Effect of a Partition on Hydro-Magnetic Convection in an Enclosure

We deal with the effect of an adiabatic partition and magnetic field on magneto-hydrodynamic natural convection flow and heat transfer in a partitioned enclosure. The horizontal walls of the enclosure are adiabatic and the vertical walls are isothermal. The adiabatic partition is attached to either the bottom adiabatic wall or hot isothermal wall of the enclosure. The governing equations are discretized by the finite-volume method and are solved by iteration. We discuss transient and steady-state cases for different combinations of parameters in the study. The results are obtained for different values of the Hartmann, Grashof and Prandtl numbers and different positions of the partition, and presented graphically. The heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics inside the enclosure are affected by the partition and magnetic field. We find that the heat transfer rate is enhanced when the partition is attached to the adiabatic wall. The heat transfer rate is suppressed when the Hartmann number is increased. In the presence of the magnetic force, the heat transfer rate is increased by 1 and 2% when the Prandtl number is increased from 0. 015 to 0. 054 for the vertical and horizontal partition cases, respectively.