CFD modeling and sensitivity analysis of heat transfer enhancement of a ferrofluid flow in the presence of a magnetic field

In this paper, a numerical method is developed to simulate the effect of an external magnetic field on convection heat transfer of a ferrofluid flow inside a rectangular duct. This model is two-dimensional, steady-state, laminar and incompressible. Simple finite volume method is used to couple and solve continuity, momentum and energy equations. In the first part of this paper, it is observed that ferrofluid particles movement along the magnetic field of a line dipole changes the streamline patterns and enhances heat transfer. In the second part of this paper, a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of Reynolds number, magnetic field strength, location, and number of line dipoles on the convection heat transfer. It is observed that cooling rate is higher at larger Reynolds numbers while increasing magnetic field strength would not necessarily result in noticeable improvement in heat transfer. It is also noticed that magnetic field strength should be large enough to merge small vortexes and to create large circulation zones inside the duct. Our simulation also revealed that heat transfer could be augmented by adding line dipoles on high-temperature regions closer to the duct inlet.