Experimental investigation into convective heat transfer of nanofluids at the entrance region under laminar flow conditions

This paper reports an experimental work on the convective heat transfer of nanofluids, made of γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles and de-ionized water, flowing through a copper tube in the laminar flow regime. The results showed considerable enhancement of convective heat transfer using the nanofluids. The enhancement was particularly significant in the entrance region, and was much higher than that solely due to the enhancement on thermal conduction. It was also shown that the classical Shah equation failed to predict the heat transfer behaviour of nanofluids. Possible reasons for the enhancement were discussed. Migration of nanoparticles, and the resulting disturbance of the boundary layer were proposed to be the main reasons.     

Numerical investigation of effective parameters in convective heat transfer of nanofluids flowing under a laminar flow regime

This article presents a numerical investigation on heat transfer performance and pressure drop of nanofluids flows through a straight circular pipe in a laminar flow regime and constant heat flux boundary condition. Al₂O₃, CuO, carbon nanotube (CNT) and titanate nanotube (TNT) nanoparticles dispersed in water and ethylene glycol/water with particle concentrations ranging between 0 and 6 vol.% were used as working fluids for simulating the heat transfer and flow behaviours of nanofluids. The proposed model has been validated with the available experimental data and correlations. The effects of particle concentrations, particle diameter, particles Brownian motions, Reynolds number, type of the nanoparticles and base fluid on the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of nanofluids were determined and discussed in details. The results indicated that the particle volume concentration, Brownian motion and aspect ratio of nanoparticles similar to flow Reynolds number increase the heat transfer coefficient, while the nanoparticle diameter has an opposite effect on the heat transfer coefficient. Finally, the present study provides some considerations for the appropriate choice of the nanofluids for practical applications.     

Experimental investigation of turbulent flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of alumina water nanofluids in fully developed flow regime

In this paper the convective heat transfer and friction factor of the nanofluids in a circular tube with constant wall temperature under turbulent flow conditions were investigated experimentally. Al₂O₃ nanoparticles with diameters of 40 nm dispersed in distilled water with volume concentrations of 0.1–2 vol.% were used as the test fluid. All physical properties of the Al₂O₃–water nanofluids needed to calculate the pressure drop and the convective heat transfer coefficient were measured. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid is higher than that of the base fluid and increased with increasing the particle concentrations. Moreover, the Reynolds number has a little effect on heat transfer enhancement. The experimental data were compared with traditional convective heat transfer and viscous pressure drop correlations for fully developed turbulent flow. It was found that if the measured thermal conductivities and viscosities of the nanofluids were used in calculating the Reynolds, Prandtl, and Nusselt numbers, the existing correlations perfectly predict the convective heat transfer and viscous pressure drop in tubes.     

Numerical investigation into the convective heat transfer of TiO2 nanofluids flowing through a straight tube under the laminar flow conditions

A numerical study has been performed by using both single phase method and combined Euler and Lagrange method on the convective heat transfer of TiO₂ nanofluids flowing through a straight tube under the laminar flow conditions. The effects of nanoparticles concentrations, Reynolds number, and various nanoparticle aggregates sizes are investigated on the flow and the convective heat transfer behaviour. The results show significant enhancement of heat transfer of nanofluids particularly in the entrance region. The numerical results are compared with the experimental data and reasonable good agreement is achieved.     

Characteristics of flow and heat transfer of nanofluids under laminar states

The current article used four different models (single-phase, Mixture, Eulerian, and discrete phase model) to investigate the flow and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids under a laminar state. We explored the Al₂O₃-water nanofluid inside a microscale trapezoidal channel and the CuO-oil inside a circular channel with a regular size. The velocity and temperature fields of nanofluids were discussed by comparing the differences among each model. It is revealed that the change of flow characteristics of nanofluid plays a more decisive role in its heat transfer enhancement besides the improvement of its physical properties.     

Flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of water-based Al2O3 nanofluids in fully developed laminar flow regime

We have measured the pressure drop and convective heat transfer coefficient of water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids flowing through a uniformly heated circular tube in the fully developed laminar flow regime. The experimental results show that the data for nanofluid friction factor show a good agreement with analytical predictions from the Darcy’s equation for single-phase flow. However, the convective heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluids increases by up to 8% at a concentration of 0.3 vol% compared with that of pure water and this enhancement cannot be predicted by the Shah equation. Furthermore, the experimental results show that the convective heat transfer coefficient enhancement exceeds, by a large margin, the thermal conductivity enhancement. Therefore, we have discussed the various effects of thermal conductivities under static and dynamic conditions, energy transfer by nanoparticle dispersion, nanoparticle migration due to viscosity gradient, non-uniform shear rate, Brownian diffusion and thermophoresis on the remarkable enhancement of the convective heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids. Based on scale analysis and numerical solutions, we have shown, for the first time, the flattening of velocity profile, induced from large gradients in bulk properties such as nanoparticle concentration, thermal conductivity and viscosity. We propose that this flattening of velocity profile is a possible mechanism for the convective heat transfer coefficient enhancement exceeding the thermal conductivity enhancement.     

