Three-dimensional Lattice Boltzmann simulation on thermosolutal convection and entropy generation of Carreau-Yasuda fluids

In this paper, three-dimensional thermosolutal natural convection and entropy generation in a cubic cavity filled with a non-Newtonian Carreau-Yasuda fluid has been simulated by Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). This study has been conducted for certain pertinent parameters of Rayleigh number (Ra = 10(4) and 10(5)), the Buoyancy ratio (N = -1, 0.1, 1), the Lewis number (Le = 0.5, 2.5, 10, 100, and 1000), power-law indexes (n = 0.5, 1, and 1.5), Carreau number (Cu = 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100), and Carreau-Yasuda parameter (m = 0.1, 0.5, and 1). Results indicate that the rise of Rayleigh number enhances heat and mass transfer for various studied parameters. The increase in power-law index provokes heat and mass transfer to drop gradually. However, the effect of power-law index on heat and mass transfer rises steadily as Rayleigh number rises. The enhancement of Carreau number decreases heat and mass transfer, but; the increases in the Carreau-Yasuda parameter augments heat and mass transfer significantly. The augmentation of the buoyancy ratio number enhances heat and mass transfer. It was found that mass transfer increases as Lewis number augments. The augmentation of Rayleigh number enhances different entropy generations and declines the average Bejan number. The increase in the power-law index provokes various irreversibilities to drop significantly. The enhancement of the buoyancy ratio causes the summation entropy generations to increase considerably. The rise of Carreau number and Carreau-Yasuda parameter decreases and increases the total irreversibilities; respectively. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.