A Study of Forced Convection in Non-Newtonian Hybrid Nanofluids Embedded in a Heated Cylinder Within a Hexagonal Enclosure by Finite Element Method

Nanofluids have the proven capacity to significantly improve the thermal efficiency of a heat exchanging system due to the presence of conductive nanoparticles. The aim of this study is to simulate the forced convection on a non-Newtonian hybrid with a nanofluid (Al₂O₃-TiO₂-H₂O) in a hexagonal enclosure by the Galerkin finite element method (GFEM). The physical model is a hexagonal enclosure in two dimensions, containing a heated cylinder embedded at the center. The bottom, middle left, and right walls of the enclosure are all considered cold ($T_c$), while the top wall is considered to be moving, and the remaining middle, upper left, and right walls have the adiabatic condition. The Prandtl number ($Pr$ = $6.2$), Reynolds number ($Re$ = 50, 100, 300 and 500), power law index (n = $0.6$, $0.8$, $1.0$, $1.2$ and $1.4$), volume fractions of nanoparticles ($\varphi$ = $0.00$, $0.01$, $0.02$, $0.03$ and $0.04$), and Hartmann numbers ($Ha$ = 0, 10, 20 and 30) are considered in the model. The findings are explained in terms of sensitivity tests and statistical analysis for various $Re$ numbers, n, and $Ha$ numbers employing streamlines, isotherms, velocity profiles, and average Nusselt numbers. It is observed that the inclusion of $\varphi$ improves the convective heat transfer at the surging values of $Re$. However, if the augmenting heat transfer requires any control mechanism, integrating a non-zero $Ha$ number is found to stabilize the system for the purpose of thermal efficacy.