Accepted Manuscript

Natural convective heat transfer of Ag-water nanofluid flow inside

enclosure with center heater and bottom heat source

Thangavelu Mahalakshmi , Nagarajan Nithyadevi ,

Hakan.F. Oztop , Nidal Abu-Hamdeh

PII: S0577-9073(18)30019-4
DOI: 10.1016/j.cjph.2018.06.006
Reference: CJPH 552

To appear in: Chinese Journal of Physics

Received date: 4 January 2018

Revised date: 4 May 2018
Accepted date: 7 June 2018

Please cite this article as: Thangavelu Mahalakshmi , Nagarajan Nithyadevi , Hakan.F. Oztop ,
Nidal Abu-Hamdeh , Natural convective heat transfer of Ag-water nanofluid flow inside enclo-
sure with center heater and bottom heat source, Chinese Journal of Physics (2018), doi:
10.1016/j.cjph.2018.06.006

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service
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Highlights

 The natural convective nanofluid flow is solved for convergent solution.

 Finite volume method is applied to natural convection inside square enclosure.
 Significance of diverse length of center heater on fluid flow is explored.
 Effect of Rayleigh number and influence of Ag-water nanofluid flow on heat transfer
is analyzed.
 The results permit us to forecast characteristic features of isothermal heater inside
enclosure.

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Natural convective heat transfer of Ag-water nanofluid flow inside

enclosure with center heater and bottom heat source

Thangavelu Mahalakshmi ab*, Nagarajan Nithyadevi a , Hakan.F.Oztop c, Nidal Abu-Hamdeh d

a
Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046
b
Department of Mathematics, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore - 641407
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Firat University, Elazig 23119, Turkey
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
*
Corresponding author e-mail: saimaha13@gmail.com

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Abstract

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A numerical study on natural convective heat transfer inside an enclosure with center heater using
nanofluid has been carried out. The effect of different length of center heater on the flow and temperature fields

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is analysed for different Rayleigh numbers. Results are displayed in terms of streamlines, isotherms, mid height
velocity profile and average Nusselt number. The numerical results reveal heat transfer increases with increasing
heater length at both vertical and horizontal positions for increasing values of Rayleigh numbers. In particular, a
higher increase in heat transfer is obtained with heater situated with vertical position of maximum length. Also it

nanofluids. US
is obtained that enhancement of heat transfer is high for Ag - water nanofluid than CuO -water and Al2O3 -water

Keywords: Center heater, Heat source, Nanofluid, Natural convection, Square enclosure
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1. Introduction

Natural convective flow plays a significant role in several thermal engineering applications
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such as heating and cooling of buildings, thermal energy storage, solar collectors and electronic
device cooling has been extensively reported by many researchers [1-4]. In general, increasing,
decreasing, controlling and modification of fluid and heat transfer inside an enclosure is done by
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using a partition or thin heater attached to the walls and many studies have analyzed heat transfer
behaviour under such condition [5-6]. The effect of aspect ratio and position of heated plate on heat
transfer were studied by Oztop et al. [7]. Heat transfer inside a triangular enclosure filled with fluid
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saturated porous medium with conducting plate on hot wall has been investigated numerically by
Varol et al. [8]. Jani et al. [9] reported numerical results on heat transfer in symmetrically cooled
enclosure with heater attached on its bottom wall. Recently, numerical study of natural convective
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heat transfer in enclosure with heater attached to the hot left wall was conducted by Elatar et al. [10].
Their study showed that increasing heater length enhances heater effectiveness which is maximum for
its given conductivity ratio.
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The traditionally used fluids such as water, air, mineral oils and ethylene glycol having low
thermal conductivity are not an efficient heat transfer agent. So the thermal conductivity of base fluids
can be improved by adding nanoparticles into them. Fluids with suspended nanoparticles with them
are known as nanofluids which has a higher thermal conductivity than the base fluid. Therefore, the
innovative technique to enhance heat transfer in engineering application such as cooling of electronic
devices equipped with nanofluids, heat exchangers, energy storage systems, food processing and
lubrication technologies using nanofluid has been extensively studied by many researchers.
Heat transfer inside rectangular enclosure filled with nanofluid was first investigated by
Khanafer et al. [11]. Oztop and Abu-nada [12] investigated enhancement of heat transfer in
rectangular enclosure using nanofluids for different pertinent parameters. They indicated that
enhancement in heat transfer is caused by increasing values of Rayleigh number and heater size. Also
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NOMENCLATURE
Alphabet Greek Symbols
cp Specific heat, Jkg-1K-1 α thermal diffusivity, m2s−1
g gravitational acceleration, ms−2  thermal expansion coefficient, K-2 L
h heat transfer coefficient, W m-2 K γ dimensional length of the heater, m
K thermal conductivity, W m-1 K-1 Γ dimensionless length of the heater
L enclosure height and width, m ɛ dimensionless length of heat source, l/L
Nu local Nusselt number θ dimensionless temperature
average Nusselt number ν kinematic viscosity, m2s−1
p dimensional pressure, N m-2 μ dynamic viscosity, Kgm-1s-1
P dimensionless pressure  density, kgm-3
Pr Prandtl number  volume fraction of the nanoparticles

