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Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A:

Applications: An International Journal of
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Heat Transfer Enhancement of

Nanofluids in a Lid-Driven Square
Enclosure
a b c c d
M. M. Rahman , M. M. Billah , M. Hasanuzzaman , R. Saidur &
c
N. A. Rahim
a
Department of Mathematics , Bangladesh University of Engineering
and Technology (BUET) , Dhaka , Bangladesh
b
Department of Arts and Sciences , Ahsanullah University of Science
and Technology (AUST) , Dhaka , Bangladesh
c
Centre of Research UMPEDAC, Level 4, Wisma R & D, University of
Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering ,
University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
Published online: 15 Oct 2012.

To cite this article: M. M. Rahman , M. M. Billah , M. Hasanuzzaman , R. Saidur & N. A. Rahim (2012)
Heat Transfer Enhancement of Nanofluids in a Lid-Driven Square Enclosure, Numerical Heat Transfer,
Part A: Applications: An International Journal of Computation and Methodology, 62:12, 973-991

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10407782.2012.715983

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 Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A, 62: 973–991, 2012
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1040-7782 print=1521-0634 online
DOI: 10.1080/10407782.2012.715983

HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT OF NANOFLUIDS IN

A LID-DRIVEN SQUARE ENCLOSURE

M. M. Rahman1, M. M. Billah2, M. Hasanuzzaman3,

R. Saidur3,4, and N. A. Rahim3
1
Department of Mathematics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and
Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:19 01 December 2013

2
Department of Arts and Sciences, Ahsanullah University of Science and
Technology (AUST), Dhaka, Bangladesh
3
Centre of Research UMPEDAC, Level 4, Wisma R & D, University of
Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University
of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A numerical investigation of mixed convection flows through a copper-water nanofluid in a

lid-driven square enclosure has been executed here. The two horizontal walls of the enclos-
ure are insulated, while the vertical walls are kept differentially heated by constant tempera-
ture with the left wall moving at a constant speed. The physical problem is represented
mathematically by a set of governing equations, and the transport equations are solved using
the finite element method based on Galerkin-weighted residuals. Comparisons with pre-
viously published work are performed and found to be in excellent agreement. Computa-
tional results are obtained for a wide range of parameters such as the Richardson
number, solid volume fraction, and Reynolds number. Copper-water nanofluids are used
with Prandtl number Pr ¼ 6.2, and solid volume fraction / is varied as 0%, 2%, 4%, and
8%. Reynolds number Re is varied from 50 to 200, while the Richardson number Ri is from
0 to 5 on the flow and thermal fields; heat transfer characteristics are also studied in detail.
Results are offered in terms of streamlines, isotherms, average Nusselt number, and fluid
temperature for the mentioned parameters. It is found that heat transfer increased by
9.91% as / increases from 0% to 8% at Ri ¼ 5. On the other hand, at the same convective
regime, heat transfer increased by 120.91% as Re increased from 50 to 200.

1. INTRODUCTION
Modern nanotechnology is considered by many to be one of the significant
forces that drive the next major industrial revolution of the current century. Numer-
ous studies on nanofluids are being performed by talented and studious thermal
scientists and engineers all over the world. Researchers have made scientific

Received 30 March 2012; accepted 8 July 2012.

The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the High Impact Research Grant
(HIRG) scheme (UM-MoHE) project (Project no: UM.C=HIR=MoHE=ENG=40) to complete this
research.
Address correspondence to M. M. Rahman, Department of Mathematics, Bangladesh University
of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. E-mail: m71ramath@gmail.com

973
 974 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.

