Numerical simulation of free convection based on experimental measured conductivity in a square cavity using Water/SiO2 nanofluid

Heat transfer enhancement has been investigated in a square cavity subject to different side wall temperatures using water/SiO2 nanofluid. An experimental setup has been used to extract the conductivity value of nanofluid. This study has been carried out for the pertinent parameters in the following ranges: the Rayleigh number of base fluid, Raf = 105–107 and the volumetric fraction of nanoparticle between 0 and 4%. The comparisons show that the mean Nusselt number increases with volume fraction for the whole range of Rayleigh numbers. Although by using the theoretical formulations for conductivity no enhancement has been observed.