Experimental and numerical study on microwave heating of nanofluids

In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the thermal and fluid flow behavior of Al2O3-water nanofluid, independent of any external surface influences due to conventional surface heating methods. This has been achieved through natural convection flow induced by volumetric heat generation through microwave heating. Both experimental and numerical investigations were carried out and the numerical results were validated with the experimental data. Numerical simulations were carried out by single-phase and two-phase (Eulerian-Lagrangian) modeling approaches. The effects of nanoparticles in the base fluid, various particle forces and concentration dependence on the hydrodynamics and thermal behavior are presented through isotherms, stream function and time evolution of the fluid flow. The present studies demonstrate that additional fluid flow behavior in nanofluids is induced by the heated nanoparticles due to particle migration effects. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.