2010 Effect of Nanofluid Variable Propert PDF

Effect of nanouid variable properties on natural convection
in enclosures lled with a CuOeEGeWater nanouid

Eiyad Abu-Nada
a,
*
, Ali J. Chamkha
b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
b
Manufacturing Engineering Department, The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training, Shuweikh 70654, Kuwait
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 May 2010
Received in revised form
3 July 2010
Accepted 7 July 2010
Available online 8 August 2010
Keywords:
Nanouid
Variable properties
Natural convection
Ethylene glycol
a b s t r a c t
This work focuses on the study of natural convection heat transfer characteristics in a differentially-
heated enclosure lled with a CuOeEGeWater nanouid for different published variable thermal
conductivity and variable viscosity models. The problem is given in terms of the vorticityestream
function formulation and the resulting governing equations are solved numerically using an efcient
nite-volume method. Comparisons with previously published work are performed and the results are
found to be in good agreement. Various results for the streamline and isotherm contours as well as the
local and average Nusselt numbers are presented for a wide range of Rayleigh numbers (Ra 10
3
e10
5
),
volume fractions of nanoparticles (0 4 6%), and enclosure aspect ratios (A 2). Different
behaviors (enhancement or deterioration) are predicted in the average Nusselt number as the volume
fraction of nanoparticles increases depending on the combination of CuOeEGeWater variable thermal
conductivity and viscosity models employed. In general, the effects the viscosity models are predicted to
be more predominant on the behavior of the average Nusselt number than the inuence of the thermal
conductivity models. The enclosure aspect ratio is predicted to have signicant effects on the behavior of
the average Nusselt number which decreases as the enclosure aspect ratio increases.
2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Natural convection heat transfer is an important phenomenon in
engineering systems due to its wide applications in electronics
cooling, heat exchangers, and various thermal systems [1e4].
Enhancement of heat transfer in such systems is essential from
industrial and energy saving perspectives. The low thermal conduc-
tivity of conventional heat transfer uids, such as ethylene-glycol
(EG) or water is considered a primary limitation on the performance
and the compactness of thermal systems. During the last years, an
innovative technique for the improvement of heat transfer using
nano-scale particles dispersed in a base uid, known as nanouid,
has been studied extensively to enhance heat transfer. The presence
of nanoparticles shows an enhancement in forced convection heat
transfer applications [5e7]. However, for natural convection heat
transfer enhancement using nanouids is still controversial andthere
is a debate onthe role of nanoparticles onheat transfer enhancement
in natural convection applications.
Examples of these controversial results are found in those
reported by Khanafer et al. [8] who studied Cuewater nanouids in
a two dimensional rectangular enclosure. They reported an
augmentation in heat transfer with the increment percentage of the
suspended nanoparticles at any given Grashof number. Recently,
Oztop and Abu-Nada [9], Aminossadati and Ghasemi [10], as well as
Ghasemi and Aminossadati and [11] showed similar trend, where an
enhancement in heat transfers was registered by the addition of
nanoparticles. Hwang et al. [12] studied free convection using
rectangular cavity heated from below (Bnard convection) with
nanouids. They used convective heat transfer empirical formulas to
estimate the heat transfer coefcient of nanouids and reported an
adverse effect of nanoparticles on heat transfer in natural convection
regime. However, Kim et al. [13] studied analytically convective
instability of nanouids in natural convection via RayleigheBnard
(RB) convection and reported an enhancement in heat transfer
coefcient convection due to the presence of nanoparticles. Santra
et al. [14] studied heat transfer characteristics of copperewater
nanouid in a differentially heated square cavity by treating the
nanouid as a non-Newtonian uid and they reported a decrease in
heat transfer by increasing the volume concentration of nano-
particles for a particular Rayleigh number. Ho et al. [15] reported
a numerical simulation of natural convection of nanouid in a square
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 966 3 580 0000; fax: 966 3 588 7211.
E-mail address: eiyad_abunada@yahoo.com (E. Abu-Nada).
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Journal of Thermal Sciences
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ i j t s
1290-0729/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2010.07.006
International Journal of Thermal Sciences 49 (2010) 2339e2352
enclosure consideringthe effects due to uncertainties of viscosityand
thermal conductivity by considering two viscosity and two thermal
conductivity models. They reported that signicant difference
between enhancements in the viscosity models leads to contradic-
