Study of Fe3O4-water nanofluid with convective heat transfer in the presence of magnetic source

Influence of external magnetic source on ferrofluid convection in an enclosure with elliptic hot cylinder is studied. Governing formulae are first made dimensionless form along with the associated boundary conditions and then solved by powerful numerical method namely CVFEM. Influences of Rayleigh and Hartmann numbers and Fe3O4 volume fraction on hydrothermal behavior are presented. Results indicated that temperature gradient is an enhancing function of volume fraction of Fe3O4 and Rayleigh number but it is a reducing function of Lorentz forces. Lorentz forces cause the nanofluid velocity to reduce and augment the thermal boundary layer thickness. The role of effective parameters is illustrated through graphs and tables. Comparison of the present work is also made with the existing literature. Keywords: Ferrofluid, Lorentz forces, CVFEM, Elliptic wall, Magnetic nanofluid, Free convection