Numerical Study of Double-diffusive Natural Convection in a Window Shaped Cavity Containing Multiple Obstacles Filled with Nanofluid

In the present study, double-diffusive natural convection flow inside a window shaped cavity containing multiple obstacles filled with nanofluid is studied numerically. Water base nanofluid containing various nanoparticles including Ag, Cu and Al2O3 are considered as working fluid. The left and right inclined walls of the cavity are maintained at a relatively low temperature and low concentration while the vertical walls are adiabatic and impermeable. The non-uniform temperature and concentration are imposed along the bottom wall of the cavity. The governing equations are transformed to the dimensionless form and solved numerically using Galerkin weighted residual technique of finite element method. The influence of pertinent parameters such as thermal Rayleigh number and Lewis number and volume fraction of nanoparticles on the heat and mass transfer and fluid flow is studied. The results are obtained in terms of streamlines, isotherms, isoconcentrations, average Nusselt number and average Sherwood number for the considered parameters and it is observed that the flow pattern, temperature and concentration fields are affected by the variation of the parameters.