Heat transfer analysis of pulsating nanofluid flow in a semicircular wavy channel with baffles

This study numerically investigated the effects of pulsating nanofluid flow on flow and heat transfer in a semicircular corrugated channel with vertical baffles. The simulations were solved with the Computational Fluid Dynamics-based FLUENT program. The upper surface of the channel was adiabatic and contained vertical baffles. The lower surface of the semicircular corrugated channel was preserved at T-w=350 K. CuO-water nanofluid was used as the working fluid. Particle volume fraction (phi = 0.03), pulsating amplitude (A=1), and Strouhal number (St = 2) were kept constant. Heat transfer and relative friction factor were computed for different Reynolds numbers (200 <= Re <= 800). Also, the simulations were compared to the channel with/without baffles under steady flow. The flow and temperature contours were obtained in the channels for different parameters. The results indicated that the temperature and flow contours in the channel were considerably affected by the vertical baffles, nanofluid and pulsating parameters. Also, analysis of the results demonstrated that heat transfer improved significantly with the pulsating parameters at high inlet velocity. Thermal improvement for pulsating nanofluid flow also increased by about 2.6 times according to the steady flow of the base fluid in the channel without baffles. Additionally, the results showed that pressure-drop increased slightly due to baffles, nanoparticles, and pulsating components.