NOMENCLATURE
cp specific heat at constant pressure X dimensionless horizontal
g gravitational acceleration, ms
2 coordinate
Gr Grashof number y vertical coordı́nate, m
k thermal conductivity, Wm
1 K
1 Y dimensionless vertical coordinate
L length of the cavity, m a thermal diffusivity, m2 s
1
Nu average Nusselt number b thermal expansion coefficient, K
1
p dimensional pressure, Nm
2 / solid volume fraction
P dimensionless pressure m dynamic viscosity, kg m
1 s
1
Pr Prandtl number n kinematic viscosity, m2 s
1
Re Reynolds number h nondimensional temperature
Ri Richardson number q density, kg m
3
T temperature, K w streamfunction
u horizontal velocity component, ms
1 c penalty parameter
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U dimensionless horizontal velocity

component Subscripts
v vertical velocity component, ms
1 av average
V dimensionless vertical velocity h hot
component c cold
V0 lid velocity, ms
1 f fluid
V cavity volume, m3 nf nanofluid
x horizontal coordinate, m s solid nanoparticle

breakthroughs not only in discovering unexpected thermal properties of nanofluids,

but also in proposing the latest mechanisms behind the enhanced thermal properties
of nanofluids and, thus, identifying unusual opportunities to develop them as next
generation coolants for computers and safe coolants for nuclear reactors. Taking
into account various applications of nanofluids, the cooling applications of nano-
fluids including silicon mirror cooling (SMC), electronics cooling, vehicle cooling,
transformer cooling, etc. Nanofluid technology can also help to extend better oils
and lubricants. Recently, nanofluids are being developed for medical applications,
including cancer therapy and safer surgery by cooling. Thus, nanofluids can be
considered to be the next-generation heat transfer fluids as they offer exciting new
possibilities to enhance heat transfer performance.
Convective heat transfer can be enhanced passively by changing flow geometry,
boundary conditions, or by enhancing thermal conductivity of fluid. A huge amount
of research interests has been sparked because of their potential applications to
realistic problems. Flow and heat transfer phenomena caused by buoyancy and shear
forces in enclosures have been studied extensively in the literature [1–9].
The fluids of low thermal conductivity such as water, ethylene glycol, propy-
lene glycol, etc., used for heat transfer applications do not meet the growing demand
as an effective heat transfer fluid. Therefore, a new class of heat transfer fluids can be
designed by suspending metallic nanoparticles in conventional heat transfer fluids. In
recent years, nanofluids have attracted more attention for cooling in various indus-
trial applications such as chemical production, power stations, and microelectronics.
However literature on the study of convective cooling utilizing nanofluid is sparse.
Khanafer et al. [10] numerically studied natural convection of copper-water
 HEAT TRANSFER OF NANOFLUIDS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE 975

nanofluid in a two-dimensional enclosure. The authors found that in any given

Grashof number, heat transfer in the enclosure increased with the volumetric
fraction of the copper nanoparticles in water. Murshed et al. [11] equipped enhanced
thermal conductivity of TiO2 suspension in water using two step methods. Wang and
Mujumdar [12] conducted a review and summarized recent research on fluid flow
and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids on mixed convection, and identified
opportunities for further research. Tiwari and Das [13] did a numerical model of
mixed convection in a two-sided lid-driven differentially heated square cavity filled
with nanofluid. Santra et al. [14] investigated numerically heat transfer due to lami-
nar flow of copper-water nanofluid through two isothermally heated parallel plates.
Muthtamilselvan et al. [15] conducted a numerical study to investigate the transport
mechanism of mixed convection in a lid-driven enclosure packed with nanofluids.
Ghasemi and Aminossadati [16] considered mixed convection heat transfer in a
Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:19 01 December 2013

lid-driven triangular enclosure filled with a water–Al2O3 nanofluid. They established

