Numerical study of heat transfer enhancement in mixed convection flow along a vertical plate with heat source/sink utilizing nanofluids (Q635707)

This paper theoretically studies the steady mixed convection and heat transfer in laminar boundary layer flow of an incompressible nanofluid along a vertical flat plate with temperature-dependent heat source/sink. The dimensionless governing equations are solved numerically using a finite element method for both spherically and cylindrically shaped nanoparticles with volume fraction parameter \(\phi\) in the range \(0 \leq \phi \leq 4\%\), with appropriate boundary conditions. The effects of parameters governing the problem: volume fraction parameter \(\phi\), Prandtl number \textbf{Pr}, Richardson number \textbf{Ri} and volumetric rate of heat generation/absorption parameter \(\mathcal Q\) are investigated for different water-based nanofluids containing Cu, Ag, CuO, Al\(_{2}\)O\(_{3}\) and TiO\(_{2}\). It is found, among others, that increase in the mixed convection parameter \textbf{Ri} increases the momentum boundary layer thickness and decreases the thermal boundary layer thickness for pure water; Ag nanoparticles are proved to have the highest cooling performance for this vertical plate problem, where TiO\(_{2}\) nanoparticles have the lowest value. This is due to the high thermal conductivity of Ag and low thermal conductivity of TiO\(_{2}\). Results are presented in 23 figures and in a table. In the reviewer's opinion, this is an interesting paper. However, the paper studies only the case of assisting flow (\textbf{Ri}\(~> 0)\) and not that of opposing flow (\textbf{Ri}\(~< 0\)), which is much more interesting because in this case the boundary layer can separate from the plate.