Flow and heat transfer characteristics of non-Newtonian fluid in a square enclosure containing an internal cylinder

Buoyancy-driven flows were investigated inside an enclosure with an inner cylinder embedded within it. The square enclosure contains the power law fluids. The effects are reported for the position of the cylinder along the horizontal and diagonal directions on the flow and thermal characteristics based on a rigorous unsteady numerical analysis. The cylinder was placed at several locations along the diagonal near the top-left corner, the center, and near the bottom right corner. The cylinder was also placed along the horizontal centerline near the right wall. This paper reports the effects of shear thickening and thinning fluids on the heat transfer mechanism in the enclosure. The thermal characteristics were more pronounced when the cylinder was near the bottom right corner than when near the top left corner and at the center. Pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids can be used in applications requiring increased and decreased heat transfer rates, respectively.