Experimental study of forced convective heat transfer of nanofluids in a microchannel

The forced convective heat transfer for flow of water and aqueous nanofluids (containing colloidal suspension of silica nanoparticles) inside a microchannel was studied experimentally for the constant wall temperature boundary condition. Applications of nanofluids have been explored in the literature for cooling of micro-devices due to the anomalous enhancements in their thermo-physical properties as well as due to their lower susceptibility to clogging. The effect of flow rate on thermal performance of nanofluid is analyzed in this study. Variations of thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid samples were also measured. The experimental results show that heat transfer increases with flow rate for both water and nanofluid samples; however, for the nanofluid samples, heat transfer enhancements occur at lower flow rates and heat transfer degradation occurs at higher flow rates (compared to that of water). Electron microscopy of the heat-exchanging surface revealed that surface modification of the microchannel flow surface occurred due to nanoparticle precipitation from the nanofluid. Hence, the fouling of the microchannels by the nanofluid samples is believed to be responsible for the progressive degradation in the thermal performance, especially at higher flow rates. Hence, these results are observed to be consistent with previous experimental studies reported in the literature.     

Review of convective heat transfer enhancement with nanofluids

Nanofluids are considered to offer important advantages over conventional heat transfer fluids. Over a decade ago, researchers focused on measuring and modeling the effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids. Recently important theoretical and experimental research works on convective heat transfer appeared in the open literatures on the enhancement of heat transfer using suspensions of nanometer-sized solid particle materials, metallic or nonmetallic in base heat transfer fluids. The purpose of this review article is to summarize the important published articles on the enhancement of the forced convection heat transfer with nanofluids.     

Forced convective heat transfer of nanofluids in microchannels

Convective heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of nanofluids in rectangular microchannels were measured. An integrated microsystem consisting of a single microchannel on one side, and two localized heaters and five polysilicon temperature sensors along the channel on the other side were fabricated. Aluminum dioxide (Al₂O₃) with diameter of 170 nm nanofluids with various particle volume fractions were used in experiments to investigate the effect of the volume fraction of the nanoparticles to the convective heat transfer and fluid flow in microchannels. The convective heat transfer coefficient of the Al₂O₃ nanofluid in laminar flow regime was measured to be increased up to 32% compared to the distilled water at a volume fraction of 1.8 volume percent without major friction loss. The Nusselt number measured increases with increasing the Reynolds number in laminar flow regime. The measured Nusselt number which turned out to be less than 0.5 was successfully correlated with Reynolds number and Prandtl number based on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids.     

Experimental investigation of convective heat transfer coefficient during downward laminar flow condensation of R134a in a vertical smooth tube

This paper presents an experimental investigation of laminar film condensation of R134a in a vertical smooth tube having an inner diameter of 7–8.1 mm and a length of 500 mm. Condensation experiments were performed at mass fluxes of 29 and 263 kg m^?2 s^?1. The pressures were between 0.77 and 0.1 MPa. The heat transfer coefficient, film thickness and condensation rate during downward condensing film were determined. The results show that an interfacial shear effect is significant for the laminar condensation heat transfer of R134a under the given conditions. A new correlation for the condensation heat transfer coefficient is proposed for practical applications.     

Numerical analysis of laminar flow heat transfer of nanofluids in a flattened tube

In this work, a three-dimensional analysis is used to study the heat transfer performance of nanofluid flows through a flattened tube in a laminar flow regime and constant heat flux boundary condition. CuO nanoparticles dispersed in ethylene glycol with particle volume concentrations ranging between 0 and 4 vol.% were used as working fluids for simulating the heat transfer of nanofluids. Effects of some important parameters such as nanoparticle volume concentration, particles Brownian motions, and Reynolds number on heat transfer coefficient have been determined and discussed in details. Results have shown that the heat transfer coefficient increases with increase in the volume concentration level of the nanoparticle, Brownian motion and the Reynolds number. Numerical results have been validated by comparison of simulations with those available in the literature.     

A critical review of convective heat transfer of nanofluids

A nanofluid is a suspension of ultrafine particles in a conventional base fluid which tremendously enhances the heat transfer characteristics of the original fluid. Furthermore, nanofluids are expected to be ideally suited in practical applications as their use incurs little or no penalty in pressure drop because the nanoparticles are ultrafine, therefore, appearing to behave more like a single-phase fluid than a solid–liquid mixture. About a decade ago, several published articles focused on measuring and determining the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids, some also evaluated the effective viscosity. There are only a few published articles on deriving the forced convective heat transfer of nanofluids. The purpose of this article is to summarize the published subjects respect to the forced convective heat transfer of the nanofluids both of experimental and numerical investigation.     

