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The flow of hybrid alumina–copper/water nanofluid with mixed convection heat transfer from multiple square cylinders arranged in three different types of arrays, namely equilateral triangle (ET), rotated square (RS), and rotated rhombus (RR) in a heat exchanger, has never been studied before the present study. Navier–Stokes and energy equations with a periodic boundary condition in the transverse direction for all three array types having the same porosity are solved with the finite volume methodology. The combined effect of aiding buoyancy (Richardson number 0–2), the configuration of square cylinders, and hybrid nanoparticle volume fraction (0-0.06) on the flow dynamics and their impact on the overall heat transfer phenomenon through three different array configurations is thoroughly elucidated. The arrays’ overall drag and friction coefficient increases with an increase in the strength of aiding buoyancy and nanoparticle volume fraction. An increment in Richardson number, and nanoparticle volume fraction, causes thermal boundary layer thinning and results in higher heat transfer rates across all three arrays. With an increase in Ri from 0 to 2 at a nanoparticle volume fraction of 0.06, the mean Nusselt number of ET, RS, and RR arrays is increased by 161%, 5%, and 32%, respectively. While, with an increase in nanoparticle volume fraction from 0 to 0.06 at Ri = 2, the mean Nusselt number of ET, RS, and RR arrays is augmented by 17%, 6%, and 9%, respectively. Finally, the efficient array configuration in terms of fluid-thermal behavior is proposed to design various heat-exchange systems under differing operating conditions.

The article examines the consequence of thermal buoyancy-driven cross-flow and heat transfer for shear-thinning power-law fluids on the tandem orientation of two cylinders. Finite volume methodology is used to investigate the effect of the gap ratio (2.5 ≤ S/D ≤ 5.5), power-law index (0.2 ≤ n ≤ 1), and Richardson number (0 ≤ Ri ≤ 1) on flow and thermal output parameters at Reynolds number Re = 100 and Prandtl number Pr = 50 in a confined channel. An unprecedented jump has been witnessed in the flow/thermal parameters at the critical gap ratio (critical spacing). At forced convection (Ri = 0), this critical spacing keeps on increasing with shear-thinning character, from S/D = 3.9 (at n = 1) to 4.9 (at n = 0.2). On the contrary, an increase in shear-thinning characteristic leads to a decrease in critical spacing from S/D = 3.9 (at n = 1) to 2.8 (at n = 0.4) for Ri = 1 (mixed convection). The heat transfer rate increases with shear-thinning behavior, with a maximum heat transfer, noted at n = 0.2. A higher unprecedented increment for flow/thermal parameters is seen at critical spacing for the downstream cylinder than the upstream cylinder. At the highest gap ratio, the output parameters for the upstream cylinder approximate that of an isolated cylinder. The time-variant fluctuations in lift coefficients for a shear-thinning flow in a tandem arrangement provide a new understanding of coshedding and extended body flow regimes.

The current research focuses on the laminar flow through permeable side-by-side bars of a square cross section in a channel-confined domain. Vorticity generation on the leeward sides of the permeable bodies further necessitates the study for a better understanding of underlying physics. Reynolds number (Re) and Darcy number (Da) are varied from 5 to 150 and 10−6 to 10−2, respectively, at transverse gap ratios s/d = 2.5–10. In the perspective of periodic unsteady flow, critical Re for the onset of vortex shedding is analyzed. Streamlines, vorticity, pressure coefficient distribution, and velocity profiles are discussed to identify the wake patterns. In lower permeability level, vortex-shedding from the permeable square cylinders is observed either in synchronized antiphase mode or a single large vortex street with a synchronized in-phase pattern in the near wake. A steady-state wake pattern symmetric and flocked toward the centerline is observed for all s/d at a higher permeability level regardless of Re. Wake patterns are not altered for Da = 10−6 to 10−3; instead, prompt extermination of the two vortex streets downstream is observed at Da = 10−3 as compared to Da = 10−6. The impact of s/d, Re, and permeability on the drag is examined. A jump in the flow characteristics and drag forces is noticed at higher Re for the midrange Da remarkably at lower s/d. For the extent of high permeability, the drag coefficient asymptotically gets closer to zero.

The flow of alumina–water nanofluid across heated circular tubes arranged in inline and staggered arrays in a heat exchanger has been studied numerically using the finite volume method (FVM). For calculating the nanofluid’s thermophysical properties such as effective thermal conductivity and effective viscosity, Corcione’s correlations are utilized. Corcione’s correlations consider nanoparticles size, their Brownian motion, and operating temperature while calculating these effective properties of nanofluids. The impact of three parameters on heat transfer characteristics across inline and staggered arrays of heated circular cylinders has been examined. These parameters are nanoparticle diameter dp, which is varied between 10 nm and 50 nm, nanoparticle volume fraction ɸ varying from 0.01 to 0.05, and Reynolds number Re ranging from 10 to 200. It is observed that heat transfer augmentation across both inline and staggered arrays occurs when nanoparticle concentration is increased and smaller diameter nanoparticles are used. Mean Nusselt number NuM is increased by 31% when ɸ is increased from 0.01 to 0.05 at Re = 200 and dp = 10 nm in an inline array and by 25% in a staggered array. NuM is enhanced by 20% for the inline array and 16% for the staggering array when dp decreases from 50 nm to 10 nm at Re = 200 and ɸ = 0.05. At any given value of dp, ɸ, and Re, the mean Nusselt number is always higher for staggered array in comparison with the inline array. The results reported in the present study can be utilized for the optimal design of various heat exchange systems under the given operating conditions. The present results are extensively validated with the available experimental/numerical studies.

Steady laminar mixed convection flow and heat transfer to Newtonian and power-law fluids from a heated square cylinder has been analyzed numerically. The full momentum and energy equations along with the Boussinesq approximation to simulate the buoyancy effects have been solved. A semi-explicit finite volume method with nonuniform grid has been used for the range of conditions as: Reynolds number 1–30, power-law index: 0.8–1.5, Prandtl number 0.7–100 (Pe⩽3000) for Richardson number 0–0.5 in an unbounded configuration. The drag coefficient and the Nusselt number have been reported for a range of values of the Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and Richardson number for Newtonian, shear-thickening (n>1) and shear-thinning (n