tory heat transfer efcacy of the nanouid, so that the heat transfer
across the enclosure can be found to be enhanced or deteriorated
with respect to the base uid. On the other hand, the experimental
ndings reported by Putra et al. [16] and by Wen and Ding [17]
highlighted deterioration in heat transfer by the addition of nano-
particles. Therefore, there is still a controversy on the role of nano-
uids in natural convection heat transfer and the present study is
intended to show that the use of nanouid variable properties plays
a role in clarifying this controversy between experimental and
numerical simulations ndings.
Conceptually, natural convection heat transfer is affected by
nanouid properties and specically by nanouid viscosity and
thermal conductivity [18]. Most of the previously mentioned
numerical works relied on the viscosity and thermal conductivity
models that are not sensitive to uid temperature. Recently,
Namburu et al. [19] studied experimentally the effect nanoparticles
concentration and nanoparticles size on nanouids viscosity under
a wide range of temperatures. The nanouid used in their experi-
ment was a mixture of 60:40 (by weight) Ethylene-Glycol (EG) and
water mixture containing CuO nanoparticles. They infer that
viscosity drops with temperature using different concentration of
nanoparticles. Moreover, the combined effect of temperature,
nanoparticle size, and nanoparticles volume fraction on the
thermal conductivity of nanouids was conrmed experimentally
by Jang and Choi [20]. Therefore, it is evident that the dependence
of nanouid properties on temperature and volume fraction of
nanoparticles is very important from physical point of view and
must be taken into account in order to predict the correct contri-
bution of nanoparticles to the heat transfer enhancement. Recently,
Abu-Nada [21,22] studied the effect of variable properties of
Al
2
O
3
ewater and CuOewater nanouids on natural convection in
an annular region, respectively. He found that the heat transfer was
reduced by increasing the concentration of nanoparticles for high
Rayleigh numbers. However, there was an enhancement in heat
transfer at low Rayleigh numbers. Also, Abu-Nada et al. [23]
investigated the role of nanouid variable properties in differen-
tially heated enclosures and found that the effect of nanouid
variable properties plays a major role in the prediction of heat
transfer enhancement. Also, they found that at high Rayleigh
numbers the Nusselt number was deteriorated due to the presence
of nanoparticles which is consistent with the experimental obser-
vations of Putra et al. [16] and Wen and Ding [17]. However, for low
Rayleigh number an enhancement in heat transfer was registered.
Therefore, the scope of the current work is to further examine the
sensitivity of natural convection heat transfer to variable viscosity
and thermal conductivity of nanouids in natural convection using
CuOeEGeWater nanouid. The detailed experimental results
reported by Namburu et al. [19] and the Jang and Choi model [20]
will be used for the nanouid viscosity and thermal conductivity,
respectively. The enhancement in heat transfer will be evaluated
under a wide range of operating temperatures and a wide range of
volume fraction of nanoparticles.
2. Governing equations and problem formulation
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a differentially heated enclosure.
The height and the width of the enclosure are given by H and W,
respectively. The aspect ratio (A) is dened as the ratio of the width
of the enclosure to the height of the enclosure (A W/H). The left
wall is heated and maintained at a constant temperature (T
H
)
higher than the right cold wall temperature (T
C
). The uid in the
enclosure is a mixture of 60:40 (by weight) Ethylene-Glycol (EG)
and water mixture containing CuO nanoparticles. This nanouid is
assumed incompressible and the ow is conceived as laminar and
two-dimensional. It is idealized that EGewater mixture and
nanoparticles are in thermal equilibrium and no slip occurs
between the two media. The density variation in the nanouid is
approximated by the standard Boussinesq model. The viscosity and
Nomenclature
A aspect ratio (W/H)
c
p
specic heat at constant pressure (kJ kg
1
K
1
)
C
RM
random motion velocity of a uid particle
D diameter (m)
G gravitational acceleration (ms
2
)
H height of the enclosure (m)
H local heat transfer coefcient (Wm
2
K
1
)
K thermal conductivity (Wm
1
K
1
)
l
f
mean free path of uid particle
Nu Nusselt number, Nu hH/k
f
Pr Prandtl number for the EGeWater mixture at reference
condition, Pr n
f o
=a
fo
Pr
T
Prandtl number for the EGeWater mixture at a given
temperature
q
w
heat ux, (Wm
2
)
Ra Rayleigh number, Ra gbT
H
T
L
H
3
=n
mo
a
mo
Re Reynolds number, Re
CRMdp
n
f
T dimensional temperature (
C)
u, v dimensional x and y components of velocity (ms
1
)
U, V dimensionless velocities, V vH=a
mo
, U uH=a
mo
W width of the enclosure (m)
x, y dimensionless coordinates, x x
0
=H, y y
0
=H
x, y dimensional coordinates (m)
Greek symbols
a uid thermal diffusivity (m
2
s
1
)
b thermal expansion coefcient (K
1
)
3 numerical tolerance
4 nanoparticle volume fraction
n kinematic viscosity (m
2
s
1
)
q dimensionless temperature, q T T
C
=T
H
T
C
j dimensional stream function (m

