Heat transfer analysis and flow of a slag-type fluid: Effects of variable thermal conductivity and viscosity

• A new non-linear constitutive relationship is proposed for a slag-type fluid.
• The effects of variable viscosity and thermal conductivity on the heat transfer and flow are studied.
• Shear thinning and thickening, the exponent in the Reynolds viscosity model, and the temperature variation in viscosity, are also considered.

In this paper we study the effects of variable viscosity and thermal conductivity on the heat transfer and flow of a slag-type non-Newtonian fluid between two horizontal flat plates. We solve the governing equations in their non-dimensional forms and perform a parametric study to see the effects of various dimensionless numbers on the velocity, volume fraction and temperature profiles. The different cases of shear- thinning and thickening, and the effect of the exponent in the Reynolds viscosity model, for the temperature variation in viscosity, are also considered.