Thermophoresis and Brownian motion effects on boundary layer flow of nanofluid in presence of thermal stratification due to solar energy

The problem of laminar fluid flow,which results from the stretching of a vertical surface with variable stream conditions in a nanofluid due to solar energy,is investigated numerically.The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of the Brownian motion and thermophoresis in the presence of thermal stratification.The symmetry groups admitted by the corresponding boundary value problem are obtained by using a special form of Lie group transformations,namely,the scaling group of transformations.An exact solution is obtained for the translation symmetrys,and the numerical solutions are obtained for the scaling symmetry.This solution depends on the Lewis number,the Brownian motion parameter,the thermal stratification parameter,and the thermophoretic parameter.The conclusion is drawn that the flow field,the temperature,and the nanoparticle volume fraction profiles are significantly influenced by these parameters.Nanofluids have been shown to increase the thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer performance of base liquids.Nanoparticles in the base fluids also offer the potential in improving the radiative properties of the liquids,leading to an increase in the efficiency of direct absorption solar collectors.     

Measurement of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and viscosity of TiO2-water nanofluids

Nanofluid is an innovative heat transfer fluid with superior potential for enhancing the heat transfer performance of conventional fluids. Many attempts have been made to investigate its thermal conductivity and viscosity, which are important thermophysical properties. No definitive agreements have emerged, however, about these properties. This article reports the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of nanofluids experimentally. TiO₂ nanoparticles dispersed in water with volume concentration of 0.2–2 vol.% are used in the present study. A transient hot-wire apparatus is used for measuring the thermal conductivity of nanofluids whereas the Bohlin rotational rheometer (Malvern Instrument) is used to measure the viscosity of nanofluids. The data are collected for temperatures ranging from 15 °C to 35 °C. The results show that the measured viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluids increased as the particle concentrations increased and are higher than the values of the base liquids. Furthermore, thermal conductivity of nanofluids increased with increasing nanofluid temperatures and, conversely, the viscosity of nanofluids decreased with increasing temperature of nanofluids. Moreover, the measured thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids are quite different from the predicted values from the existing correlations and the data reported by other researchers. Finally, new thermophysical correlations are proposed for predicting the thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids.     

The influence of fluid properties on electrohydrodynamic heat transfer enhancement in liquids under viscous and electrically dominated flow conditions

Fluid property effects on electrohydrodynamic (EHD) heat transfer enhancement were investigated. Heat transfer, pressure drop, electrical power requirements, and the transition between the viscous dominated and electrically dominated flow regimes as a function of fluid properties were examined using three cooling oils having widely varying physical properties. Low viscosity and low electrical conductivity gave the greatest heat transfer enhancement for a given electrical power input. The required electrical power to achieve a specified heat transfer enhancement was greater for working fluids that had a small charge relaxation time, defined as the ratio of the electrical permittivity to the electrical conductivity. These results correlate well with available experimental and analytical data. A theoretical prediction of the effect of fluid properties and forced flow rate on the onset of EHD enhancement was experimentally verified. The onset of significant EHD heat transfer enhancement occurs most readily in low viscosity liquids at low Reynolds number flows for a given electrical power input.     

Dual solutions in mixed convection with variable physical properties

Assisting and opposing flows in a mixed convection boundary layer flow over an isothermal vertical plate are studied for the case of variable physical properties and uniform free stream. Fluid viscosity and thermal conductivity are assumed to be linear functions of temperature. Using local similarity the flow and heat transfer quantities are found to be functions of four parameters, i.e. Richardson number, Prandtl number, a viscosity variation parameter and a thermal conductivity variation parameter. Numerical solutions are obtained by two methods, a shooting technique and Nachtsheim-Swigert technique, for selected values of parameters appropriate for the fluids considered and specific temperatures of the plate and ambient fluid. For assisting flows, there exist solutions for all values of Richardson number while for opposing flows solutions exist only for a finite set of its values and, in addition, there also exist dual solutions. Important flow and heat transfer quantities of practical interest are determined and the influence of different parameters is discussed.     

Unsteady three-dimensional MHD flow of the micropolar fluid over an oscillatory disk with Cattaneo-Christov double diffusion

Cattaneo-Christov heat and mass flux models are considered rather than Fourier and Fick laws due to the presence of thermal and concentration transport hyperbolic phenomena. The generalized form of the Navier-Stokes model is considered in hydromagnetic flow. Three-dimensional(3 D) unsteady fluid motion is generated by the periodic oscillations of a rotating disk. Similarity transformations are used to obtain the normalized fluid flow model. The successive over relaxation(SOR) method with finite difference schemes are accomplished for the numerical solution of the obtained partial differential non-linear system. The flow features of the velocity, microrotation, temperature,and concentration fields are discussed in pictorial forms for various physical flow parameters. The couple stresses and heat and mass transfer rates for different physical quantities are explained via tabular forms. For better insight of the physical fluid model, 3 D fluid phenomena and two-dimensional(2 D) contours are also plotted. The results show that the micropolar fluids contain microstructure having non-symmetric stress tensor and are useful in lubrication theory. Moreover, the thermal and concentration waves in CattaneoChristov models have a significance role in the laser heating and enhancement in thermal conductivity.     

