Analytical study of thermal transport in microchannels with hafnium nanoparticles suspended in Williamson fluid under electro-kinetic force

The flow of non-Newtonian fluids under the effects of electro-osmotic phenomena has significantly been used in microfluidic systems and microdevices. Motivated by the applications of non-Newtonian fluids with electro-kinetic force, in this theoretical analysis, the research is conducted to examine the characteristics of thermal transport analysis of Williamson fluid with electro-kinetic force along the suspension of hafnium spherical particles through the two different configurations under the convective boundary conditions. The thermal transport analysis of Williamson fluid suspended by hafnium particles through the convergent and divergent microchannel under the effects of electro-kinetic force and convective boundary conditions has not been discussed before. The analytic solution is obtained by using the perturbation method and presents the analytical expression of the physical quantities of the analysis. Further, the perturbation solution is compared with the numerical solution and noted good agreement with each other. The thermal profile is enhanced by the Brinkman number and diminishes against the Biot number. The heat transfer rate of the divergent channel is greater than the convergent channel. Two-phase fluid with 10% suspension provides 2% and 25% more heat transfer through the convergent and divergent conduits, respectively as compared to single-phase fluid. Further, the divergent conduit provides 23% more heat transfer as compared to the divergent conduit. The hafnium nanoparticles are commonly used in various processes such as coolant in atomic reactors. Moreover, the suspension of such metallic particles is also beneficial in industry to manufacturing the structure of aircraft owing to its excellent durability. The current study can help develop a new approach to cancer therapy by using the high atomic number of nanoparticles. The outcomes of this study can also be helpful to monitor future work in which thermal transport of thermal systems can be improved by suspending the different types of solid particles in other types of non-Newtonian fluids such as Williamson fluids. The present analysis is original and has not been submitted nor published before.