Numerical study of nanofluid flow in a square cavity with porous medium using a sinusoidal interface

Abstract

Laminar natural-convective flow in a square composite vertically layered enclosure consisting of porous and nanofluid layers is studied numerically using the finite difference method. A sinusoidal corrugated interface is used between the porous and the nanofluid layers. The enclosure is filled with a Cu-water nanofluid at a constant solid volume fraction. The governing equation is solved using Darcy–Brinkman model in the non-uniform porous region. The selected parameters of this paper are the Darcy number, Rayleigh number, non-uniform porous layer thickness, number of undulations and the sinusoidal amplitude. The numerical results represented by the average Nusselt numbers, flow behavior and temperature distributions inside the cavity are discussed. The results show that the addition of 10% of Cu, used in this study, enhances the rate of heat transfer compared to the base fluid (water). The average Nusselt number increases by increasing the Rayleigh number as the intensity of the streamlines is much stronger. It is likewise found that by increasing the Darcy number of the porous media with a low value of the non-uniform porous layer thickness enhance the convective heat transfer in the cavity.