Computational study of magneto-convective heat transfer in a rectangular enclosure

Purpose This article examines unsteady laminar incompressible viscous fluid flow inside a two-dimensional rectangular-shaped enclosure with the impacts of magnetic field, thermal radiation and thermal buoyancy. Design/methodology/approach The mathematical model consisting of partial differential equations (PDEs) with appropriate initial and boundary conditions governing the considered flow and heat transport phenomena is made dimensionless through nondimensional variables and then solved numerically using the Galerkin finite element method (GFEM). Findings Our findings showed that the average rate of heat transfer, temperature field and velocity field increases for higher thermal Grashof number. The velocity field and the average rate of heat transfer decline with the increase of the Hartmann number. The pressure field increases remarkably in the region above the heated rod for higher thermal Grashof number. Furthermore, higher thermal radiation parameter augmented the temperature field while it declined the average heat transfer rate. Practical implications The study conducted, along with its findings can be of valuable importance in many practical applications, including predicting and optimizing energy extraction in geothermal reservoirs, optimizing the thermal management in microelectronics devices, earthquake modeling for a better understanding of the fault zones, magnetically controlled flow devices and enhancing the efficiency of energy in solar thermal collectors. Originality/value The novelty of the present work is to investigate the magnetic field and thermal radiation influences on the convective flow of viscous fluid in a specific type of rectangular cavity having adiabatic walls and a heat source at its center.