2
s
1
)
J dimensionless stream function, J j=a
f
u dimensional vorticity (s
1
)
U dimensionless vorticity, U uH
2
=a
f
r density (kg m
3
)
m dynamic viscosity (Ns m
2
)
Subscripts
avg average
C cold
f uid
H hot
m mixture
nf nanouid
p particle
w wall
E. Abu-Nada, A.J. Chamkha / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 49 (2010) 2339e2352 2340
the thermal conductivity of the nanouid are considered as variable
properties; both vary with temperature and volume fraction of
nanoparticles.
The governing equations for the laminar, steady state natural
convection in terms of the stream functionevorticity formulation
using variable properties are given as:
Vorticity
v
vx
0
_
u
vj
vy
0
_
v
vy
0
_
u
vj
vx
0
_

1
r
nf
_
v
vx
0
_
m
nf
vu
vx
0
_
v
vy
0
_
m
nf
vu
vy
0
__
_
4b
p
1 4b
f
_
g
_
vT
vx
0
_
4
r
nf
v
2
m
nf
vx
0
vy
0
vv
vy
0
1
r
nf
_
v
2
m
nf
vx
0
2

v
2
m
nf
vy
0
2
_
_
vu
vy
0
vv
vx
0
_
1
r
nf
_
vm
nf
vx
0
vu
vx
0
vm
nf
vy
0
vu
vy
0
_
: 1
Energy
v
vx
0
_
T
vj
vy
0
_
v
vy
0
_
T
vj
vx
0
_

v
vx
0
_
a
nf
vT
vx
0
_
v
vy
0
_
a
nf
vT
vy
0
_
: (2)
Kinematics
v
2
J
vx
0
2
v
2
J
vy
0
2
u (3)
The horizontal and vertical velocities are given by the following
relations,
u
vj
vy
0
: (4)
v
vj
vx
0
: (5)
In Eq. (2), the thermal diffusivity is written as:
a
nf

k
nf
_
rc
p
_
nf
(6)
Also, the effective density of the nanouid is given by:
r
nf
1 4r
m
4r
p
(7)
The heat capacitance of the nanouid is expressed as:
_
rc
p
_
nf
1 4
_
rc
p
_
m
4
_
rc
p
_
p
(8)
The effective thermal conductivity of the nanouid calculated by
theJang andChoi model is derivedfor a pure uidandis givenas [20]:
k
eff
k
f
1 4 b4
_
k
p
k
f
_
3C4
_
d
f
d
p
_
Pr
T
Re
2
(9)
where C 1.8 10
7
is a constant and b is the thermal expansion
coefcient [20]. Here Pr
T
and Re are dened by:
Pr
T

m
f
r
f
a
f
(10)
Re
C
RM
d
p
n
f
; (11)
where
C
RM

D
o
l
f
(12)
D
o

k
B
T
3pd
p
m
f
(13)
where the subscript f stands for uid and the relation given by
Eq. (9) is valid for both EG and water. As mentioned earlier that the
uid is a blend of EG (60%) and water (40%) by weight as experi-
mental data for viscosity is available for this mixture following the
experiment of Namburu et al. [19]. The corresponding volume
fraction of this weigh percentage is 57.3%. The thermophysical
properties of EG and water at 300 K are given in Table 1. Since we
are dealing with a base uid composed of two different uids, then
following relation is assumed to determine the mixture thermal
conductivity of the nanouid
_
k
nf
k
m
_
0:573
_
k
eff
k
f
_
EG
1 0:573
_
k
eff
k
f
_
Water
(14)
where k
nf
is the nanouid mixture thermal conductivity and
subscript m denote the mixture.
In general any property of the mixture z is evaluated as
z
m
0:573z
EG
1 0:573z
Water
(15)
where z stands for any uid property such as density, specic heat,
thermal expansion coefcient, thermal diffusivity, etc.
Table 1
Thermo physical properties of uid and nanoparticles [20,23].
Physical properties CuO Water EG
C
p
(J/kg K) 540 4179 2415
r (kg/m
3
) 6510 997.1 1114
k (W/mK) 18.0 0.613 0.252
b 10
5
(1/K) 0.85 21 57
d
p
(nm) 29 0.384 0.561
l
f
(nm) 27 0.738 0.875
g
H
W
T
H
T
C
x
y
Fig. 1. Schematic of the enclosure.
The symbol k
B
is the Boltzmann constant 1.3807 10
23
J/K,
and l
f
is the mean path of uid particles.
The experimental correlation for the viscosity of CuOeEGeWater
nanouid is given by Namburu et al. [19].
log
_
m
nf
_
Ae
BT
(16)
where
A 1:83754
2
29:6434 165:65
B 4 10
6
4
2
0:0014 0:0186
(17)
The previous relation is valid of 0 4 6.12%. The viscosity models,
in Eqs. (13) and (14) is expressed in centi poise and the temperature
in K.
In the discussion section, the results using Eqs. (13) and (14) will
be compared to the Brinkman model and MG models respectively
given by [9]:
m
nf

