Data analysis of thermal performance and irreversibility of convective flow in porous-wavy channel having triangular...

Mixed convective nanofluid flow has substantial importance in improvement of thermal performance, and thermal engineering to meet the global energy crisis. In this study, mixed convective nanofluid flow in a porous-wavy channel with an inner heated triangular obstacle under magnetic field effect is numerically examined. Nanofluid within the channel is heated and cooled from its bottom and top wavy-surfaces. A heated triangular cylinder is located at the centerline of the wavy-channel. Finite element method is utilized to solve the non-dimensional governing equations. The code is validated comparing present results with published numerical and experimental results. The response surface method is also implemented to analyze the obtained results and its sensitivity. The numerical results indicate that strength of flow velocity is accelerated with rising Reynolds number, Darcy numbers and inlet-outlet ports length but declined for Hartmann number and volume fraction. Heat transferring rate and heat transfer irreversibility are substantially increased for higher values of Reynolds number, inlet-outlet ports length, Darcy number and nanoparticle volume fraction but a reverse trend is occurred for magnetic field effect. The thermal performance is found significantly improved with simultaneous increment in Re, ϕ, Da and decrement in Ha. Positive sensitivity is achieved for input factors Re, ϕ, Da in computing $$ while negative sensitivity to Ha. Heat transfer rate is found more sensitive to the impact of Re and ϕ compared to Da and Ha. 45.59 % more heat transmission potentiality is developed for using Al₂O₃-H₂O nanofluid (vol.5 %) instead of using base fluid water. Heat transfer enhancement rate is decreased by 36.22 % due to impact of magnetic field strength. In addition, 84.12 % more heat transferring rate is recorded in presence of triangular obstacle. Moreover, irreversibility components are influenced significantly for the presence of heated triangular obstacle. Bejan number is also found declined for increasing physical parameters. The findings of this investigation may offer a guideline for finding experimental results to design high-performance convective heat exchangers.