Numerical simulation of laminar flow and heat transfer of a non-Newtonian nanofluid in an agitated tank

Abstract

The purpose of research presented in this paper is to study the thermal and hydrodynamic effect of the non-isothermal laminar flow of a Al2O3-water nanofluid having shear thinning behavior in a mechanically stirred tank using the finite element method. Numerical simulation has been performed for a non-stationary two-dimensional flow controlled by certain influencing parameters such as the Reynolds number (1 ≤ Re ≤ 200), the behavior index (0.6 ≤ n ≤ 1) and the volume fraction of the alumina nanoparticles (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.1). The simulation results obtained show that the addition of the Al2O3 nanoparticles in the base fluid leads to a significant enhancement in the heat transfer in the stirred tank compared to the base fluid. On the other hand, we note a slight decrease in the heat transfer with the decrease in the behavior index. It has also been noted, that the agitation power increases relatively with the volume fraction of the Alumina nanoparticles.