that the addition of Al2O3 nanoparticles enhanced the heat transfer rate for different
values of Richardson number and for each direction of the sliding wall motion. A
parametric study on mixed convection flow in a lid-driven inclined square enclosure
filled with water-Al2O3 nanofluid was presented by Nada and Chamkha [17].
Mansour et al. [18] made a numerical simulation on mixed convection flow in a
square lid-driven cavity partially heated from below using nanofluid. An experi-
mental investigation of flow and heat transfer characteristics for copper-water based
nanofluids through a straight tube with a constant heat flux at the wall was conduc-
ted by Xuan and Li [19]. Their results demonstrate that nanofluids give substantial
enhancement of the heat transfer rate compared to pure water. Saleh et al. [20] inves-
tigated heat transfer enhancement utilizing nanofluids in a trapezoidal enclosure for
various pertinent parameters. Wang et al. [21] performed a numerical investigation
on the effective thermal conductivity enhancement of carbon fiber composites.
Talebi et al. [22] numerically studied mixed convection flows in a square lid-driven
cavity utilizing nanofluid. Tzeng et al. [23] investigated the effect of nanofluids when
used as engine coolants. CuO and Al2O3 and antifoam were individually mixed with
automatic transmission oil. Billah et al. [24] conducted heat transfer enhancement of
copper–water nanofluids in an inclined lid-driven triangular enclosure. Recently,
Rahman et al. [25] made a numerical investgation of heat transfer enhancement of
nanofluids in an inclined lid-driven triangular enclosure.
To the best of the authors, knowledge, the problem of mixed convection heat
transfer enhancement of nanofluids in a two dimensional lid-driven cavity has not
been analyzed by using the finite element method. The present study is focused on
the laminar mixed convection flows of copper-water nanofluid in a two-dimensional
square lid-driven enclosure with a uniform heat source on the right vertical wall.
Indeed, this geometry has potential application in the cooling of an electronic device.
The present study pays attention to the analysis of several pertinent parameters on
heat transfer characteristics of nanofluid within the cavity.

2. PROBLEM SPECIFICATION
The treated problem is a two-dimensional lid-driven square enclosure of length
L filled with a copper-water nanofluid. The physical system considered in the present
 976 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.
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Figure 1. Schematic of the problem with the domain and boundary conditions (color figure available
online).

study is shown in Figure 1. The horizontal walls are considered adiabatic, while the
vertical walls are maintained at uniform but at different temperatures such that the
right wall is assigned to temperature Th and the left wall is subjected to temperature
Tc. Under all situations, Th > Tc condition is maintained. Furthermore, the left ver-
tical wall is assumed to slide from bottom to top at a constant speed V0. The nano-
fluid in the enclosure is Newtonian, incompressible, and laminar. The nanoparticles
are assumed to have uniform shape and size. It is considered that thermal equilib-
rium exists between the base fluid and nanoparticles, and no slip occurs between
the two media. The thermophysical properties of the nanofluid are listed in Table 1
in Rahman et al. [25]. The physical properties of the nanofluid are considered to be
constant except the density variation in the body force term of the momentum equa-
tion, which is satisfied by the Boussinesq’s approximation. The gravitational acceler-
ation acts in the negative y-direction. All solid boundaries are assumed to be rigid
no-slip walls.

Table 1. Grid sensitivity test at Re ¼ 100, Ri ¼ 1, and / ¼ 0.04

Elements Nu % increase

2,894 3.747671 —
3,520 3.757501 0.26
4,596 3.757821 0.27
5,794 3.757822 0.27
6,388 3.757888 0.27
 HEAT TRANSFER OF NANOFLUIDS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE 977

3. MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION
The governing equations for the present study, taking into account the
above-mentioned assumptions, are expressed in dimensional form as follows [18].

qu qv
þ ¼0 ð1Þ
qx qy
!
qu qu 1 qp mnf q2 u q2 u
u þv ¼
þ þ ð2Þ
qx qy qnf qx qnf qx2 qy2
!
qv qv 1 qp mnf q2 v q2 v
u þv ¼
þ þ
qx qy qnf qy qnf qx2 qy2
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g h i
þ ðT
Tc Þ /ðqbÞs þð1
/ÞðqbÞf ð3Þ
qnf
!
qT qT knf q2 T q2 T
u þv ¼
 þ 2 ð4Þ
qx qy q cp nf qx2 qy

