Effect of the nanoparticle shape and conducting corner partition on the natural convection in a nanofluid filled square cavity

In this study, numerical analysis of natural convection in square cavity with corner partition and nanofluids of different particle shapes were performed. Passive techniques are used to improve the heat transfer characteristics such as in solar collectors, food, textile and chemical industry and electronic equipment cooling. Recently, the use of nanoparticles in heat transfer fluids has become widely applied in many thermal engineering problems. In this study, nanoparticles of different shapes were used in water to study their effects on the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics for the natural convection in a corner partitioned cavity. A commercial code COMSOL which is based on finite element method was used to solve the resulting governing equations. SiO2 - water nanofluid with cylindrical, spherical, brick and blade types in particle shapes were utilized. Streamlines, isotherms, local and average Nusselt number plots were used for determine the change of fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics. Effects of various pertinent parameters on the thermal performance of the system were determined. Keywords: Nanoparticle, nanoparticle shape, heat transfer, natural convection, passive method, corner partition, finite element method.