Effects of properties variations of Al2O3–EG–water nanofluid on natural convection heat transfer in a two-dimensional enclosure: Enhancement or deterioration?

Heat transfer enhancement or deterioration of variable properties Al2O3–EG–water nanofluid natural convection in a differentially heated rectangular cavity has been investigated numerically. A finite volume approach has been utilized to solve the governing equations for a Newtonian fluid. The influences of the pertinent parameters such as Rayleigh number, Ra, in the range of 103–107 and nanoparticles volume fraction from 0 to 0.04 have been studied. The results verified by making overall comparison with some existing experimental results have shown that for Ra = 103, for which conduction heat transfer is dominant, the average Nusselt number increases as nanoparticles volume fraction increases, but contradictory with the constant properties cases it decreases for higher Ra values. This reduction, which is associated with the increased viscosity, is more severe at Ra = 104 and the least deterioration in heat transfer occurs for Ra = 107. This is due to the fact that the Brownian motion enhances as Ra increases; thus at Ra = 107 the improved conductivity becomes more important than viscosity enhancement. To clarify the contradictory reports existing in the literature on the natural convection heat transfer enhancement or deterioration of nanofluids, a scale analysis performed showed that unlike methods of evaluating the base fluid Ra have led to such differences.