The effective density of nanofluid at the reference temperature can be defined as

follows.
qnf ¼ ð1
/Þqf þ /qs ð5Þ

Where qnf, qf, qs, and / are the density of the nanofluid, density of the base fluid,
density of the nano particle, and volume fraction of the nanoparticles, respectively.
In addition, the thermal diffusivity anf of the nanofluid can be expressed as
follows.

knf
anf ¼
 ð6Þ
qcp nf

The heat capacitance of nanofluids can be expressed as follows [19].




qcp nf ¼ ð1
/Þ qcp f þ / qcp s ð7Þ

Additionally, (qb)nf is the thermal expansion coefficient of the nanofluid and it can
be determined by the following.
ðqbÞnf ¼ ð1
/ÞðqbÞf þ /ðqbÞs ð8Þ

The effective thermal conductivity of nanofluid was given by Kanafer et al. [10],
as follows.


knf ks þ 2kf
2/ kf
ks
¼
 ð9Þ
kf ks þ 2kf þ / kf
ks
 978 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.

The effective viscosity of nanofluid was introduced by Brikman [26] as follows.

mf
mnf ¼ ð10Þ
ð1
/Þ2:5

The boundary conditions for the present investigation are in the following forms.
At the left vertical wall: u ¼ 0, v ¼ V0, T ¼ Tc
At the right vertical wall:u ¼ 0, v ¼ 0, T ¼ Th
At the top and bottom walls: u ¼ 0; v ¼ 0; qT qn ¼ 0

The above equations can be thrown in nondimensional form by incorporating the

following dimensionless variables.
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x y u v ðp þ qgyÞL2 ðT
T c Þ
X¼ ; Y¼ ; U¼ ; V¼ ; P¼ 2
; h¼
L L V0 V0 qnf V0 ðTh
Tc Þ

Introducing the above dimensionless variables, the governing equations may be writ-
ten in the dimensionless form as follows.

qU qV
þ ¼0 ð11Þ
qX qY
!
qU qU qP 1 qf 1 q2 U q2 U
U þV ¼
þ þ ð12Þ
qX qY qX Re qnf ð1
/Þ2:5 qX 2 qY 2
!
qV qV qP 1 qf 1 q2 V q2 V ðqbÞnf
U þV ¼
þ 2:5
þ þ Rih ð13Þ
qX qY qY Re qnf ð1
/Þ qX 2 qY 2 qnf bf
!
qh qh anf 1 q2 h q2 h
U þV ¼ þ ð14Þ
qX qY af Re Pr qX 2 qY 2

The nondimensional parameters that appear in the above equations

. are the Reynolds
number Re ¼ V0L=tf, Grash of number Gr ¼ gbf DTL3 t2f , Prandtl number
Pr ¼ nf=af, Richardson number Ri ¼ Gr=Re2, and solid volume fraction of the
nanoparticles /.
The dimensionless form of the boundary conditions used to solve Eqs. (9)–(12)
can be written as follows.
At the left wall: U ¼ 0, V ¼ 1, h ¼ 0
At the heated right vertical wall: U ¼ 0, V ¼ 0, h ¼ 1
qh
At the top and bottom walls: U ¼ 0; V ¼ 0; qN ¼0
Where N is the nondimensional distances either along X or Y directions acting
normal to the surface. The average Nusselt number at the heated wall and average
fluid temperature in the cavity based on the dimensionless quantities may be
expressed, respectively, by
 HEAT TRANSFER OF NANOFLUIDS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE 979

Z 1
knf qh
Nu ¼
dY ð15Þ
kf 0 qX
Z
hav ¼ h d V =V ð16Þ

where V is the cavity volume.

The nondimensional stream function is defined as follows.

qw qw
U¼ ; V ¼
ð17Þ
qY qX
Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:19 01 December 2013

4. NUMERICAL TECHNIQUE
4.1. Solution Method
A finite element formulation based on the Galerkin method is employed to
solve the governing equations along with the boundary conditions. The equation
of continuity has been used as a constraint due to mass conservation, and this restric-
tion may be used to find the pressure distribution. To solve Eqs. (12)–(14), the
Penalty finite element method (Basak et al. [9]) is used where the pressure P is elimi-
nated by a penalty constraint c and the incompressibility criteria given by Eq. (11)
consequences in the following.
 
qU qV
P ¼
c þ ð18Þ
qX qY

The continuity equation is automatically fulfilled for large values of c. Using Eq. (18),
the momentum equations (Eqs. (12) and (13)) reduce to the following.

