Heat transfer behaviours of nanofluids in a uniformly heated tube

In the present work, we consider the problem of the forced convection flow of water– γAl₂O₃ and ethylene glycol– γAl₂O₃ nanofluids inside a uniformly heated tube that is submitted to a constant and uniform heat flux at the wall. In general, it is observed that the inclusion of nanoparticles has increased considerably the heat transfer at the tube wall for both the laminar and turbulent regimes. Such improvement of heat transfer becomes more pronounced with the increase of the particle concentration. On the other hand, the presence of particles has produced adverse effects on the wall friction that also increases with the particle volume concentration. Results have also shown that the ethylene glycol– γAl₂O₃ mixture gives a far better heat transfer enhancement than the water– γAl₂O₃ mixture.     

纳米流体应用于强化传热的研究进展及面临的挑战

纳米流体是近年来新兴的一种强化传热工质,其在强化传热领域有着广阔的应用前景,然而目前对纳米流体强化传热应用的研究还存在一些障碍。本文从纳米流体的制备和传热特性方面总结了近几年的研究进展,并提出了研究过程中需要克服的几个问题,以促进今后进一步的研究工作。     

Intriguingly high convective heat transfer enhancement of nanofluid coolants in laminar flows

We reported on investigation of the convective heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids as coolants in laminar flows inside a circular copper tube with constant wall temperature. Nanofluids containing Al₂O₃, ZnO, TiO₂, and MgO nanoparticles were prepared with a mixture of 55 vol.% distilled water and 45 vol.% ethylene glycol as base fluid. It was found that the heat transfer behaviors of the nanofluids were highly depended on the volume fraction, average size, species of the suspended nanoparticles and the flow conditions. MgO, Al₂O₃, and ZnO nanofluids exhibited superior enhancements of heat transfer coefficient, with the highest enhancement up to 252% at a Reynolds number of 1000 for MgO nanofluid. Our results demonstrated that these oxide nanofluids might be promising alternatives for conventional coolants.     

Flow and heat transfer over a rotating porous disk in a nanofluid

The steady flow of an incompressible viscous fluid due to a rotating disk in a nanofluid is studied. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically by a finite difference scheme, namely the Keller-box method. Numerical results for the flow and heat transfer characteristics are obtained for various values of the nanoparticle volume fraction parameter φ and suction/injection parameter h₀. Two models for the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, namely the Maxwell-Garnett model and the Patel model, are considered. It is found that for the Patel model, the heat transfer rate at the surface increases for both suction and injection, whereas different behaviors are observed for the Maxwell-Garnett model, i.e. increasing the values of φ leads to a decrease in the heat transfer rate at the surface for suction, but increases for injection. The results of this study can be used in the design of an effective cooling system for electronic components to help ensure effective and safe operational conditions.     

Heat transfer behaviour of nanofluids in a uniformly heated circular tube fitted with helical inserts in laminar flow

The CFD simulation of heat transfer characteristics of a nanofluid in a circular tube fitted with helical twist inserts under constant heat flux has been explained using Fluent version 6.3.26 in laminar flow. Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in water of 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% concentrations and helical twist inserts of twist ratios 2.93, 3.91 and 4.89 has been used for the simulation. All thermophysical properties of nanofluids are temperature dependent. The heat transfer enhancement increases with Reynolds number and decreases with twist ratio with maximum for the twist ratio 2.93. By comparing the heat transfer rates of water and nanofluids, the increase in Nusselt number is 5%–31% for different helical inserts and different volume concentrations. The maximum heat transfer enhancement is 31.29% for helical insert of twist ratio 2.93 and for the volume concentration of 1.5% corresponding to the Reynolds number of 2039. The data obtained by simulation match with the literature value of water with the discrepancy of less than ±10% for plain tube and tube fitted with helical tape inserts for Nusselt number.     

