh number is varying, the Reynolds number is keeping
fixed at 10 while when the Reynolds number is varying, the Ray-
leigh number is keeping fixed at 103. For all calculations, Tc and Th
are kept at 22  C and 52  C, respectively. Hence, the difference
between the temperatures of hot and cold walls is kept at 30  C.
The streamlines and isotherms inside the cavity with the heat
source located in L ¼ 0.5 for different volume fraction of the
nanoparticles, when the Rayleigh number is keeping fixed at 103,
and for Re ¼ 1, 10, and 100 are shown in Figs. 4e6 respectively. As
can be seen from theses figures for all Reynolds numbers and
volume fraction of the nanoparticles, the solutions are symmetric
about the vertical mid line of the cavity via existence of symmet-
rical geometry and boundary conditions. Moreover for all Reynolds

Fig. 8. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.5 for Ra ¼ 104 and Re ¼ 10.
120 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

numbers and nanoparticles volume fractions, the nanofluid
descends downward along the side walls, moves horizontally to the
middle of the cavity along the bottom wall, then after hitting at the
vicinity of the heat source it moves upward and forms a pair of
counter-rotating eddies inside the cavity. Neither increase in Rey-
nolds number nor increase in nanoparticles volume fraction does
not affect the flow pattern inside the cavity significantly. At
Ra ¼ 103 and Re ¼ 1 (Fig. 4) convection heat transfer is not strong
and the heat transfer occurs mainly through conduction; hence the
isotherms are distributed uniformly and nearly parallel to the heat
source. As the Reynolds number increases, the forced convection
becomes stronger; hence distinct thermal boundary layers are
formed adjacent to the heat source (Figs. 5 and 6).
Variations of the average Nusselt number and normalized
average Nusselt number of the heat source versus the nanoparticles
volume fraction for different Reynolds numbers while the Rayleigh
number is keeping fixed at 103 are shown in Fig. 7. This figure is
present to illustrate the effect of increase in forced convection while

Fig. 9. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.5 for Ra ¼ 105 and Re ¼ 10.
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126
the free convection effect is constant. As can be seen from the figure
as the Reynolds number increases while the Rayleigh number is
keeping constant, the effect of forced convection increases that
results in increase in the heat transfer rate. From the figure, for
4 < 0.05 fluctuations in normalized average Nusselt number are
observable. For 4 < 0.05 the undesirable effect of viscosity on the
rate of heat transfer is less significant and is somewhat balanced by
the desirable effect of thermal conductivity on the rate of heat
transfer, which explain the fluctuation in Nusselt number for
4 < 0.05. Moreover it is found that for Re ¼ 1 and 10 a decrease in
normalized Nusselt number occurs for nanoparticles volume frac-
tion greater than 0.05. At Re ¼ 1 this reduction motivates the rate of
heat transfer of the nanofluid to become less than that of pure fluid.
At Ra ¼ 103 and Re ¼ 1, the enhancement in heat transfer due to the
high thermal conductivity of nanofluid is small compared to the
reduction of heat transfer via increase in the viscosity of nanofluid
which results in decrease in overall heat transfer rate.
Variations of the streamlines and isotherms for the cavity with
the heat source located in L ¼ 0.5, with the nanoparticles volume
faction when Re ¼ 10 and at Ra ¼ 103, 104, and 105 are shown in
Figs. 5, 8 and 9, respectively. For a constant Reynolds number when
the Rayleigh number increases, the free convection becomes
stronger. As can be seen from these figures by increase in the
Rayleigh number, while the nanoparticles volume fraction keeping
constant, the concentration of the streamlines adjacent to the side
wall decreases and they close to the vertical mid line of the cavity.
Moreover when the Rayleigh number increases, the cores of the
eddies move downward and close to the vertical mid line of the
cavity. The isotherms show that by increase in Rayleigh number, the
temperature gradient in the upper corner of the side walls and at
the vicinity of the heat source increases. Effects of increase in the
nanoparticles concentration on flow and temperature fields are
more distinguishable in Fig. 9. As can be seen from the figure with
increase in the nanoparticles volume fraction the concentration of
the isotherms in upper corners of the side walls decreases. It is
because of increase in thermal conductivity of the nanofluid which
results in increase of diffusion of heat.
Variations of average Nusselt number and normalized Nusselt
number versus volume fraction of the nanoparticles for different
Rayleigh number while the Reynolds number is kept at 10 are
shown in Fig. 10. This figure is presented to illustrate effect of
increase in buoyancy force while the shear force is kept constant,
on the rate of heat transfer inside the cavity. It is evident from the
figure that when the Rayleigh number increases, while the volume
faction of the nanoparticles is kept constant, the heat transfer rate
a 13
11 3
Ra = 10 4
Ra = 10 5
Ra = 10
Nu avg
7 3
5 0.8
0 0.02 0.04
ϕ ϕ
Fig. 10. Variation of average Nusselt number (a) and normalized Nusselt number (b) with nanoparticles volume fraction for the heater located in L ¼ 0.5, at Re ¼ 10 and different
Rayleigh numbers.
121
increases. From the normalized Nusselt number it is found that the
presence of nanoparticles motivates an enhancement in heat
transfer rate only at Ra ¼ 103 which conduction dominates the heat
transfer. In convection dominant regime (Ra ¼ 104 and 105) the rate
of heat transfer decreases with increase in nanoparticles volume
fraction. Moreover it is evident that the reduction in heat transfer at
Ra ¼ 105 is more than that at Ra ¼ 104. At Ra ¼ 104 and 105 a fluc-
tuation in normalized Nusselt numbers is found for the nano-
particles volume fraction less than 0.05.
In this section, effect of different locations of the heater and
nanoparticles volume fraction on the mixed convection inside the
cavity is investigated. The Rayleigh number is kept constant and the
Reynolds number is varying from 1 to 100. Variations of streamlines
and isotherms inside the cavity for different Reynolds numbers,
Ra ¼ 104, different nanoparticles volume fraction and for the heater
located in L ¼ 0.375 and 0.25 are shown in Figs. 11 and 12,
respectively. In these cases two unsymmetrical counter-rotating
eddies with unequal strength are developed inside the cavity,
which the left hand eddy in thinner than the right one. Via exis-
tence of asymmetrical boundary conditions, the isotherms get
skewed and move toward the left wall. Hence the heat transfer
occurs mainly through the left hand eddy. As can be seen from
Fig. 11, when the nanoparticles volume fraction increases the core
of the right hand eddy is elongated in vertical direction and moves
toward the right wall. Form Fig. 12 it is evident that with increase in
nanoparticles volume fraction, the size of left hand and right hand
eddy increases and decreases, respectively. Moreover the core of
the left hand eddy becomes thinner in vertical direction. Also it can
be seen than when the nanoparticles volume faction increases, the
core of the right hand eddy is elongated in vertical direction and
closes to the right wall.
Figs. 13 and 14 present variations of average Nusselt number and
normalized Nusselt number with the nanoparticles volume fraction
for different Reynolds numbers, while the Rayleigh number is kept
at Ra ¼ 104 for L ¼ 0.375 and 0.25, respectively. It is clearly seen
from the figures that with increase in Reynolds number, while the
nanoparticles volume fraction is kept constant, the rate of heat
transfer increases via increase in shear force and forced convection
heat transfer.
For L ¼ 0.375 (Fig. 13) it is evident from the normalized Nusselt
numbers that at Re ¼ 1 and 10, addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles to
the base fluid causes the rate of heat transfer to decrease. According
to the figure, the rate of this decrease depends on the value of
Rayleigh number. At Re ¼ 10, in which the forced convection is
stronger than Re ¼ 1, deterioration of heat transfer via addition of
b 1. 1
1
Nu avg
*
0.9
Ra = 10 4
Ra = 10 5
Ra = 10
0.06 0.08 0.1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
122 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