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Ra Rayleigh number Subscripts
T dimensional temperature, K c cold wall

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u,v dimensional velocity components, ms−1 f fluid
U,V dimensionless velocity components h hot wall
x,y dimensional cartesian coordinates, m nf nanofluid

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X,Y dimensionless cartesian coordinates s solid nanoparticles

heat transfer enhancement was found with the increasing volume fraction of different nanoparticles, in

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particular high heat transfer is achieved for Cu-water nanofluid. Saleh et al. [13] considered
trapezoidal enclosure to analyze heat transfer using nanofluids and found that Cu-water nanofluid
with high concentration and acute sloping wall are effective for enhancing the rate of heat transfer.
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Kefayati [14] showed dissipation effect of ferro fluid on natural convection inside an inclined
enclosure at the presence of external magnetic source. They found that increasing nanoscale ferro
magnetic particle volume fraction at different Rayleigh numbers and inclination angle decreases the
heat transfer. Corcione et al. [15] analyzed heat transfer inside enclosure filled with nanofluid and
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reached the results that increasing nanoparticle concentration increases the heat transfer performance.
Also, they found that increasing nanofluid average temperature, enclosure width and decreasing
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nanoparticle size increases the heat transfer. Cho et al. [16] numerically analyzed the convective heat
transfer in inclined wavy enclosure filled with Al2O3 nanofluid. They obtained that inclination angle
has a strong effect on heat transfer at higher Rayleigh number whereas total entropy generation
decreases for increasing volume fraction of Al2O3 nanoparticles. Study on natural convection 2D
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quarter circular enclosure using nanofluids has been conducted by Tang et al. [17]. Their results
showed that Ag-water nanofluid has higher surface heat transfer and outer wall Nusselt number is
larger than the single sinusoidal wavy wall.
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Sheikholeslami and Oztop [18] analyzed MHD natural convection inside enclosure with
sinusoidal walls filled with Fe3O4 nanofluid and found that adding nanoparticles is more effective in
enhancement of heat transfer whereas heat transfer reduces with augment of Lorentz forces.
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Sheikholeslami et al. [19] presented numerical studies of natural convection in L-shaped enclosure in
which effects of combined thermophoresis and Brownian motion where explored for the pertinent
parameters concerned. Apart from this, many researchers considered heat sources inside the enclosure
utilizing nanofluids for further enhancement of heat transfer. Aminossadati and Ghasemi [20] showed
that increasing length of heater increases the heat transfer to the nanofluid which results the increase
in surface temperature of the heat source produces high heat transfer. Natural convective heat transfer
of different nanofluid filled enclosure with center heater at two different positions was studied by
Mahmoodhi [21]. He obtained the results that increasing length of heater and increasing volume
fraction of nanoparticles produces enhancement in heat transfer. In particular, he reached the result
that maximum heat transfer is obtained for Ag-water nanofluid whereas minimum is obtained for
TiO2-water nanofluid at high Rayleigh numbers.
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Aminossadati and Ghasemi [20] investigated numerically Water-copper nanofluid flow and
heat transfer inside an enclosure with two pairs of heat source-sink. They found that increasing solid
volume fraction of nanofluid and Rayleigh numbers increases the rate of heat transfer for position of
pair of source-sink. Khorasanizadeh [23] modelled numerically an enclosure filled with nanofluid and
with embedded heater at bottom wall. He observed that high heat transfer is achieved by placing
bottom heater at center of the enclosure and increasing volume fraction of nanoparticles at high
Rayleigh numbers. Moraveji and Hejazian [24] examined natural convective heat transfer in a
rectangular enclosure filled with nanofluid and having oval - shaped heat source. They observed that
eccentricity  = 0.99 of inner heat source yields high heat transfer than  = 0.9 for the Fe3O4-water
nanofluid. Hussein and Mustafa [25] numerically analyzed the natural convection in a parabolic
enclosure with vertical heater utilized nanofluid. They concluded that increase in location of the

