DNS of buoyancy-driven flows and Lagrangian particle tracking in a square cavity at high Rayleigh numbers

► 2D study of micro-size particle depletion driven by chaotic natural convective flows in square domains. ► Description of velocity and temperature first and second moments with changing in the Rayleigh number. ► Strong decoupling between the turbulent kinetic energy and the dissipation rate. ► Particle recirculation sustained by the vertical hot boundary layer. ► Deposition mostly induced by gravity, thermophoretic and lift forces are negligible.