Nanoparticle transport effect on magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection of electrically conductive nanofluids in micro-annuli with temperature-dependent thermophysical properties

This is a numerical investigation of nanoparticle transport effect on magnetohydrodynamic mixed convective heat transfer of electrically conductive nanofluids in micro-annuli with temperature-dependent thermophysical properties. The modified Buongiorno's non-homogeneous model is applied for the nanoparticle-fluid suspension to simulate the migration of nanoparticles into the base fluid, originating from the thermophoresis (nanoparticle migration because of temperature gradient) and Brownian motion (nanoparticle slip velocity because of concentration gradient). Due to surface roughness at the solid–fluid interface in micro-annuli, the wall surfaces are subjected to a linear slip condition to assess the non-equilibrium region near the interface. The fluid flow has been assumed to be fully developed, and the governing equations including continuity, momentum, energy, and nanoparticle transport equation are reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations, before they have been solved numerically. The results are presented with and without considering the dependency of thermophysical properties upon the temperature. It is indicated that ignoring the temperature dependency of thermophysical properties does not significantly affect the flow fields and heat transfer behavior of nanofluids, but it changes the relative magnitudes. Furthermore, in the presence of magnetic field, smaller nanoparticles are more appropriate than larger ones.