Mixed convective heat transfer of water/alumina nanofluid inside a vertical microchannel

•Mixed convection of alumina/water nanofluid inside a vertical microchannel•Modified Buongiorno's model is used.•Nanoparticles migrate from the heated wall toward the core region of the microchannel.•Smaller nanoparticles have a positive effect on the heat transfer rate.

Mixed convective heat transfer of water/alumina nanofluid inside a vertical microchannel is investigated theoretically. A modified Buongiorno's model is employed for the nanofluid, which fully accounts for the effect of the nanoparticle migration. This model considers the Brownian motion and thermophoresis diffusivities as the predominant slip mechanism. Because of surface roughness in microscale channels, slip condition is considered at the walls, which appropriately represents the hydrodynamic boundary condition. The results obtained indicated that nanoparticles move from the heated walls (nanoparticle depletion) toward the core region of the channel (nanoparticle accumulation) and construct a non-uniform nanoparticle distribution. In addition, increasing the bulk mean volume fraction of nanoparticles ϕB, slip parameter λ and mixed convective parameter Ng enhances the heat transfer rate. Moreover, in contrast to λ, ϕB and Ng have a negative effect on the pressure drop of the system.

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