CONVECTIVE FLOW ACROSS A POROUS ARRAY OF CYLINDERS WITH APPLICATION TO NANOFLUIDS

Abstract

In the present research work, a detailed analysis of qualitative and quantitative aspects of the flow dynamics and heat transfer across a triangular staggered array of cylinders has been carried out in a viscous dominant flow field for the flow of standard Newtonian fluids (air, water, etc.) as well as nanofluids (alumina-water, alumina-copper-water, etc.). For modelling of nanofluid flow, a single phase homogeneous phase approach is used. Arrays of cylinders or tubes occur very commonly in various industrial processes such as food processing, heat-exchangers, nuclear reactors, polymer processing, and filtration. The periodic nature of these array of cylinders makes the prediction of flow and heat transfer characteristics through them quite complicated and intriguing. The complexity of the flow phenomenon increases when the cylinders act as a source of heat. Based on these intriguing complexities, the following laminar studies have been carried out in this research work.