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heater leads to a drop in the water and nanofluid flow inside enclosure for increasing values of

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Rayleigh number and solid volume fraction of nanoparticles.
On the basis of literature review, it shows that no analysis was repeated on natural convection

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inside enclosure with center heater at two positions and bottom heat source utilizing Ag-water
nanofluid. Based on the practical application of equipment cooling like telecommunication
enclosures, computers and compact power supplies, effort to increase the heat transfer is needed.
Hence the present study is conducted to analyse numerically natural convection with center heater and

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bottom heat source. The main objective is to examine the effect of different heater length and
Rayleigh number on convective heat transfer inside enclosure.
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2. Problem and Mathematical Model
The study domain is a two dimensional square enclosure with center heater as shown in Fig. 1.
The height and width of the enclosure are denoted by L. It is an enclosure bounded on vertical
isothermal cold walls. The horizontal bottom wall is considered with heat source of length ε = 0.8 and
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remaining part of bottom and top wall are considered adiabatic. A thin center heater with temperature
Th is located inside the enclosure at vertical and horizontal positions. In this figure γ represents the
length of center heater, γ1 represents the distance of heater to the parallel upper wall for first situation
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and the parallel left wall for the second situation, γ2 is the distance of center of heater to the
perpendicular left wall for the first situation and to perpendicular upper wall for second situation.
These parameters are defined as . Also, in this entire study both
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horizontal and vertical heater are considered at center position (i.e., .

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Fig. 1. Physical Configuration

The enclosure is filled with Ag-water nanofluid having nanoparticles solid volume fraction φ
= 0.06. It is assumed that both base fluid and nanoparticles are in thermal equilibrium and there is no
slip between them. Except for the density variation, properties of base fluid and nanoparticles are
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assumed to be constant. All nanofluid properties are assumed temperature independent, but the
Boussinesq model approximates the density of the nanofluid in the buoyancy term. The thermo
physical properties of the base fluid and nanoparticles are given in Table. 1. The field is Newtonian
and the flow is steady, incompressible and laminar.
The continuity, momentum and energy equations for two dimensional problem of steady state laminar
natural convection in an enclosure are:
(1)

(2)
(
( (3)

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and

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( (4)
The boundary conditions for Eqs. (1) – (4) are:

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and on the heater
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(5)

where the effective density and heat capacity of the nanofluid are calculated from the following
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equations:
( (6)
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Table 1
Thermophysical properties of base fluid and solid nanoparticles [21]

Physical properties Fluid phase(water) Solid phase(Ag)

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Cp(J/kg/K) 4179 235

(kg/m3) 997.1 10,500
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k(W/mk) 0.613 429

x105(k-1) 21 1.89

Under the thermal equilibrium conditions, the specific heat of nanofluid is given as
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( ) ( ( ) ( ) (7)

The thermal expansion coefficient of the nanofluid can be obtained from

( ( ( ( (8)

The thermal diffusivity of the nanofluid is

(9)
( )
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In this study, the Brinkman model [26] is used for the viscosity of the nanofluid. So the effective
dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid is obtained from the formula
( (10)
The effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid is determined by using the Maxwell-Garnett’s
model [27]. For the suspension of spherical nanoparticles in the base fluid, it is written as:
( (
( (
(11)
Using the following dimensionless parameters, the governing equations can be converted to
dimensionless forms
(
(12)

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By using the above dimensionless variables, the governing equations( ( in dimensionless forms

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are as follows:
(13)

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(14)
(
(15)

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The boundary conditions for equations (13) – (16) are:
(16)
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and on the heater

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(17)
The local Nusselt number along the vertical walls of an enclosure can be written as:
( ( )
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The average Nusselt number is calculated by integrating the local Nusselt number along the vertical
walls
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̅̅̅̅( [(∫ ( ( ) (∫ ( ( )]
For the bottom wall:
( ( )
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̅̅̅̅( ∫ ( is length of bottom heat source.

