Soret and Dufour effects on double diffusive mixed convection of Newtonian and shear-thinning fluids in a two sided lid-driven cavity

Purpose:

The thermal-diffusion (Soret) and the diffusion-thermo (Dufour) effects play a crucial role in double diffusive mixed convection in a lid-driven cavity; but they have not been studied properly by researchers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate effects of Soret and Dufour parameters on double diffusive laminar mixed convection of shear-thinning and Newtonian fluids in a two-sided lid-driven cavity.

Design/methodology/approach:

Finite Difference Lattice Boltzmann method (FDLBM) has been applied to solve the complex problem. This study has been conducted for the certain pertinent parameters of Richardson number (Ri=0.00062-1), power-law index (n=0.2-1), Soret parameter (Sr=−5-5) as Dufour number effects have been investigated from Dr=−5 to 5 at Buoyancy ratio of N=1 and Lewis number of Le=5.

Findings:

Results indicate that the augmentation of Richardson number causes heat and mass transfer to decrease. The fall of the power-law index declines heat and mass transfer at Ri=0.00062 and 0.01 in various Dufour and Soret parameters. At Ri=1, the heat and mass transfer rise with the increment of power-law index for Dr=0 and Sr=0. The least effect of power-law index on heat and mass transfer among the studied Richardson numbers was observed at Ri=1. The positive Dufour numbers augment the heat transfer gradually as the positive Soret numbers enhance the mass transfer. The Dr=−5 and Sr=−5 provokes the negative average Nusselt and Sherwood numbers, respectively, to be generated. The least magnitude of the average Nusselt and Sherwood numbers were obtained at Dr=−1 and Sr=−1, respectively.

Originality/value:

Soret and Dufour effects in double diffusive mixed convection has not been studied in a lid-driven cavity. In addition. this study has been conducted also for shear-thinning fluids.