Laminar Convection of Power-Law Fluids in Differentially Heated Closed Region: CFD Analysis

In this manuscript, the characteristics of heat transfer of non-Newtonian fluids in a natural convection application is analyzed. A 2D square domain containing power-law fluid is studied whose horizontal walls follow adiabatic condition through insulation whereas the vertical walls are differentially heated isothermally. The provided temperature difference drives the convection current. Various parameters like Nusselt number, dimensionless vertical velocity and dimensionless temperature are evaluated to examine the effect of power-law index on heat and mass transfer for different values of Rayleigh number varying between \(10^{3}\) and \(10^{6}\). The influence of power-law index and Bingham number on the heat transfer characteristics is analyzed and the best one with high heat transfer capability is proposed for natural convection application.The results thus obtained are compared on the basis of Nusselt number, velocity and temperature with the help of TECPLOT and ANSYS.