3. Numerical Scheme

The non-dimensional governing equations (13) - (16) subject to the boundary conditions are
integrated over a finite volume method and solved numerically by the SIMPLE algorithm of Patankar
[28] for the treatment of the pressure – velocity coupling together with under relaxation technique.
The power law scheme is applied for convective terms and central difference scheme is applied for
diffusion terms. The resulting sets of discretized algebraic equations for each variable are solved by a
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line-by-line procedure, combining the tri-diagonal matrix algorithm (TDMA). The convergence of the
numerical results is established at each time step until a steady state is reached.
The convergence condition used for this study is:

( (
| |
(

where φ represents the variables U,V and T. The index n+1 is the current calculation and n denotes
the previous calculation in the iteration, here (i, j) refers to the space coordinates.
The solution domain consists of number of grid points at which discretized equations are
applied. Uniform staggered grid system is employed in the present study. The numerical simulation is

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carried out for highly accurate solution in the average Nusselt number for various grid sizes (21 × 21
to 141 × 141) are presented to develop an understanding of the grid fineness as seen in Table 2. The

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significant changes occur in the average Nusselt number, for grid size varies from 21x21 to 121x121
and for grid size 121x121 to 141x141 the average Nusselt number for all cases remains unchanged.

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Hence, it is found that a uniform grid size of 121x121 ensure the grid independence for the present
computations which was found to be sufficient to reach the steady solution for the Ag - Water
nanofluid with φ = 0.06.

Table 2
Grid independence Test for vertical heater of length
US = 0.5, Ra = 104, ϵ = 0.8 and φ = 0.06
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Grid size Nu Error %
21×21 3.093351 13.16
41×41 3.562338 2.050
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61×61 3.636895 0.668

81×81 3.661375 0.292
101×101 3.672102 0.124
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121×121 3.676670 0.002

141×141 3.676780
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In order to validate numerical results, the average Nusselt number were examined for natural
convection in an enclosure, similar to the study of Mahmoodhi [21] Comparison of results, are
presented in Table 3, reveals good agreement.
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Table 3
Comparison of Average Nusselt Numbers of cold side wall of square enclosure with center vertical
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heater of length = 0.5 filled with pure water at Ra=106.

Grid size 21x21 41x41 61x61 81x81 101x101 121x121

Mahmoodhi [21] 4.1286 5.7732 6.9498 6.9545 6.9577 6.9591
Present study 4.128298 5.736319 6.926877 6.995508 6.970670 6.969583
Difference 0.000302 0.036881 0.022923 0.041008 0.012970 0.010483

4. Results and Discussion

Natural convective heat transfer inside enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid with solid
volume fraction of nanoparticles φ = 0.06 is examined in the presence of center heater at two positions
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along with bottom heat source. The numerical simulation is carried out for pertinent parameters such
as Rayleigh numbers ( Ra = 105 - 107), center heater length ( = 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75) and fixed bottom
heat source of length ϵ = 0.8 and their corresponding effects are represented in terms of streamlines,
isotherms, velocity profiles and average Nusselt numbers.
Ra = 105 Ra = 106 Ra = 107

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Fig. 2 Streamlines and isotherms inside the enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid for horizontal
positioned heater with length Γ= 0.5 at different Rayleigh numbers.

Fig. 2 reveal streamline distribution and isotherms for horizontal heater of length = 0.5 and
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different Rayleigh numbers. It is seen from this figure that the fluid which raises from the bottom hot
wall moves towards the symmetrical cold walls and moves down. Due to this buoyancy effect, a pair
of clockwise and anticlockwise rotating fluid cells exists at both side of horizontal heater. When Ra =
105, symmetric fluid cells are seem to circulate with low fluid velocity. The fluid core begins to
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circulate strongly by the side of heater when Rayleigh number is increased to Ra = 10 6 to Ra = 107.
Moreover, when Ra = 107, the streamline intensity increased and significant changes occurs in the
fluid core. As for as isotherms are concerned, when Ra = 105, they are parallel near the vertical side
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walls of the enclosure but they become nonlinear for increasing Rayleigh numbers. In particular, the
isotherms are densely packed around the heater and above the bottom heat source at Ra = 107.
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Γ = 0.25 Γ = 0.50 Γ = 0.75

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Fig. 3. Streamlines and isotherms inside the enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid for horizontal
positioned heater with different length Ra = 106.
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Fig. 3 illustrate streamlines and isotherms for different length of horizontal heater at Ra = 106.
For the heater length = 0.25, the symmetric recirculation cells possesses inner cells at the bottom
due to buoyancy effect. But for the increased heater length = 0.5 two more inner cell formed at the
top portion of symmetric cells. The maximum heater length = 0.75 separates these cells completely.

