Lattice Boltzmann simulation of natural convection in an L-shaped enclosure in the presence of nanofluid

Abstract

In the present paper, fluid flow and heat transfer inside L-shaped enclosure filled with Cu/water nanofluid has been investigated numerically using the Lattice Boltzmann Method. The validity of the numerical code used is ascertained and good agreement was found with published results. The effects of different parameters such as Rayleigh number (103–106), aspect ratio of the L-shaped enclosure (0.2–0.6) and nanoparticle volume concentration (0–0.05) on the flow and temperature fields are studied. The obtained results show that nanofluid enhances the heat transfer amount and reducing the aspect ratio improves this effect. Also it was found that the mean Nusselt number increased with increase in Rayleigh number.

Keywords

• Lattice Boltzmann method
• Nanofluid
• Natural convection
• L-shaped enclosure