Heat transfer enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure utilizing nanofluids is investigated for various pertinent parameters. A model is developed to analyze heat transfer performance of nanofluids inside an enclosure taking into account the solid particle dispersion. The transport equations are solved numerically using the finite-volume approach along with the alternating direct implicit procedure. Comparisons with previously published work on the basis of special cases are performed and found to be in excellent agreement. The effect of suspended ultrafine metallic nanoparticles on the fluid flow and heat transfer processes within the enclosure is analyzed and effective thermal conductivity enhancement maps are developed for various controlling parameters. In addition, an analysis of variants based on the thermophysical properties of nanofluid is developed and presented. It is shown that the variances within different models have substantial effects on the results. Finally, a heat transfer correlation of the average Nusselt number for various Grashof numbers and volume fractions is presented. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.