Natural convection of non-Newtonian fluids in a square cavity with a localized heat source

Abstract

This study investigates the natural convection cooling of a heat source placed on the bottom of a cavity filled with non-Newtonian power-law fluids. The heat source produces a uniform heat flux. The remaining parts of the bottom wall of the cavity are insulated, and the vertical, and top walls are kept at a low temperature. The governing equations for the power-law fluid flow are solved with the numerical finite difference method based on the control volume formulation and SIMPLE algorithm. The study investigates the effects of relevant parameters such as the Rayleigh number, the power-law index and the heat source length and heat source location on the thermal performance of the cavity. The results show that as the Rayleigh number increases, particularly when n<1, the thermal performance of the cavity is improved. Furthermore, using non-Newtonian shear thinning fluids, especially at higher Rayleigh numbers, improves the cooling performance of the heat source. The results also show that, depending on the Rayleigh number and the power-law index, the length and position of the heat source have significant effects on the thermal performance of the cavity.