Ra = 105 Ra = 106 Ra = 107

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Fig. 4. Streamlines and isotherms inside the enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid for vertical
positioned heater with length Γ= 0.5 at different Rayleigh numbers.
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Hence four individually rotating cells appear above and below the center heater. With respect to
isotherms, due to convection, heat transfer occurs which yields the isotherms to be nonlinear.
Furthermore, as the heat length increases the effect of convection seems to be significant and these
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effects are found to be more pronounced for heater length = 0.75.

Fig. 4 depict the steady state streamlines and isotherms for vertical heater with length = 0.5
for different Rayleigh numbers. It is seen from this figure that as the source is considered at the
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bottom wall the fluid raises which moves towards the vertical cold side walls and falls down again it
raises up by the bottom heat source. Due to this buoyancy effect, two cellular symmetric flow pattern
exist regardless of the same isothermal (cold) boundary condition applied on vertical walls for Ra =
105. The significant increase of strength can be seen in the fluid core due to transfer of thermal energy
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from the center heater and bottom heat source for increasing Ra values (Ra = 10 6 and 107). The
corresponding isotherms illustrates that the temperature gradient is symmetrical by two sides of center
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heater. Moreover, the thermal boundary layer thickness at bottom wall and vertical walls becomes
denser as Rayleigh number increases. In particular isotherms around the heater are seems to be
condensed at Ra = 107.
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Fig. 5 shows the streamlines and isotherms for the vertical heater of different length at Ra =
6
10 . It is observed from this figure that the streamlines are characterized by symmetric counter
rotating cells due to the isothermal cold vertical walls. When heater length increases from = 0.25 to
0.75, strength of streamlines increases naturally and significant changes occurs in the fluid core. As
for as isotherms concerned, temperature value increases with increasing length of heater and fixed
bottom heat source which increasing the convective heat transfer rate inside the enclosure. We can
perceive that the isotherms becomes nonlinear and which are packed near the vertical walls and the
isotherm around the heater exist with  = 0.95.
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Γ = 0.25 Γ = 0.50 Γ = 0.75

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Fig. 5. Streamlines and isotherms inside the enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid for vertical

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positioned heater with different length at Ra = 106.
Fig. 6 shows the effect of different length of horizontal heater on streamline and isotherms for
various Rayleigh numbers. It can be clearly seen from this figure that for Ra = 10 5 and = 0.25 the
streamlines are characterized by the flow consists of clockwise and anticlockwise symmetric cell

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pattern with small eddies appear inside the bottom of cells. When heater length increased to = 0.5
two more eddies appear in the core region of cells above the heater. The heater of maximum length
= 0.75 dissociates these cells into a four individual cells. Similar trend can also be seen for increasing
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length of heater at Ra = 106. But it is important to notice that fluid velocity of these cells are more
when compared with those for Ra = 105.
Ra = 105 Ra = 106 Ra = 107
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107?
Γ = 0.25

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Γ = 0.50

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Γ = 0.75

Fig. 6. Streamlines and isotherms inside the enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid for horizontal
positioned heater with different length for different Rayleigh numbers.

For Ra = 107, drastic changes occur in the flow pattern for increasing heater length. It is
interesting to note that the convective recirculating cells in the core within the two major cells are
elongated horizontally. The corresponding variation of isotherms are shown in the same figure
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illustrates that with the increasing heater length, temperature gradient adjacent to the heater, above the
bottom heat source becomes steeper for increasing values of Rayleigh numbers (Ra = 105 - 107). At
Ra = 107 the thermal stratification is seen around the heater and above the bottom wall where the
convection is the dominant heat transfer mechanism.
Ra = 105 Ra = 106 Ra = 107
107?
Γ = 0.25