Effective thermal conductivity of heat pipes

Several heat pipes were designed and manufactured to study the effect of the working fluids, container materials, and the wick structures on the heat transfer mechanism of the heat pipes. Also, the effect of the number of wick layers on the effective thermal conductivity and the heat transfer characteristics of the heat pipes have been investigated. It was found that the flow behavior of the working fluid depends on the wicking structures and the number of wick layers. The heat transfer characteristics and the effective thermal conductivity are related directly to the flow behavior. Increasing the number of wick layers (up to 16 layers) increases the heat flux with smaller temperature differences. The flattening phenomena of the thermal resistance was observed after 16 wicks layers due to the entrainment limit.     

Near-critical fluid hydrodynamics

In the vicinity of the gas–liquid critical point, transport coefficients of pure fluids experience important changes. In particular, the thermal diffusivity tends to zero whereas the isothermal compressibility tends to infinity. Supercritical fluids are thus as dense as liquids and much more expandable than gases. These properties make the hydrodynamic similarity parameters vary over orders of magnitude when nearing the critical point, thus leading to a large field of research. We review here four main fields: heat transfer, cavity flows, interfaces and hydrodynamic instabilities. In the first, we present a fourth adiabatic heat transfer mechanism, called the piston effect, which carries heat much faster than diffusion, in the absence of convection. In the second, we show how this heat transfer mechanism interacts with buoyant convection. In the third, we basically show that a thermally non-homogeneous near-critical fluid behaves as a two miscible-phases fluid. In the fourth, we present some specific behavior of the Rayleigh–Benard convection, as recent experiments and numerical simulations have indicated. The last part gives some pathways in the continuation of the current research. We stress the need to fully develop the hydrodynamic of highly expandable, low heat diffusing fluids since the subject is both a bearer of new physics and is needed for the development of processes in chemical engineering. To cite this article: B. Zappoli, C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium and Heterogeneity Effects on the Onset of Convection in a Layered Porous Medium

The effect of local thermal non-equilibrium on the onset of convection in a porous medium consisting of two horizontal layers is studied analytically. Linear stability theory is applied. Variations of permeability, fluid conductivity, solid conductivity, interphase heat transfer coefficient and porosity are considered. It is found that heterogeneity of permeability and fluid conductivity have a major effect, heterogeneity of interphase heat transfer coefficient and porosity have a lesser effect, while heterogeneity of solid conductivity is relatively unimportant.     

Two numerical modelings of free convection heat transfer using nanofluids inside a square enclosure

This work describes the numerical simulation of natural convection heat transfer of Cu–water nanofluids in a square enclosure for Rayleigh numbers varying from 10³ up to 10⁵. Two different numerical approaches were used: the finite volume method and the finite element method. The nanofluids were assumed to be single-phase fluids with modified thermal properties obtained from experimental results and theoretical models. The results showed that the Nusselt number for nanofluids was basically the same as that obtained for the base fluid. Therefore, the enhancement observed in the heat transfer coefficient was significant due to the augmentation in the thermal conductivity.     

Boundary layer flow and heat transfer past a stretching plate with variable thermal conductivity

In the present paper, the boundary layer flow of viscous incompressible fluid over a stretching plate has been considered to solve heat flow problem with variable thermal conductivity. First, using similarity transformation, the components of velocity have been obtained. Then, the heat flow problem has been considered in two ways: (i) prescribed surface temperature (PST), and (ii) prescribed stretching plate heat flux (PHF) in case of variable thermal conductivity. Due to variable thermal conductivity, temperature profile has its two part—one mean temperature and other temperature profile induced due to variable thermal conductivity. The related results have been discussed with the help of graphs.     

Enhancement of natural convection heat transfer from a fin by triangular perforation of bases parallel and toward its tip

This study examines the heat transfer enhancement from a horizontal rectangular fin embedded with triangular perforations （their bases parallel and toward the fin tip） under natural convection. The fin＇s heat dissipation rate is compared to that of an equivalent solid one. The parameters considered are geometrical dimensions and thermal properties of the fin and the perforations. The gain in the heat transfer enhancement and the fin weight reduction due to the perforations are considered. The study shows that the heat dissipation from the perforated fin for a certain range of triangular perforation dimensions and spaces between perforations result in improvement in the heat transfer over the equivalent solid fin. The heat transfer enhancement of the perforated fin increases as the fin thermal conductivity and its thickness are increased.     