Heat transfer enhancement of laminar nanofluids flow in a triangular duct using vortex generator

In this work, two dimensional laminar flow of different nanofluids flow inside a triangular duct with the existence of vortex generator is numerically investigated. The governing equations of mass, momentum and energy were solved using the finite volume method (FVM). The effects of type of the nanoparticles, particle concentrations, and Reynolds number on the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of nanofluids are examined. Reynolds number is ranged from 100 to 800. A constant surface temperature is assumed to be the thermal condition for the upper and lower heated walls. In the present work, three nanofluids are examined which are Al₂O₃, CuO and SiO₂ suspended in the base fluid of ethylene glycol with nanoparticles concentrations ranged from 1 to 6%. The results show that for the case of SiO₂–EG, at ? = 6% and Re = 800, it is found that the average Nusselt number is about 50.0% higher than the case of Re = 100.     

Numerical study of heat transfer enhancement of counter nanofluids flow in rectangular microchannel heat exchanger

This paper reports a numerical analysis of the performance of a counter-flow rectangular shaped microchannel heat exchanger (MCHE) using nanofluids as the working fluids. Finite volume method was used to solve the three-dimensional steady, laminar developing flow and conjugate heat transfer in aluminum MCHE. The nanofluids used were Ag, Al₂O₃, CuO, SiO₂, and TiO₂ and the performance was compared with water. The thermal, flow fields and performance of the MCHE were analyzed using different nanofluids, different Reynolds numbers and different nanoparticle concentrations. Temperature profile, heat transfer coefficient, pressure profile, and wall shear stress were obtained from the simulations and the performance was discussed in terms of heat transfer rate, pumping power, effectiveness, and performance index. Results indicated enhanced performance with the usage of nanofluids, and slight penalty in pressure drop. The increase in Reynolds number caused an increase in the heat transfer rate and a decrease in the overall bulk temperature of the cold fluid. The increase in nanoparticle concentration also yielded better performance at the expense of increased pressure drop.     

Numerical investigation of EHD effects on heat transfer enhancement and flow pattern of R-134a two phase flow

In this paper the effects of electrohydrodynamics (EHD) on heat transfer enhancement and flow pattern of R134a two-phase mixture, flowing in a horizontal tube, were numerically investigated. A uniform DC electric field was applied through a circular stainless steel rod along the centerline of tube, while the tube was considered as a grounded electrode. The simulations, in order to investigate the EHD mechanism, were performed for a constant heat flux 2000 W/m², voltages between 0 and 5 kV, inlet volume fractions 65% and 85%, mass fluxes from 30 kg/m²s to 50 kg/m²s and electrode diameters between 1.57 mm and 2.4 mm. These flow conditions correspond to stratified flow. The flow regime redistributions under the applied electric field was obtained. The results show that the steady state condition was occurred at the time about 900 ms. According to the results, enhancement ratio is directly proportional to voltage, and it is reversely proportional to electrode diameter, mass flux and inlet volume fraction.     

KKL correlation for simulation of nanofluid flow and heat transfer in a permeable channel

Hydrothermal behavior of nanofluid fluid between two parallel plates is studied. One of the plates is externally heated, and the other plate, through which coolant fluid is injected, expands or contracts with time. The effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid are calculated by KKL correlation. The effects of the nanoparticle volume fraction, Reynolds number, Expansion ratio and power law index on Hydrothermal behavior are investigated. Results show that heat transfer enhancement has direct relationship with Reynolds number when power law index is equals to zero but opposite trend is observed for other values of power law index.     

微细通道纳米与非纳米流体传热和压降对比研究

分别以0.2%、0.5%、1%质量分数的Al2O3-H2O纳米流体和去离子水为实验工质,在高2mm,宽1mm的矩形微细通道内进行纳米流体与非纳米流体两相沸腾传热和压降对比研究。实验结果表明:增加质量通量对两种工质换热系数影响都较小,但增加热流密度可提高换热系数;在相同工况下,与水基液相比,采用Al2O3-H2O纳米流体换热系数明显增大,且随着纳米流体质量分数的增加而增加,对于该实验换热系数可提高8%～17%;随着纳米颗粒质量分数和质量通量的增加,两相摩擦压降显著增大。     