  !
qU qU q qU qV 1 qf 1 q2 U q2 U
U þV ¼c þ þ þ ð19Þ
qX qY qX qX qY Re qnf ð1
dÞ2:5 qX 2 qY 2

  !
qV qV q qU qV 1 qf 1 q2 V q2 V ðqbÞnf
U þV ¼c þ þ 2:5 2
þ 2
þ Ri h
qX qY qY qX qY Re qnf ð1
dÞ qX qY qnf bf
ð20Þ

Expanding the velocity components (U, V) and temperature (h) using the basis set
fU k gN
k¼1 as follows.

X
N X
N X
N
U Uk Uk ðX ; Y Þ; V  Vk Uk ðX ; Y Þ; and h  hk U k ð X ; Y Þ ð21Þ
k¼1 k¼1 k¼1

Then, the Galerkin finite element technique yields the subsequent nonlinear
residual equations Eqs. (14), (19), and (20), respectively, at nodes of the internal
 980 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.

domain X.

X
N Z " X
N
!
X
N
! #
ð1Þ qUk qUk
Ri ¼ hk Uk Uk þ Vk Uk Ui dXdY
k¼1 X k¼1
qX k¼1
qY
Z  
anf X N
qUi qUk qUi qUk

hk þ dXdY ð22Þ
af RePr k¼1 qX qX qY qY
X

X
N Z " X
N
!
X
N
# !
ð2Þ qUk qUk
Ri ¼ Uk Uk Uk þ
Vk Uk Ui dXdY
k¼1 k¼1
qX
k¼1
qY
X
2 3
XN Z XN Z
qU qU qU qU
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i k i k

c4 Uk dXdY þ Vk dXdY 5
k¼1
qX qX k¼1
qX qY
X X
XN Z  
1 qf 1 qUi qUk qUi qUk

U k þ dXdY ð23Þ
Re qnf ð1
dÞ2:5 k¼1 qX qX qY qY
X

X
N Z " X
N
!
X
N
# !
ð3Þ qUk qUk
Ri ¼ Vk Uk Uk þ
Vk Uk Ui dXdY
k¼1 X k¼1
qX
k¼1
qY
" Z Z #
XN
qUi qUk XN
qUi qUk

c Uk dXdY þ Vk dXdY
k¼1 X qY qX k¼1 X qY qY

XN Z  
1 qf 1 qUi qUk qUi qUk

Vk þ dXdY
Re qnf ð1
dÞ2:5 k¼1 X qX qX qY qY
Z !
ðqbÞnf XN

Ri hk Uk Ui dXdY ð24Þ
qnf bf X k¼1

Three points Gaussian quadrature is used to compute the integrals in the residual
equations. The nonlinear residual equations (Eqs. (22)–(24)) are solved using the
Newton–Raphson method to determine the coefficients of the expansions in
Eq. (21). The convergence of solutions is assumed when the relative error for each
variable between consecutive iterations is recorded below the convergence criterion
e, such that jWm þ 1
Wmj  10
4 where m is the number of iteration.

