Numerical and experimental study on EHD heat transfer enhancement with Joule heating effect through a rectangular enclosure

•Different emitter-collector electrodes for enhancement EHD performance are evaluated.•The effect of Joule heating is remarkable at a low Rayleigh number.•Heat transfer enhancement is improved by reducing the inter-electrode gap. The objective of this study is to determine the best electrodes configuration for increasing heat transfer in a rectangular enclosure. Numerical simulations are obtained using finite volume method. Experiments were also performed for heat transfer analysis and the results were compared with the numerical predictions. In addition, the Joule heating is added in governing equations to show its dominance effect in low Rayleigh numbers. The result shows a significant effect of the electrodes arrangement on the heat transfer rate and power consumption.