m
m
1 4
2:5
(18)
k
nf
k
m
k
p
n 1k
m
n 1
_
k
m
k
p
_
4
k
p
n 1k
m
_
k
m
k
p
_
4
(19)
where n 3.
The following dimensionless variables are introduced to non-
dimensionalize the governing equations given by Eqs. (1)e(3):
x
x
0
H
; y
y
0
H
; U
u
a
mo
=H
2
; J
j
a
mo
; V
v
a
mo
=H
;
U
u
a
mo
=H
; q
T T
C
T
H
T
C
; k
k
nf
k
mo
; a
a
nf
a
mo
; m
m
nf
m
mo
; 20
where the subscript o stands for the reference temperature which
is taken as 20

C in the current study. The temperature difference
between the hot and the cold walls of the enclosure is xed in this
study to 20

C.
The governing equations in dimensionless form are given as:
v
vx
_
U
vJ
vy
_
v
vy
_
U
vJ
vx
_

Pr
1 4 4
r
p
r
m
_
v
vx
_
m
vU
vx
_
v
vy
_
m
vU
vy
__
Ra Pr
_
4
_
b
p
b
m
_
1 4
__
vq
vx
_
Pr
1 4 4
r
p
r
m
_
v
2
m
vxvy
vV
vy
_
Pr
1 4 4
r
p
r
m
_
v
2
m
vx
2

v
2
m
vy
2
_
_
vU
vy

vV
vx
_
Pr
1 4 4
r
p
r
m
_
vm
vx
vU
vx

vm
vy
vU
vy
_
21
v
vx
_
q
vJ
vy
_
v
vy
_
q
vJ
vx
_
1
144
_
rc
p
_
p
_
rc
p
_
m
_
v
vx
_
k
vq
vx
_
v
vy
_
k
vq
vy
__
(22)
v
2
J
vx
2

v
2
J
vy
2
U (23)
where the dimensionless numbers are
Ra
gbT
H
T
L
H
3
n
mo
a
mo
(24)
Pr
n
mo
a
mo
(25)
The dimensionless horizontal andvertical velocities are convertedto:
Table 2
Grid independence study.
Grid size Nu
avg
21 21 4.86443
31 31 4.56411
41 41 4.40201
51 51 4.39029
61 61 4.38812
71 71 4.38931
81 81 4.39015
91 91 4.38903
101 101 4.38897
a
b
Fig. 2. Code Validation: (a) Comparison between present work and other published
data for the temperature distribution at the vertical mid section along the width of the
enclosure (Ra 10
5
, Pr 0.7), (b) Comparison against other work in literature for
natural convection in partially heated enclosure lled with CueWater nanouid.
U
vJ
vy
; (26)
V
vJ
vx
: (27)
The dimensionless boundary conditions can be written as:
1-Ontheleft wall i:e:; x 0; J0; U
v
2
J
vx
2
; q 1
2-Ontheright wall i:e:; x 1; J0; U
v
2
J
vx
2
; q 0
3-Onthetopandbottomwall : J0; U
v
2
J
vy
2
;
vq
vy
0
(28)
3. Numerical implementation
Equations (21) through (23), absorbing the variable properties
given in Eqs. (14), and (16) along with the corresponding boundary
conditions given in Eq. (28) are solved using a nite volume method
Fig. 3. Grid independence test showing the effect of grid size on the temperature
distribution at the vertical mid section along the width of the enclosure using CuO-
eEGeWater nanouid (Ra 10
5
, 4 6%).
a
b
c
Fig. 4. Nusselt number distribution along the heated surface, A 1, non-dimensional (right column), dimensional (left column), (a) Ra 10
5
, (b) Ra 10
4
, (c) Ra 10
3
.
-10
-9
-7
-5
-3
-1
0
.
9
5
0
.8
5
0
.
9
0
.
8
0.75
0
.7
0.65
0.6
0.55
0.45
0.35
0.25
0
.
1
5
0.05
a
-11
-10
-9
-7
-5
-3
-1
0.95
0
.
9
0
.8
5
0.8
0.75
0.65
0.55
0.45
0.35
0.25
0
.1
5
0
.
0
5
b
-12
-11
-10
-9
-7
-5
-3
-1
0
.
9
5
0
.
9
0
.8
5
0.8
0.75
0.65
0.55
0.45
0.35
0.25
0
.1
5
0.05
c
-12.2818
-12
-11
-10
-9
-7
-5
-1
-3
0
.
9
5
0
.85 0
.
9
0.8
0.75
0.65
0.55
0.45
0.35
0.25
0
.1
5
0
.
0
5
d
Fig. 5. Streamlines (on the left) and isotherms (on the right) for CuOeEGeWater nanouid at Ra 10
5
(a) 4 6%, (b) 4 4%, (c) 4 2%, (d) 4 0%.
-0.55
-0.45
-0.35
-0.25
-0.15
-0.05 0.95
0
.
9
0
.
8
5
0
.
7
5
0
.
6
5
0
.
5
5
0
.
4
5
0
.
3
5
0
.
2
5
0.15 0.05
a
-0.9
-0.8
-0.7
-0.6
-0.5
-0.3
-0.1
0
.
9
5
0
.
8
5
0
.
7
5
0
.
6
5
0
.
5
5
0
.
4
5
0.35
0
.
2
5
0
.
1
5
0
.
0
5
b
-1.15
-1.05
-0.95
-0.85
-0.65
-0.45
-0
.0
5
-0
.2
5
0.95
0.85
0
.
7
5
0
.
6
5
0
.
5
5
0
.
4
5
0
.
3
5
0
.
2
5
0.15
0
.
0
5
c
-
1
.4
-1.2
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0
.4
-0
.2
-
0
.
1
0
.
9
5
0.85
0
.
7
5
0
.
6
5
0
.
5
5
0
.
4
5
0
.
3
5
0
.
2
5
0
.
1
5
0
.
0
5
d
Fig. 6. Streamlines (on the left) and isotherms (on the right) for CuOeEGeWater nanouid at Ra 10
3
(a) 4 6%, (b) 4 4%, (c) 4 2%, (d) 4 0%.
[24,25]. The diffusion term in the vorticity and energy equations is
approximated by a second-order central difference scheme which
is conducive to a stable solution. Furthermore, a second order
upwind differencing scheme is adopted for the convective terms.
For full details of the numerical implementation, the reader is
referred to Oztop and Abu-Nada [9] and Abu-Nada et al. [23].
After solving for J, U, and q, more useful quantities for engi-
neering applications are obtained. For example, the Nusselt number
can be expressed as:
Nu
hH
k
m
(29)
The heat transfer coefcient is computed from:
h
q
w
T
H
T
L
(30)
The thermal conductivity of the nanouid is expressed as:
k
nf

