Natural convection of sodium alginate (SA) non-Newtonian nanofluid flow between two vertical flat plates by analytical and numerical methods

AbstractIn this paper, natural convection of a non-Newtonian nanofluid flow between two vertical flat plates is investigated analytically and numerically. Sodium alginate (SA) is considered as the base non-Newtonian fluid, and then copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) as nanoparticles are added to it. The effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid are calculated by Maxwell–Garnetts (MG) and Brinkman models, respectively. Least Square Method (LSM), Differential Transformation Method (DTM) and fourth-order Runge–Kutta numerical method (NUM) are used to solve the present problem. The influence of the some physical parameters such as nanofluid volume friction on non-dimensional velocity and temperature profiles is considered. The results show that Cu as nanoparticles makes larger velocity and temperature values for nanofluid compared to Ag