Limiting thermal characteristics for flow of non-Newtonian fluids between asymmetrically heated parallel plates: An analytical study

Abstract

In this work, an analytical study on the limiting thermal transport characteristics for the flow of a non-Newtonian fluid namely, power law liquid, between asymmetrically heated parallel plates is presented. The transport equations for mass, momentum, and energy are analytically solved to obtain closed-form expressions for the temperature distributions in the flow field and the limiting Nusselt number in terms of relevant parameters. The effects of frictional heating due to viscous dissipation on the heat transfer characteristics are studied. Results are presented in terms of degree of asymmetric heating, Brinkman number, and power law index. The most important finding from the present work is the nontrivial interplay between degree of asymmetric heating and the rheological behavior of the fluid in dictating the thermal transport characteristics of heat.