q
w
vT=vx
(31)
Substituting Eqs. (30) and (31) into Eq. (29), and using the
dimensionless quantities, the local Nusselt number along the left
wall can be written as:
Nu
_
k
nf
k
m
_
vq
vx
(32)
where (k
nf
/k
m
) is calculated using Eq. (14). Finally, the average
Nusselt number is determined from:
Nu
avg

_
1
0
Nuydy (33)
To evaluate Eq. (33), a 1/3 Simpsons rule of integration is imple-
mented. For convenience, a normalized average Nusselt number is
dened as the ratio of Nusselt number at any volume fraction of
nanoparticles to that of pure EGeWater that is:
*Nu
avg
4
Nu
avg
4
Nu
avg
4 0
(34)
The normalized average Nusselt number is used as an indicator of
heat transfer enhancement where an increase in Nusselt number
corresponds to an enhancement in heat transfer.
Anextensive mesh testing procedure was conducted to guarantee
a grid independent solution. Seven different mesh combinations
were explored for the case of Ra 10
5
, Pr 0.7. The present code was
tested for grid independence by calculating the average Nusselt
number onthe left wall. Inharmony withthis, it was foundthat a grid
size of 51 51 ensures a grid independent solution. To check the
sensitivity of the code to the grid size for the nanouid case, another
grid independence study was performed using CuOeEGeWater
nanouid. It was conrmed that the same grid size (51 51) ensures
a grid independent solution as portrayed by Table 2. Moreover, Fig. 3
shows a comparison using ve different grids for the temperature
distribution along the x-axis at the mid height of the enclosure. As
shown from Table 2 and Fig. 3, the grid size (51 51) ensures a grid
independent solution.
The present numerical solution was validated by comparing the
present code results for Ra 10
5
and Pr 0.70 withthe experimental
results of Krane and Jessee [4], and the numerical simulation of
Khanafer et al. [8]. It is evident that the outcome of present code is in
excellent agreement with the work reported in the literature as
reectedinFig. 2(a). Another validationwas carriedout for the caseof
nanouid by comparing the current code results against the work of
Oztop and Abu-Nada [9] and Ghasemi and Aminossadati [11] for the
range of 10
3
<R <10
5
as shown in Fig. 2(b). The nanouid used for
validationis the CueWater nanouidas usedby OztopandAbu-Nada
[9] and Ghasemi and Aminossadati [11]. As shown from Fig. 2(b)
a good agreement with previous studies in literature is established.
4. Results and discussion
In this section, a representative set of graphical results are pre-
sented to illustrate the inuence of the various physical parameters
onthe heat transfer characteristics inthe CuOeEGeWater nanouid
cavity. The ranges of the magnitude of the Rayleigh numbers,
volume fractions of nanoparticles, and the aspect ratios used in this
studyare Ra 10
3
e10
5
, 0 4 6%, and0.5 A 2, respectively. It is
worth mentioning that the right wall temperature of the enclosure
is xed to the reference temperature i.e., at 20

