Mixed Convection Heat Transfer for Nanofluids in a Lid-Driven Shallow Rectangular Cavity Uniformly Heated and Cooled from the Vertical Sides: The Cooperative Case

A study of mixed convection, in a shallow lid-driven rectangular cavity filled with water-based nanofluids and subjected to uniform heat flux along the vertical side walls, has been performed numerically by solving the full governing equations via the finite volume method and the SIMPLER algorithm. In the limit of a shallow enclosure, these equations have been considerably reduced by using the parallel flow approximation. Solutions, for the flow and temperature fields, and the heat transfer rate, have been obtained as functions of the governing parameters, namely, the Reynolds (Re) and the Richardson (Ri) numbers and the solid volume fraction of nanoparticles (Φ). A good agreement has been obtained between the results of the two approaches for a wide range of the governing parameters. Moreover, it has been found that the addition of Cu-nanoparticles, into the pure water, leads to an enhancement or a degradation of heat transfer depending on the values of Re and Ri.