4.2. Grid Refinement Check

Various numerical experiments of different mesh sizes are performed to achieve
grid-independent results, and to find out the best concession between correctness and
minimizing computer implementation time. For itself, a changeable grid size system
is engaged in the present investigation to confine the quick changes in the dependent
variables, especially near the boundaries and the wall-fluid interface where the fore-
most gradients occur inside the cavity. To check and evaluate the grid independency
of the solution scheme, numerical investigations were performed as shown in Table 1
 HEAT TRANSFER OF NANOFLUIDS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE 981

Table 2. Comparison of Nu with those of Muthtamilselvan et al. [15]

Nu

/ [15] Present study % increase

0.0 2.26 2.43 7.52

0.02 2.40 2.60 8.33
0.04 2.56 2.77 8.20
0.06 2.73 2.96 8.42
0.08 2.91 3.17 8.93

for Re ¼ 100, Ri ¼ 1, and / ¼ 0.04 by using elements 2,894, 3,520, 4,596, 5,794 and
6,388. The extreme value of the average Nusselt number Nu that relates to the heat
transfer rate of the heated surface is used as a sensitivity measure of the accuracy of
Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:19 01 December 2013

the solution, and are selected as the monitoring variables for the grid independence
study. Table 1 shows the dependency of the quantities Nu. In view of the accuracy of
the numerical solutions, the calculations are performed with 5,794 elements.

4.3. Code Validation

The present numerical code was validated against the problem of mixed
convection in a lid-driven enclosure filled with nanofluids studied by Muthtamilsel-
van et al. [15]. The cavity was heated at the top wall and cooled at the bottom side,
while the rest of the boundaries were insulated. Comparison of the average Nusselt
number (at the hot wall) between the outcome of the present code and the results
found in the literature [15] for various solid volume fractions are documented in
Table 2. The comparisons reveal an excellent agreement with the reported studies.
This validation boosts the confidence in the numerical outcome of the present work.

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The computed mixed convection flow and temperature fields, as well as heat trans-
fer rates and average fluid temperature in the lid-driven enclosure, are examined here.
The present computations are carried out for copper-water as working fluid with a
Prandtl number of 6.2. It is observed that the mixed convection phenomenon inside
the differentially heated enclosure is influenced by the Reynolds number Re, Richardson
number Ri, and solid volume fractions /. The numerical results are presented in terms
of streamlines, isotherms, average Nusselt number, and fluid temperature in the cavity.
The Reynolds number Re is varied in the range of 50 to 200, the solid volume fraction /
is varied in the range of 0–8%. Moreover, for each value of the above mentioned para-
meters, computations are performed at Ri ¼ 0, 1, and 5 that represent pure forced con-
vection, pure mixed convection, and dominating natural convection, respectively.

5.1. Effect of Solid Volume Fraction

The effect of the solid volume fractions on streamlines of nanofluid for Ri ¼ 0,
1 and 5 at Re ¼ 100 is shown in Figure 2. In the absence of nanoparticles and for a
low Richardson number (Ri ¼ 0), a clockwise vortex appears throughout the cavity
 982 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.
Downloaded by [New York University] at 23:19 01 December 2013

Figure 2. Streamlines for different values of solid volume fraction / and Richardson number Ri, while
Re ¼ 100.

as a dominant characteristic of the fluid flow. The circulation flow is mostly gener-
ated only by the moving lid. As the Richardson number increases to 1, two counter-
clockwise circulating vortices are developed due to the comparing effect of free and
forced convection for the considered values of /. Next, for Ri ¼ 5 and / (¼ 0, 0.02,
0.04, and 0.08), it is observed that the counterclockwise vortex becomes larger, but
the clockwise vortex shrinks dramatically. This behavior is very logical because in
this case the buoyancy force is dominant and the forced flow is negligible. Figure 2
also shows that the intensity of the streamlines increases with an increase in the vol-
ume fraction at the pure mixed convection and free convection dominated regimes as
a result of high-energy transport through the flow associated with the irregular
motion of the nanoparticles.
 HEAT TRANSFER OF NANOFLUIDS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE 983