Fig. 11. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.375 for Ra ¼ 104 and Re ¼ 10.

nanoparticles is less than that at Re ¼ 1. At Re ¼ 100, the rate of heat
transfer can be augmented or mitigated depend on the value of
nanoparticles concentration. For 0.25 < 4 < 0.35 and 4 > 0.8, the
rate of heat transfer is less than that for pure fluid. A similar
behavior is valid for L ¼ 0.25 (Fig. 14).
Variations of the average and normalized Nusselt number
versus the nanoparticles volume fraction for different locations of
the heater at Re ¼ 10 and Ra ¼ 104 are shown in Fig. 15. As illus-
trated in the figure, the average Nusselt number increases as the
location of the heat source moves toward the left wall. That is to say
in cooling of electronic equipment, when an electronic chip is
located adjacent to the side walls, efficiency of cooling is enhanced.
It is observed from the normalized Nusselt numbers that at Re ¼ 10
and Ra ¼ 104, addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles enhances the rate of
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126 123

Fig. 12. Streamlines (right) and isotherms (left) for Al2O3ewater nanofluid inside the cavity with the heater located in L ¼ 0.25 for Ra ¼ 104 and Re ¼ 10.

heat transfer only for 4 < 0.015, for all locations of the heater.
Moreover it is evident that for 4 < 0.015, the rate of increase in heat
transfer with increase in nanoparticles volume fraction, decreases
when the heater moves toward the side wall while for 4 > 0.015,
the rate of reduction of heat transfer via existence of nanoparticles,
decreases when the heater moves toward the side wall.
Fig. 16 depicts effects of different thermal conductivity and effec-
tive dynamic viscosity models on overall heat transfer inside the
cavity. Fig. 16a presents the results related to Ra ¼ 103 and different
Reynolds numbers while Fig. 16b implies the results for Re ¼ 10 at
different Rayleigh numbers. This figure illustrates results obtained by
two combinations of viscosity and thermal conductivity models that
124 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126

a 17 b 1.05

15
1
Re = 1
Re = 10
13 Re = 100
0.95

11

Nu *
Nu
0.9
9

0.85
7
Re = 1
Re = 10
0.8
5 Re = 100

3 0.75
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
ϕ ϕ

Fig. 13. Variation of average Nusselt number (a) and normalized Nusselt number (b) with nanoparticles volume fraction for the heater located in L ¼ 0.375, at Ra ¼ 104 and different
Reynolds numbers.