C, whereas the
difference between the hot and the cold wall is xed to 20

C, i.e.,
the hot wall temperature is set to 40

C. The Prandtl number at the
reference temperature is calculated as 47.9.
Fig. 4 displays the dimensional and non-dimension local Nusselt
numbers (Nu and Nu*) distributions along the heated surface for
various values of nanoparticles volume fractions (40%, 2%, 4%, 6%)
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
V
x
a
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
V
x
b
Fig. 7. Variation of y-component of velocity for CuOeEGeWater nanouid, A 1,
y 0.5, Ra 10
5
, (b) Ra 10
3
.
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
Ra = 1E5
Ra = 1E4
Ra = 1E3
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
Ra = 1E5
Ra = 1E4
Ra = 1E3
a b
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
Ra = 1E5
Ra = 1E4
Ra = 1E3
c
Fig. 8. Non-dimensional Average Nusselt number, (a) A 1, (b) A 2, (c) A 0.5.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
Ra = 1E5
Ra = 1E4
Ra = 1E3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
Ra = 1E5
Ra = 1E4
Ra = 1E3
a b
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
Ra = 1E5
Ra = 1E4
Ra = 1E3
c
Fig. 9. Average Nusselt number, (a) A 1 (b), A 2 (c) A 0.5.
and Rayleigh numbers (Ra 10
3
, 10
4
, 10
5
) for a square cavity (A 1).
For the cases of Ra 10
5
and Ra 10
4
, it is predicted that an increase
in the volume fraction of CuOeEGeWater nanoparticles results in
reductions inthe dimensional local Nusselt number Nu inmost of the
entire range 0 <y <1. The locations where enhancement is taking
place are clearly demonstrated by looking at the non-dimensional
local Nusselt number Nu* where Nu* increases in the region y >0.95
for Ra 10
5
and in the region y >0.85 for Ra 10
4
. However, for
Ra 10
3
both the dimensional local Nusselt number Nu and the non-
dimensional local Nusselt number Nu* decrease in the lower half of
the heated wall of the cavity while they increase in the upper half of
the heated wall as the volume fraction of nanoparticles 4 increases.
However, the distributions of Nu show a decreasing trend with the
vertical distance y for all values of 4 while the distributions of Nu*
show an increasing trend with the vertical distance y for values of
4>0% and show a constant behavior along the heated wall for
40%. A similar type of behavior of the distributions of Nu was
observed for CuOewater nanouids as discussed previously by
Abu-Nada et al. [23].
Fig. 5 shows the contour maps for the streamlines and isotherms
for CuOeEGeWater nanouid lled in a square cavity at Ra 10
5
for different values of the nanoparticles volume fraction 4. The
streamlines contours show reductions in the values of the
maximum stream function value and more connement of
the streamlines towards the core of the cavity as 4 increases. On the
other hand, the isotherms are crowded close to the vertical walls
and are more uniformly distributed in the core region of the cavity.
Also, the isotherms contours illustrate the sensitivity of the thermal
boundary layer thickness due increases in the volume fraction of
nanoparticles which is related to the increased viscosity at high
volume fraction of nanoparticles. High values of 4 cause the uid to
become more viscous which causes the movement of the uid in
the cavity to slow down resulting in a reduced convection effect.
The reductions in the ow motion and convection effect tend to
increases the thermal boundary layer thickness. The growth in the
thermal boundary layer thickness is responsible for the lesser
temperature gradients at the heated surface which lowers Nusselt
number accordingly.
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
N
u
*
Y
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
N
u
*
Y
a b
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
N
u
*
Y
0.5
0.7
0.9
1.1
1.3
1.5
1.7
1.9
2.1
2.3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
N
u
*
Y
c d
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
N
u
*
Y
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
N
u
*
Y
e f
Fig. 10. Non-dimensional Nusselt number distribution along the heated surface (a) Ra 10
5
, A 2, (b) Ra 10
5
, A 0.5, (c) Ra 10
4
, A 2, (d) Ra 10
4
, A 0.5, (e) Ra 10
3
, A 2,
(f) Ra 10
3
, A 0.5.
In Fig. 6, the contour maps for the streamlines and isotherms for
CuOeEGeWater nanouid lled in a square cavity is presented at
Ra 10
3
for different values of the nanoparticles volume fraction 4.
BycomparisonwithFig. 5, it is clearlyseenthat the convectioneffect
is less as depicted by the smaller value of the maximum stream
function value and the ow is characterized by a single circular cell
situated in the center of the cavity. Also, for the case of Ra 10
3
, the
addition of nanoparticles slows down the motion of the uid and
causes the thermal boundary layer thickness to increase for y <1/2