The effect of the solid volume fractions on isotherms of nanofluid for various
Richardson numbers, and fixed Re ¼ 100 is shown in Figure 3. For Ri ¼ 0 and vari-
ous values of / (¼ 0, 0.02, 0.04, and 0.08), it is observed that the isotherm distribu-
tions are nearly parallel to the right vertical wall of the cavity, indicating that most of
the heat transfer is carried out by conduction and forced convection. Now for Ri ¼ 1
(i.e., the natural convection effect is comparable with the forced convection effect), a
remarkable change in the isotherm patterns is found when compared with that for
Ri ¼ 0 and in favor of the aforesaid values of /. Further, when Ri ¼ 5 the, effect
of natural convection is far more compared to the forced convection effect. In this
case, condition strongly favors the phenomena of natural convection and the effect
of nanoparticles is not that much. Thus, the isotherms show a similar trend for
Ri ¼ 5 and the considered values of / in the range of 0 to 0.08. Moreover, making
a comparison of isothermal lines at Ri ¼ 5 for various /, no significant difference
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Figure 3. Isotherms for different values of solid volume fraction / and Richardson number Ri, while
Re ¼ 100.
 984 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.

is found except that the thermal spots for Ri ¼ 1 are shifted towards the left wall and
the thermal layer near the hot surface becomes thin, gradually.
The average Nusselt number (Nu) at the hot surface, which is a measure of the over-
all heat transfer rate as a function of Richardson number for the abovementioned values
of the solid volume fractions (/) is shown in Figure 4. As can be seen, the heat transfer
decreases very quickly up to Ri ¼ 0.5; then, it increases exponentially with increasing /.
When the volume fraction increases from 0% to 8%, the heat transfer is increased in mixed
convection and a force convection dominated regimes. It is calculated that heat transfer
increased by 9.5% and 9.91% as / increases from 0% to 8% at Ri ¼ 0 and 5, respectively.
However, the values of Nu are always maximum for the highest value of / (¼ 8%).
In Figure 5, it is observed that the average fluid temperature (hav) in the cavity
increases very sharply with the increase of Ri. From this figure, it is also seen that the
values of hav increases very slowly at the pure forced convection (Ri ¼ 0) and
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decreases very slowly for Ri  1 with the raise of the solid volume fractions /.
Figure 6 shows the selection of the optimum value of the solid volume fractions
/ for the average Nusselt number (Nu) at the hot surface. From this figure, it is clearly
seen that the values of Nu increases with the augment of / for the selected values of
Ri. These results are expected because nanoparticles increases the heat absorbing
capacity of the base fluid. Moreover, the values of Nu are always lower for the pure
mixed convection (Ri ¼ 1) when compared with that for the other values of Ri.

5.2. Effect of Reynolds Number

Figure 7 shows the streamlines at different Reynolds number and Richardson
numbers, while / ¼ 0.04. It is seen clearly that for Ri ¼ 0 and low Reynolds number

Figure 4. Effect of solid volume fraction / on average Nusselt number, while Re ¼ 100.
 HEAT TRANSFER OF NANOFLUIDS IN A SQUARE ENCLOSURE 985
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Figure 5. Effect of solid volume fraction / on average fluid temperature in the cavity, while Re ¼ 100.

(Re ¼ 50), the forced convection plays a dominant role and the recirculation flow is
mostly generated only by the moving lid. However, in this folder the influence of
Reynolds number upon the overall structure of the flow is particularly insignificant.
When Re and Ri are set at 50 and 1, respectively, the flow patterns are characterized
by two counters rotating recirculating vortices that are almost similar in size. This
behavior is due to the lid movement that occupies the region near the left wall
and buoyancy force that occupies the region near the right wall. With increment

Figure 6. Selection of optimum solid volume fraction / for average Nusselt number, while Re ¼ 100 (color
figure available online).
 986 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.
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Figure 7. Streamlines for different values of Reynolds number Re and Richardson number Ri, while
/ ¼ 0.04.

