On the analysis of thermosolutal mixed convection in differentially heated and soluted geometries beyond rectangular

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study the impact of convexity and concavity of the vertical borders on double-diffusive mixed convection. In addition, the study of entropy generation is performed. This numerical study has been carried out for different patterns of wavy edges to reveal their effects on heat and mass transfer phenomena.

Design/methodology/approach

Four different flow features are treated by varying the directions of convexity and concavity of the vertical walls. A uniform temperature, as well as concentration distributions, are introduced to the left border while keeping a cold temperature and low concentration for the right border. The horizontal boundaries are in adiabatic condition. The upper border of the chamber is moving in the right direction with an equal speed. The governing Navies–Stokes equations are designed to describe energy and species transport phenomena, and these equations are solved by compact scheme.

Findings

The investigated results are analyzed for various parameters, namely, Prandtl number, Richardson number, thermal Grashof number, Lewis number, Buoyancy ratio and amplitude of the wavy walls. It is observed that the thermal and solutal transfer performance becomes effective with lower Richardson numbers. The results reveal that the concavity and convexity of the side borders of the cabinet can control the thermosolutal performance. It is also observed that among all wavy chambers, Case-4 records maximum thermosolutal transfer rate, while Case-3 attains minimum thermosolutal transfer rate.

Originality/value

This work is an example of solar thermal power conversion, power collection systems, systems of energy deficiency, etc.

Citation

Hansda, S. and Pandit, S.K. (2023), "On the analysis of thermosolutal mixed convection in differentially heated and soluted geometries beyond rectangular", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 33 No. 8, pp. 2877-2901. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-12-2022-0718