A review on natural convective heat transfer of nanofluids

Nanofluids are considered to have great potential for heat transfer enhancement and are highly suited to application in practical heat transfer processes. Recently, several important studies were carried out to understand and explain the causes of the enhancement or control of heat transfer using nanofluids. The main aim upon which the present work is based is to give a comprehensive review on the research progress on the natural convective heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids for both single- and two-phase models. Both experimental and theoretical studies are reviewed for natural convection of nanofluids in different types of enclosures.     

Study on forced convective heat transfer of non-newtonian nanofluids

This paper is concerned with the forced convective heat transfer of dilute liquid suspensions of nanoparticles (nanofluids) flowing through a straight pipe under laminar conditions. Stable nanofluids are formulated by using the high shear mixing and ultrasonication methods. They are then characterised for their size, surface charge, thermal and rheological properties and tested for their convective heat transfer behaviour. Mathematical modelling is performed to simulate the convective heat transfer of nanofluids using a single phase flow model and considering nanofluids as both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid. Both experiments and mathematical modelling show that nanofluids can substantially enhance the convective heat transfer. Analyses of the results suggest that the non-Newtonian character of nanofluids influences the overall enhancement, especially for nanofluids with an obvious non-Newtonian character.     

四氧化三铁纳米流体强化热管换热的实验研究

通过实验研究四氧化三铁（Fe3O4）纳米流体重力热管的传热性能。在不同输入功率、不同充液率、不同纳米流体质量浓度的工况下测试热管的外壁温度,再理论计算其等效对流传热系数、热阻。结果表明：当充液率为50%,输入功率为40W时,水基液重力热管和纳米流体重力热管都有最高的等效对流传热系数,并且纳米流体质量浓度为1%时,重力热管具有最高的等效对流传热系数5455.4 W.m-2.K-1,较水基液重力热管最多可增大79.1%。四氧化三铁纳米流体运用于重力热管可以有效减小其热阻、强化其传热性能。     

Experimental investigation of nanofluids in confined laminar radial flows

This paper presents an experimental investigation of heat transfer enhancement capabilities of coolants with suspended nanoparticles (Al₂O₃ dispersed in water) inside a radial flow cooling device. Steady, laminar radial flow of a nanofluid between a heated disk and a flat plate with axial coolant injection has been considered. An experimental test rig was built. Results show that heat transfer enhancements are possible in radial flow cooling systems with the use of nanofluids. In general, it was noticed that the Nusselt number increases with particle volume fraction and Reynolds number and decreases with an increase in disk spacing.     

Experimental investigation of a solar dryer with natural convective heat flow

A direct type natural convection solar dryer is designed. It is constructed in local materials (wood, blades of glass, metals) then tested experimentally in foodstuffs drying (cassava, bananas, mango). It is about an experimental approach which consists in analyzing the behavior of the dryer. The study relates mainly kinetics and establishment of drying heat balances. The influence of significant parameters governing heat and mass transfers, such as solar incident radiation, drying air mass flow and effectiveness, is analyzed in order to evaluate its thermal performances. Experimental data can be represented by empirical correlations of the form M(t)=M_iexp(−kt) for representation of drying process. The resolution of these drying equations makes-possible to predict total drying time of each product. Moreover, this drying process allows to reduce the moisture content of cassava and sweet banana approximately to 80% in 19 and 22 h, respectively to reach the safety threshold value of 13%. This value permits the conservation of these products about one year without deterioration. The determination of parameters, like ambient temperature, drying chamber temperature, drying air mass flow and incident heat fluxes, allow to predict the drying effectiveness for modeling and refining the dimensioning of the elaborate prototype.     

Experimental investigation on heat transfer effect of conical strip inserts in a circular tube under laminar flow

The aim of this paper is to observe the Nusselt number and friction factor behavior of the circular tube with conical strip inserts as turbulators in a laminar flow condition, using staggered and non-staggered conical strips with three different twist ratios (Y = 2, 3 and 5). The conical strip is inserted in the forward and backward direction individually compared to the flow of water which is the working fluid. The results indicate that the conical strip inserts increases the Nusselt number when compared to the plain surface tube. It is observed that the strip geometry has a major effect on the thermal performance of the circular tube. On examination of different strips for determining the enhancement of Nusselt number, the staggered conical strip with the twist ratio of Y = 3 has given a better result compared to the other two strips. Finally, correlations have been derived using regression analysis for predicting the Nusselt number and friction factor.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer in oscillating annular flow

Heat transfer from a surface having constant heat flux subjected to oscillating flow in a vertical annular liquid column is investigated experimentally. The oscillation of water column in annuli is created using a piston cylinder mechanism. The experiments are carried out for four different oscillation frequencies, three amplitudes and three heat fluxes while the other parameters remain constant. The cycle-averaged values are considered in the calculation of heat transfer using the control volume approximation. Based on the experimental data, an empirical equation is obtained for the cycle averaged Nusselt number as a function of kinetic Reynolds number and dimensionless amplitude.