in Re at Ri ¼ 1, buoyancy-driven vortex becomes stronger than the vortex due to the

moving lid. Finally, for Ri ¼ 5 and different values of Re (¼ 50, 100, 150, and 200)
the flow patterns are characterized by two asymmetrical vortices that occupy the
entire cavity, as reflected in the right column of Figure 7. It seems that the
mechanical effect generated by the moving lid is dominated by the buoyancy forces.
The isotherm patterns for different Reynolds and Richardson numbers at
/ ¼ 0.04 are described in Figure 8. From the left column of this figure, it is seen that
the isotherms for different values of Re at Ri ¼ 0 are clustered near the right vertical
wall of the enclosure, which indicates a steep temperature gradient along the vertical
direction in this region. Moreover, in the remaining area of the cavity the tempera-
ture gradients are very small due to the mechanically-driven circulations. It is also
noticed that the thermal layer near the hot surface becomes thin, moderately, with
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Figure 8. Isotherms for different values of Reynolds number Re and Richardson number Ri, while
/ ¼ 0.04.

increasing Re. Further, at Ri ¼ 1, the thermal layer near the hot surface becomes thin
and another thermal spot is developed between the two counter-rotating cells. In this
folder, the isotherms are almost similar to various values of Re considered. It is also
noticed that the steeper thermal gradient becomes strong with escalating Re. Fur-
thermore, as Ri increases to 5 the thermal layer near the hot surface become very
thin and the thermal spot between the two counter-rotating cells shifted towards
the left wall when compared with that for Ri ¼ 1. In this case, it is also observed that
the thermal gradient becomes strong with increasing Re. It is computed that heat
transfer increased by 78.6%, 130.5%, and 120.91% as Re increases from 50 to 200
at Ri ¼ 0, 1, and 5, respectively.
 988 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.
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Figure 9. Effect of Reynolds number Re on average Nusselt number, while U ¼ 0.04.

The effect of Reynolds number Re on the average Nusselt number Nu at the

hot wall and average fluid temperature hav in the cavity are shown in Figures 9
and 10 with / ¼ 0.04. Figure 9 shows that the heat transfer decreases up to
Ri ¼ 0.5, then it increases slowly for all values of Re. Moreover, the value of hav
increases promptly with the rise in Reynolds number.
Figure 11 displays the selection of the optimum value of the Reynolds number
for the average Nusselt number (Nu) at the hot surface. This figure shows that the

Figure 10. Effect of Reynolds number Re on average fluid temperature in the cavity, while U ¼ 0.04.
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Figure 11. Selection of optimum Reynolds number Re for average Nusselt number, while / ¼ 0.04 (color
figure available online).

values of Nu increases with the enhance of Re for the selected values of Ri. These
results are probable because nanoparticles increase the heat absorbing capacity of
the base fluid. One can notice that the values of Nu are always lower for the pure
mixed convection (Ri ¼ 1) while compared with the other values of Ri.

6. CONCLUSIONS
The convective heat transfer feature and flow performance of copper-water
nanofluids in a differentially heated lid-driven square enclosure have numerically
been investigated. The effects of varying both solid volume fraction and Reynolds
number on the resulting laminar mixed convection at the three convective regimes
are analyzed. A detailed analysis for the distribution of streamlines, isotherms, aver-
age Nusselt number, and fluid temperature in the cavity were carried out to investi-
gate the effect of the dimensionless parameters. In view of the results, the following
conclusions are drawn from the present investigations.

. Solid volume fraction has influence on the flow and thermal fields in the pure
mixed convection region and free convection dominated region. The suspended
nanoparticles enhance the heat transfer process, and the nanofluid has a larger
average Nusselt number than that of the original base fluid under the same
Richardson number. Nanofluid also has an effect on average fluid temperature
in the cavity at the three convection regimes. Thus, solid volume fraction is a good
control parameter for both pure and nanofluid filled enclosures.
. Interesting behaviors of the flow and thermal fields with varying Reynolds and
Richardson numbers are observed. The heat transfer characteristics inside the cav-
ity are improved significantly with increasing the values of the Reynolds number.
It is found that the highest heat transfer occurs at the mixed convection regime.
Moreover, the Reynolds number has a considerable effect on the average fluid
temperature in the cavity at the three convection regimes.
 990 M. M. RAHMAN ET AL.

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