Analysis of MHD natural convection in a nanofluid-filled open cavity with non uniform boundary condition in the presence of uniform heat generation/absorption

• Nanofluid flow and heat transfer in an open cavity are studied.
• Non uniform thermal boundary condition is used in this paper.
• Heat generation/absorption coefficient effects are studied.
• Magnetic field effects are studied.

This paper examines the natural convection in an open cavity with non uniform thermal boundary condition. The cavity is filled with a water-Al2O3 nanofluid and subjected to a magnetic field in the presence of heat generation or absorption. Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to solve the coupled equations of flow and temperature fields. This study has been carried out for the pertinent parameters in the following ranges: Rayleigh number of the base fluid, Ra = 103–106, Hartmann number varied from Ha = 0–60, heat generation/absorption coefficient (q = − 10, − 5, 0, 5 and 10) and the solid volume fraction of nanoparticles between ϕ = 0 and 6%. Results show that the heat transfer rate decreases with the rise of the Hartmann number and increases with the augmentation of the Rayleigh number. The nanoparticles effect is more important at a high Rayleigh number. Also, the nanoparticles effect is more important for heat generation condition (q > 0) than absorption generation condition (q < 0).

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