and to decrease for y >1/2. This is demonstrated by the behavior of
the isotherms which start to straighten up near the heated wall as
the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases. Furthermore, for
relatively high volume fraction of nanoparticles (4 6%) the
isotherms become almost parallel to the heated wall. Actually, for
4 6% and y >1/2, the isotherms become closer to the wall and for
y <1/2 the isotherms spread away from the heated wall. The
isotherms exhibit a trendalmost similar to conductioninsolids. This
behavior leads to an enhancement in heat transfer for y >1/2 and
debilitation in the Nusselt number for y <1/2.
Fig. 7 presents typical proles for the y-component of velocity
V for CuOeEGeWater nanouid at mid section of the square
cavity (A 1 and y 0.5) for Ra 10
5
and Ra 10
3
and various
values of the nanoparticles volume fraction 4. As expected, the
vertical velocity increases close to the heated wall of the cavity
due to the thermal buoyancy effects and decreases close to the
cooled wall cavity. Also, as the nanoparticles volume fraction 4
increases, the magnitude of the vertical velocity decreases. It is
concluded that the presence of the nanoparticles tends to slow
down the movement of the uid in the cavity. Also, it is shown
for both values of Rayleigh numbers that at the mid of the cavity
the effect of nanoparticles is less pronounced due to the low level
of velocity.
Fig. 8 illustrates the inuence of the Rayleigh number Ra and the
nanoparticles volume fraction 4 on the non-dimensional average
Nusselt number along the heated surface Nu
avg
*
for different aspect
ratios of the enclosure A. It is clearly observed that for A 2, the
addition of nanoparticles cause the values of Nu
avg
*
to decrease and
the rate of decrease depends on the value of the Rayleigh number.
For example, for Ra 10
4
, the addition of 6% nanoparticles by
volume, the non-dimensional average Nusselt number decreases by
about 35%. For Ra 10
5
, the decrease in the value of Nu
avg
*
for 4 6%
is about 25%. However, for Ra 10
3
, the value of Nu
avg
*
decreases for
46% about 5%. It is also evident that the values of Nu
avg
*
decrease as
Ra increases from10
3
to 10
4
and then increases as Ra increases to 10
5
all non-vanishing values of nanoparticle volume fraction. This means
that there is a critical value of Ra for which the addition of nano-
particles causes a reverse change in the behavior of the non-
dimensional average Nusselt number. For A 1, the same features
are predicted except that for Ra 10
3
, the addition of nanoparticles
causes enhancements in the values of the non-dimensional average
Nusselt number. This is also clearly portrayed by the average
Nusslet number as shown in Fig. 9. For A 0.5, a different behavior
is predicted compared to the case of A 2 for which the values of
Nu
avg
*
decrease as Ra increases from 10
4
to 10
5
for almost all non-
vanishing values of 4. In addition, similar to the case of A1, for the
case of 10
3
, the non-dimensional average Nusselt number increases
with increasing values of 4 and that this increase is higher for A 0.5
than for A 1. For example, for A 0.5, the enhancement in Nu
avg
*
for
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
MG& Brinkman
MG& Namburu et al. [18]
Brinkman & Jang and Choi [19]
Namburu et al. [18] & Jang and Choi [19]
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
MG & Brinkman
MG & Namburu et al. [18]
a b
c
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
MG& Brinkman
MG& Namburu et al. [18]
Fig. 11. Effect of the various conductivity and viscosity models on the Nusselt number, Ra 10
5
, (a) A 2, (b) A 1, (c) A 0.5.
46% is about 20% while it is only about 4% for A 1. This is further
demonstrated by Fig. 9.
Fig. 10 presents the effects of the nanoparticles volume fraction 4
on the non-dimensional Nusselt number distribution along the hot
wall for different Rayleigh numbers (Ra 10
3
, 10
4
, 10
5
) and two
different enclosure aspect ratios (A 0.5 and A 2). In general, it is
predicted that the non-dimensional Nusselt number is higher for
A 0.5 than for A 2 for all values of the nanoparticles volume
fraction 4 (except 40%) and Rayleigh numbers. This is especially
true inthe lower part of the heated wall (0 <y <0.5) for Ra 10
5
and
inthe entire range 0 <y <1 for Ra 10
3
and Ra 10
4
. For A 0.5, the
most enhancement in heat transfer occurs for Ra 10
4
and all of
the considered values of 4comparedwiththose corresponding to the
other values of Ra. It is concluded that at high aspect ratios, the ow
within the enclosure experiences deterioration in the values of the
Nusselt number comparedtoanenclosure of lower aspect ratio. It can
also be noted that enclosures with low aspect ratios would benet
more from the nanoparticles thermal conductivity enhancement
especially at low Rayleigh numbers.
Figs. 11e13 present comparisons between four different combi-
