Marangoni convection in a trapezoidal enclosure with a heated circular cylinder

A numerical study was carried out to investigate the fluid-flow and heat transfer rate of nanofluid inside a trapezoidal enclosure with a circular heated cylinder. One side of the wall was cooled at constant temperature and the cylinder was placed in different locations inside the cavity. The finite element method was used to obtain the approximate solutions for the governing equations with respect to its boundary conditions. The parameters that were considered were the Marangoni number, Rayleigh number, cylinder position, and solid particle volume fraction. The results showed that the position of the cylinder influences fluid-flow and heat transfer, and that the effects of the Rayleigh and Marangoni number were significant on the strength of the flow.