Numerical simulation of natural convection in a rectangular enclosure filled with porous medium saturated with magnetic nanofluid using Buongiorno's two-component model

Abstract

Motivated by studying emerging nanofluid-based magnetic fuel cells and hybrid direct absorber solar collectors, a numerical study is presented for buoyancy-driven flow in a vertical enclosure containing a porous medium saturated with magnetized nanofluid flow under a transverse static magnetic field. The enclosure features adiabatic side walls and vertical heat slits, ensuring consistent cold temperatures on the lower and upper bounded walls. The side walls of the regime are insulated, and the hot slits are centrally located on these walls. The finite difference method (FDM) is applied to employ the transformed dimensionless vorticity–stream function (VSF) formulation of the transport equations. The impact of pertinent parameters on isotherm, streamline, iso-concentration, and average Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are visualized with contour plots and graphs. Increasing Darcy number values tend to amplify the isotherm magnitudes. Higher Hartmann (magnetic) number values, on the other hand, lead to a reduction in local Nusselt number profiles but do not significantly modify the local Sherwood number. The porous medium permeability, as simulated via the Darcy number, has a strong impact on streamlines, thermal contours, and iso-concentrations. A reduction in Darcy's number suppresses local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers, whereas an elevation in Rayleigh's number enhances them. Increasing the Buongiorno nanoscale Brownian motion parameter enhances local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers at both cold walls of the enclosure. The simulations provide a deeper insight into enclosure flows involving electrically conducting nanofluids in advanced processing systems for nanomaterials and hybrid fuel cells utilizing electromagnetic and liquid fuel technologies.