nations of models for thermal conductivity and viscosity [9,18,20]
on the normalized average Nusselt number for various volume
fractions of CuOeEGeWater nanouid (4) and different enclosure
aspect ratios (A) at three Rayleigh numbers (Ra 10
5
, 10
4
, 10
3
),
respectively. It is clearly depicted fromFigs. 11e13 that for all values
of Ra, calculations using the Jang and Choi [20] and Brinkman
models produce the highest values of the normalized average
Nusselt number whereas the MG and Namburu et al. [19] models
yield the lowest normalized average Nusselt number predictions for
all values of 4 and A. However, fromFigs. 11 and 12 for Ra 10
5
and
Ra 10
4
, it is predicted that while the normalized average Nusselt
number increases with increasing values of the nanoparticles
volume fraction4using the MGandBrinkmanandthe Jang andChoi
[20] and Brinkman models combination, it tends to decrease as 4
increases for the MG and Namburu et al. [19] and the Jang and Choi
[20] and Namburu et al. [19] models combination. This behavior is
true for all considered values of the enclosure aspect ratio A. The
decreasing trend in the normalized average Nusselt number as 4
increases is associated to the Namburu et al. [19] viscosity model
meaning that the effect of the thermal conductivity models is less
signicant than the viscosity models at high Rayleigh number. As
a result, the prediction of the normalized average Nusselt number
using Namburu et al. [19] is completely different than that using the
Brinkman model. For low Rayleigh number (Ra 10
3
), the same
enhancement features inthe normalizedaverage Nusselt number as
4 increases are predicted upon using the combined models of MG
andBrinkmanandJang andChoi [20] andBrinkmanfor values of the
enclosure aspect ratio A as seen fromFig. 13. However, using the MG
and Namburu et al. [19] and the Jang and Choi [20] and Namburu
et al. [19] models combination produce totally-different predictions
in the normalized average Nusselt number as 4 increases depending
on the value of the aspect ratio. It is clearly seen fromFig. 13 that the
normalized average Nusselt number decreases as 4 increases for
A 2, decreases and then increases forming dips for A 1 and
increases sharply for A 0.5 with smaller deviations from the
predictions of the MG and Brinkman and Jang and Choi [20] and
Brinkman models compared to the other values of A. It is worth
mentioning that conclusions regarding the effect of models used for
viscosity and thermal conductivity are limited to the models
considered in this study.
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
MG & Brinkman
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
MG & Brinkman
Brinkman and Jang and Choi [19]
a b
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
0 0.02 0.04 0.06
N
u
a
v
g
*
MG & Brinkman
c
4
, (a) A 2, (b) A 1, (c) A 0.5.
5. Conclusions
The problem of steady natural convection heat transfer in
a differentially-heated enclosure lled with a CuOeEGeWater
nanouid was investigated using different variable thermal
conductivity and variable viscosity models. The governing
equations were given in terms of the vorticityestream function
formulation and were solved numerically using an efcient
nite-volume method. Comparisons with previously published
work were performed and the results were found to be in good
agreement. Various representative numerical results for a wide
range of Rayleigh numbers, volume fractions of nanoparticles and
enclosure aspect ratios were presented. For high Rayleigh
numbers, it was predicted that while the average Nusselt number
increased with increasing values of the nanoparticles volume
fraction using the MG and Brinkman and the Jang and Choi [20]
and Brinkman models combination, it decreased as the nano-
particles volume fraction increased for the MG and Namburu
et al. [19] and the Jang and Choi [20] and Namburu et al. [19]
models combination. This behavior was found to be true for all
considered values of the enclosure aspect ratio. The decreasing
trend in the average Nusselt number as the nanoparticles volume
fraction increased was related directly to the Namburu et al. [19]
viscosity model which showed that the effect of the thermal
conductivity models was less signicant than the viscosity
models at high Rayleigh number. However, at low Rayleigh
numbers, the average Nusselt number based on the Namburu
et al. [19] was enhanced by increasing the volume fraction of
nanoparticles at low enclosure aspect ratios. For enclosures with
high aspect ratios, the average Nusselt number was predicted to
experience more deterioration when compared to enclosures
having low aspect ratios.
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Effect of nanouid variable properties on natural convection

in enclosures lled with a CuOeEGeWater nanouid

j dimensional stream function (m

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