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Γ = 0.50

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Γ = 0.75

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Fig. 7. Streamlines and isotherms inside the enclosure filled with Ag-water nanofluid for Vertical
positioned heater with different length for different Rayleigh numbers.
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Fig. 7 shows the effect of Rayleigh number on streamline and isotherms for different length
of vertical heater. When = 0.25 and Ra = 105, it is perceived that the recirculating cells are formed
at both side of vertical heater with low intensity. When Rayleigh number increased to Ra = 106, the
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circulation cell gets strengthen as it is clearly seen from the inner vortices having increased flow rate
14.00 from 3.00 at Ra = 105. For the highest Rayleigh number Ra = 107, the significant changes occur
in the fluid flow and the streamlines are very close around the heater. Similar changes in strength of
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fluid flow for increasing Ra values are seen for increasing heater length = 0.5 and 0.75. The
corresponding temperature field shows the increasing concentration of isotherms near the vertical
walls and around the heater for its increasing length for Rayleigh numbers ranging from Ra = 105 -
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107. It is important to notice that the isotherms are very close around the heater and get grounded
above the bottom heat source which representing the occurrence of strong convective heat transfer.
Fig. 8 shows the mid height vertical velocity profile for horizontal heater of length = 0.75
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for different values of Rayleigh number. This figure clearly shows that the velocity reaches its peak
for Ra = 107 whereas the flow with low intensity exist for Ra = 105.
Fig. 9 shows the mid height vertical velocity profile for vertical heater of length = 0.75 for
different Rayleigh numbers. It is noted that the velocity profile reaches the peak with increasing
values of Rayleigh numbers. When comparing the velocity profiles of figures 8 and 9, it can be
observed that the increasing Ra values causing more induced flow in the enclosure with vertical
heater. However the velocity reaches maximum for vertical heater of length = 0.75 for increasing
values of Rayleigh number.
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Fig. 8. Mid height vertical velocity at the middle of the enclosure for horizontal heater (Γ = 0.75) at

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different Rayleigh numbers.

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Fig. 9. Mid height vertical velocity at the middle of the enclosure for vertical heater (Γ = 0.75) at
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different Rayleigh numbers.

Fig. 10 displays overall heat transfer in terms of average Nusselt number versus Rayleigh
number for different length of two types of heater. The increasing heater length plays a vital role in
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heat transfer inside the enclosure.

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Fig. 10. Variation of average Nusselt number with Rayleigh number for horizontal and vertical heater
of different length.

The average Nusselt number increases gradually for increasing values of Rayleigh number for
all length of heaters. But comparatively we observe that enhancement of heat transfer rate is high for
vertical heater than the horizontal one of all its length. Fig. 11 represents the variation of average
Nusselt number versus Rayleigh number of the enclosure with center heater of length Γ = 0.75 for
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three different nanofluids (Ag-water, CuO-water and Al2O3-water). This figure clearly elucidates the
lower enhancement of heat transfer for CuO-water and Al2O3-water nanofluid whereas expected better
heat transfer enhancement is achieved for Ag-water nanofluid.

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Fig. 11. Variation of Average Nusselt number versus Rayleigh number for the enclosure with a
vertical heater (Γ = 0.75) for various water based nanofluids.

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Fig. 12. Variation of average Nusselt number with Rayleigh number for the enclosure filled with Ag-
water nanofluid, vertical heater (Γ= 0.75) for different volume fraction of the nanoparticles.
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Fig. 12 displays the variation of average Nusselt number versus Rayleigh number for different
volume fraction of Ag-water nanofluid for enclosure with center vertical heater of length Γ = 0.75.
The average Nusselt number almost increases monotonically as Rayleigh number increases which
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causes an increase in the flow intensity. The average Nusselt number increases for increasing volume
fraction of Ag-water nanofluid for all values of Rayleigh number. In particular, high heat transfer rate
is obtained for φ = 0.09.
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5. Conclusion

The present study has focussed on a numerical investigation to inspect fluid flow and heat
transfer of natural convection inside enclosure with center heater filled with Ag-water nanofluid. This
study has been conducted for the pertinent parameters in the following range: The Rayleigh number
(Ra = 105, 106 and 107), length of center heater (Γ = 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75) and solid volume fraction of
nanoparticles (φ = 0.0, 0.03, 0.06 and 0.09). This investigation is performed for different mentioned
parameters and the obtained results are summarized as follows:

1. A good agreement valid with previous numerical investigation and appropriate results shows
that FVM is apt for simulation of Ag-water nanofluid inside enclosure.
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2. The fluid flow pattern is significantly affected by both type of heater with its different length
in accordance with the Rayleigh number.
3. For the maximum length (Γ = 0.75) of vertical center heater, high heat transfer is achieved
inside the enclosure.
4. The presence of nanofluid leads to a considerable reinforcement of heat transfer for all length
of heater and Rayleigh number.
5. With the increase in solid volume fraction of nanoparticles, heat transfer rate increases for
increasing values of Rayleigh number.
6. Among the considered three different nanofluids (Ag-water, CuO-water and Al2O3-water),
maximum and minimum heat transfer is obtained by Ag-water and Al2O3-water nanofluids
respectively.

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