a 20 b 1.025

18
Re = 1 1
Re = 10
Re = 100
16
0.975
14
N

0.95
12

0.925
10 Re = 1
Re = 10
Re = 100

8 0.9
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
ϕ ϕ

Fig. 14. Variation of average Nusselt number (a) and normalized Nusselt number (b) with nanoparticles volume fraction for the heater located in L ¼ 0.25, at Ra ¼ 104 and different
Reynolds numbers.

are: (1) MG and Brinkman models and (2) Chon et al. and Nguyen
et al. formulas.
It is evident from Fig. 16a that the difference between the
average Nusselt numbers calculated using two different combina-
tions of formulas is relatively small for 4 < 0.01. With increase in
nanoparticles volume fraction, the difference becomes more
significant. Moreover by increase in Reynolds number that results
in increase in shear force and forced convection, for a constant
nanoparticles volume fraction the difference between average
Nusselt numbers calculated by two combinations of formulas
increases. At all range of nanoparticles volume fraction and Rey-
nolds number, the average Nusselt number obtained by MG and
Brinkman models is higher than that obtained by Chon et al. and
Nguyen et al. formulas.
From Fig. 16b it is found that the combination of MG and
Brinkman formulas predicts that the rate of heat transfer increases
with increase in nanoparticles volume fraction, at all Rayleigh
numbers while the combination of Chon et al. and Nguyen et al.

a b

Fig. 15. Variation of average Nusselt number (a) and normalized Nusselt number (b) with nanoparticles volume fraction at Ra ¼ 104 and Re ¼ 10 for different locations of heater.
 S.M. Sebdani et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 52 (2012) 112e126
a 20
Re = 100
18
16
14
Nuavg
12 MG & Brinkman
Chon et al & Nguyen et al
10
8 8
6
4 6
2
0 0.02 0.04
ϕ ϕ
Fig. 16. Comparison between the average Nusselt numbers obtained using two different combinations of formulas for thermal conductivity and effective dynamic viscosity (a)
Ra ¼ 103 and different Reynolds number (b) Re ¼ 10 and different Rayleigh number.
formulas predates enhanced heat transfer only for Ra ¼ 103. For
Re ¼ 10 the shear force and forced convection are not very strong.
Therefore for this Reynolds number, at high Rayleigh numbers the
heat transfer occurs mainly through convection while at Ra ¼ 103,
conduction dominates the heat transfer. Hence at Ra ¼ 104 and 105,
the high viscosity predicted by Nguyen et al. model will make the
nanofluid so viscous that will reduce the natural convection effect
and subsequently will deteriorate the rate of heat transfer.
According to Fig. 16a the difference between the average Nusselt
numbers predicted by two different combinations of formulas
increases with increase in nanoparticles volume fraction as well as
Rayleigh number.
5. Conclusions
The effects of Al2O3ewater nanofluid variable properties on
mixed convection heat transfer in a square cavity with a heat source
on the bottom wall and moving downward cold side walls was
studied numerically using the finite volume method and SIMPLER
algorithm. The developed numerical code was validated by
comparing the obtained results with those available in the litera-
ture for the mixed convection heat transfers in a square cavity filled
with air. Subsequently, the code was employed to investigate the
effects of Al2O3ewater nanofluid variable thermal conductivity and
effective dynamic viscosity on temperature and flow fields within
the cavity and the following results was obtained:
 For all considered cases, two counter-rotating eddies are
developed inside the cavity that when the heater is located on
the middle of the bottom wall, the eddy are symmetrical while
for all other locations of heater, the eddies are unsymmetrical.
 When the Reynolds number increases, while the Rayleigh
number is keeping constant, the forced convection becomes
stronger that causes the heat transfer rate to increases. For low
Re ¼ 1, the rate of heat transfer decreases for nanoparticles
volume fraction greater than 0.05. At high Reynolds numbers
(Re ¼ 10 and 100) addition of nanoparticles motivates increase
in heat transfer rate.
 When the Rayleigh number increases, while the Reynolds
number is kept constant, the heat transfer rate increases. The
presence of nanoparticles causes increase in heat transfer rate
only at Ra ¼ 103 while at Ra ¼ 104 and 105 the rate of heat
transfer decreases with increase in nanoparticles volume
fraction.
 The average Nusselt number increases as the location of the
heat source moves toward the left wall.
125
b
14
5
Ra = 10
12
Nuavg
MG & Brinkman
10 Chon et al & Nguyen et al
Re = 10 4
Ra = 10
Ra = 10
3
Re = 1
0.06 0.08 0.1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
 When the Brinkman and MG formulas are used, the heat
transfer increases with increase in nanoparticles volume frac-
tion, for all range of Reynolds number, Rayleigh number and
location of heater. When the Nguyen et al. and Chon et al.
models are used, the heat transfer can be either enhanced or
mitigated with respect to that of the base fluid depending on
the Reynolds number and Rayleigh number.
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