Effect of internal heat generation or absorption on conjugate thermal-free convection of a suspension of hybrid nanofluid in a partitioned circular annulus

This study aims to explain the impact of the presence of a solid conductive partition on the thermal-free convective motion mechanism and heat transmission process within a concentric circular annulus filled with a water-based hybrid nanoliquid containing Copper (Cu) and Alumina (Al2O3) nanoparticles. The thermal natural convective flow is formed within the annulus due to the temperature difference which is externally imposed between the internal heated cylinder and the external cooled one and internally generated by the interior heat generation/absorption (IHG/A) phenomenon. The technique of finite volume is applied to discretize and approximately solve the non-dimensional conservation equations. The influence of selected factors such as the nanoparticles concentration, Rayleigh number, fluid/solid heat conductivity ratio, and the IHG/A parameter on the thermo-hydrodynamic behavior and heat exchange rate is interpreted. The findings show that, in the presence of a conductive solid partition, the combined effects of the IHG/A phenomenon and the combined nanoparticles considerably modify the flow and heat exchange behaviors within the annulus. We also employed a new correlation to predict the mean heat exchange rate in the defined input parameter range.