Predicting the thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids using computational intelligence

Nanofluids, composed of nanoparticles in base liquids, have drawn increasing attention in heat transfer applications due to their anomalously increased thermal conductivity. Pertinent parameters, including the base liquid thermal conductivity, particle thermal conductivity, particle size, particle volume fraction, and temperature, have been shown to have significant but complex effects on thermal performance of nanofluids, which is commonly characterized by the thermal conductivity enhancement, E%. In this work, machine learning is used to develop the Gaussian process regression model to find statistical correlations between E% and aforementioned physical parameters among various types of nanofluids. Nearly 300 nanofluid samples, dispersions of metal and ceramic nanoparticles in water, ethylene glycol, and transformer oil, are explored for this purpose. The modeling approach demonstrates a high degree of accuracy and stability, contributing to efficient and low-cost estimations of E%.     

Numerical investigation of using various electrode arrangements for amplifying the EHD enhanced heat transfer in a smooth channel

Forced convection heat transfer enhancement with electrohydrodynamic (EHD) technique of turbulent flow inside a smooth channel has been numerically investigated. A two dimensional numerical approach has been chosen to evaluate the local and average heat transfer coefficient. In addition, the swirling flow pattern in the presence of an electric field has been studied. To achieve higher enhancement while using multiple electrodes, variety of electrode arrangements have been examined for specified values of Reynolds number, applied voltage, and wire radius. The results demonstrate that different electrode arrangements cause significant improvement of the heat transfer coefficient.     

Enhancement of convective heat transfer by electrically-induced swirling effect in laminar and fully-developed internal flows

A computational and experimental approach is undertaken to study the enhancement of convective heat transfer in fully-developed internal flows by an electrically-induced secondary flow field. Using longitudinal flat electrodes along a parallel-plate configuration, the corona discharge is employed to generate an electrically induced secondary flow on the cross section of the flow passage. The electrically-induced secondary flow forms a swirling flow field in the fully-developed condition and enhances the heat transfer significantly. The flow field was solved computationally and the results were verified and validated by grid refinement study and computational error analysis.     

Convective heat transfer flow of nanofluid in a porous medium over wavy surface

In this letter, water base nanofluid flow over wavy surface in a porous medium of spherical packing beds is investigated. The copper oxides particles are taken into account. These properties are rehabilitated when fluid interacts with porous walls. For porous medium, Dupuit–Forchheimer model; an extension of Darcy's law model is utilized. The natures of velocity and temperature profiles of nanofluid are discussed graphically whereas the values of convection heat transfer coefficient in the presence of different nanoparticles concentrations in porous medium is presented in tabular form. The obtained results illustrate that convection heat transfer is improved by nanoparticles concentration but reduces when fluid attract to pores structured medium. On the other hand, when particles are added in fluid, convection heat transfer rate is improved but flow velocity is declined.     

Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of Water-CuO Nanofluid in a sinusoidal channel with a porous medium

This study has compared the convection heat transfer of Water-based fluid flow with that of Water-Copper oxide (CuO) nanofluid in a sinusoidal channel with a porous medium. The heat flux in the lower and upper walls has been assumed constant, and the flow has been assumed to be two-dimensional, steady, laminar, and incompressible. The governing equations include equations of continuity, momentum, and energy. The assumption of thermal equilibrium has been considered between the porous medium and the fluid. The effects of the parameters, Reynolds number and Darcy number on the thermal performance of the channel, have been investigated. The results of this study show that the presence of a porous medium in a channel, as well as adding nanoparticles to the base fluid, increases the Nusselt number and the convection heat transfer coefficient. Also the results show that As the Reynolds number increases, the temperature gradient increases. In addition, changes in this parameter are greater in the throat of the flow than in convex regions due to changes in the channel geometry. In addition, porous regions reduce the temperature difference, which in turn increases the convective heat transfer coefficient.     

