An investigation of Marangoni-Benard convection in water based nanofluids

The impact of copper nanoparticles on Marangoni-Benard convection in water-based nanofluids was investigated numerically by examining the effect of variations in the Rayleigh and Marangoni numbers for different values of the Biot number. The aspect ratio of the cavity, and the interaction of the buoyant forces and forces due to surface tension inhomogeneity were also investigated. The relationship between these parameters and the heat transfer behavior was then determined by examining the average Nusselt number. This allowed the development of a methodology by which the critical values of the Rayleigh number and the Marangoni number could be identified. The results indicated that the average Nusselt number increased with increases in the Biot number. In addition, the presence of the copper nanoparticles enhanced the heat transfer rate significantly, with the positive enhancement increasing with increased Biot number.