微型热管传热极限的研究

热管技术已在电子设备散热领域得到广泛应用。热管的传热能力虽然很大,但不能无限加大热负荷。文中讨论了热管的主要极限如沸腾极限、毛细极限、粘性极限、声速极限、携带极限等的理论表达式,就一种实验用微槽平板热管进行了理论计算,得出了毛细极限是实验热管主要传热极限的结论。     

Quantification of the water boiling heat transfer in micro-structures by image analysis

The heat transfer performance of a micro-vaporizer has been measured by conventional methods (using temperatures, flow rates, effective power input). The study was carried out for laminar flow in channels (5 mm×3 cm×200 μm) micro-structured with square obstacles to increase the specific area. The results show that high heat transfer coefficients (1300– 2500 W m⁻²/C⁻¹) can be reached in such a micro-structured channel. Image analysis was done to estimate the volume vapour fraction, which can be converted into the mass vapour fraction using a slip ratio and avoids the need for any temperature or electric power input measurements. The estimation of this slip ratio is discussed in this paper.     

Numerical simulation of laminar forced convection of water-CuO nanofluid inside a triangular duct

In this article, distilled water and CuO particles with volume fraction of 1%, 2% and 4% are numerically studied. The steady state flow regime is considered laminar with Reynolds number of 100, and nano-particles diameters are assumed 20 nm and 80 nm. The hydraulic diameter and the length of equilateral triangular channel are 8 mm and 1000 mm, respectively. The problem is solved for two different boundary conditions; firstly, constant heat flux for all sides as a validation approach; and secondly, constant heat flux for two sides and constant temperature for one side (hot plate). Convective heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, pressure loss through the channel, velocity distribution in cross section and temperature distribution on walls are investigated in detail. The fluid flow is supposed to be one-phase flow. It can be observed that nano-fluid leads to a remarkable enhancement on heat transfer coefficient. Furthermore, CuO particles increase pressure loss through the channel and velocity distribution in fully developed cross section of channel, as well. The computations reveal that the size of nano-particles has no significant influence on heat transfer properties. Besides, the study shows a good agreement between provided outcomes and experimental data available in the literature.     

纳米流体微通道流动换热数值模拟研究

采用计算流体动力学方法,对两种不同浓度的水-Al2O3纳米流体以及五种不同高宽比的微通道热沉的流动换热特性开展了数值模拟研究.结果 表明,提高纳米颗粒体积分数可降低流固换热面的平均温度,从而提升纳米流体的换热能力,但同时也会显著提升系统的泵功率;通过改变微通道高宽比可有效提升热沉的换热能力,增大高宽比能够有效降低热沉受...     

Experimental investigation of flow boiling heat transfer enhancement under ultrasound fields in a minichannel heat sink

Ultrasound is considered to be an effective active heat transfer enhancement method, which is widely used in various fields. But there is no clear understanding of flow boiling heat transfer characteristics in micro/mini-channels under ultrasonic field since the studies related are limited up to now. In this paper, a novel minichannel heat exchanger with two ultrasonic transducers inside the inlet and outlet plenum respectively is designed to experimentally investigate the impacts of ultrasound on flow boiling heat transfer enhancement in a minichannel heat sink. Flow visualization analyses reveal that ultrasound can promote rapid bubble motion, bubble detachment from heating wall surface and thereby new bubble generation, and decrease the length of confined bubble. Furthermore, the flow boiling experiments are initiated employing working fluid R141b at different ultrasonic parameters (e.g., frequency, power, angle of radiation) and heat flux under three types of ultrasound excitations: no ultrasound (NU), single inlet ultrasound (IU), inlet and outlet ultrasound (IOU). The results indicate that ultrasound has obvious augmentation effects on flow boiling heat transfer even though the intensification effects will be limited with the heat flux increases. The higher ultrasonic power, the lower ultrasonic frequency and the higher ultrasonic radiation angle, the better intensification efficiency. The maximum enhancement ratio of h_ave in the saturated boiling section reaches 1.88 at 50 W, 23 kHz and 45° under the experimental conditions. This study will be beneficial for future applications of ultrasound on flow boiling heat transfer in micro/mini-channels.