Effects of temperature dependent fluid properties and variable Prandtl number on the transient convective flow due to a porous rotating disk

In this paper we have studied the effects of temperature dependent fluid properties such as density, viscosity and thermal conductivity and variable Prandtl number on unsteady convective heat transfer flow over a porous rotating disk. Using similarity transformations we reduce the governing nonlinear partial differential equations for flow and heat transfer into a system of ordinary differential equations which are then solved numerically by applying Nachtsheim–Swigert shooting iteration technique along with sixth-order Runge–Kutta integration scheme. Comparison with previously published work for steady case of the problem were performed and found to be in very good agreement. The obtained numerical results show that the rate of heat transfer in a fluid of constant properties is higher than in a fluid of variable properties. The results further show that consideration of Prandtl number as constant within the boundary layer for variable fluid properties lead unrealistic results. Therefore, modeling thermal boundary layers with temperature dependent fluid properties Prandtl number must treated as variable inside the boundary layer.     

Unsteady two-fluid flow and heat transfer in a horizontal channel

The problem of unsteady oscillatory flow and heat transfer of two viscous immiscible fluids through a horizontal channel with isothermal permeable walls has been considered. The partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer are solved analytically using two-term harmonic and non-harmonic functions in both fluid regions of the channel. Effects of physical parameters such as viscosity ratio, conductivity ratio, Prandtl number and frequency parameter on the velocity and temperature fields are shown graphically. It is observed that the velocity and temperature decrease as the viscosity ratio increases, while they increase with increases in frequency parameter. The effect of increasing the thermal conductivity ratio also suppresses the temperature in both fluid regions. The effect of periodic frequency on the flow is depicted in tabular form. It is predicted that both the velocity and temperature profiles decrease as the periodic frequency increases.     

Conjugate heat transfer within a concentric annulus filled with micropolar fluid

This paper investigates numerically the conjugate heat transfer in an annulus between two concentric cylinders. The annulus contains micropolar fluid and is heated isothermally from its inner wall. The effect of Rayleigh number, thickness of inner wall, inner wall-fluid thermal conductivity ratio, and material parameters of micropolar fluid on heat transfer rate within the annulus has been investigated. The study has shown that for low Rayleigh number regimes and for thermal conductivity of the inner wall greater than that of the fluid, the increase of inner wall thickness increases the heat transfer rate through the annulus and vice versa. While for convection dominating regimes Ra ≥ 10⁴ the increase of inner wall thickness decreases the heat transfer rate. Moreover, the study has shown that for fixed geometrical and flow parameters the heat transfer decreases in case of micropolar fluids in comparison with that of Newtonian fluids.     

Elimination of the radiant component of measured liquid thermal conductivities

Experimental determination of the thermal conductivity of liquids requires to eliminate reliably thermal radiation heat transfer. Using an approximate calculation method such eliminations have been done on several liquids in a plane layer with a steady-state heat transfer by simultaneous conduction and radiation. The method, the admissibility of simplifications, and the results are discussed. It is demonstrated that the knowledge of the optical properties of the liquid is very important, especially that of the IR-absorption spectrum. As the quantitative accuracy of available spectra is not sufficient, such spectra have to be determined particularly. The calculation method has been used to eliminate thermal radiation from effective thermal conductivities measured on a liquid within several layers of different thickness, where convection heat transfer was not present. The resulting “pure” thermal conductivities are independent of layer thickness. Thus the validity of the calculation method is verified.     

Application of transfer matrix method in heat transfer performance analysis of multi-re-entrant honeycomb structures

The thermal properties for the multi-re-entrant honeycomb are investigated, where the hexagon and re-entrant topologies are applied for comparison. A compact model was adopted for the local heat transfer rate and pressure drop estimations while the total heat transfer rate was analyzed using the transfer matrix method. A thermal performance index was specified to characterize a good heat exchange medium that can transfer more heat at the expense of lower pressure loss. Numerical results reveal better thermal performances of multi-re-entrant honeycombs over hexagon and re-entrant topologies, attributed to the presence of added base walls. Auxetic effect introduced in multi-re-entrant honeycomb generally provides enhanced out-of-plane thermal conductivity and increased total heat transfer efficiency due to higher surface area density.     

A simplified model of heat transfer in heat exchangers and stack plates of thermoacoustic refrigerators

A simplified model of heat transfer was developed to investigate the thermal behavior of heat exchangers and stack plates of thermoacoustic devices. The model took advantage of previous results describing the thermal behavior of the thermoacoustic core and heat transfer in oscillating flow to study the performance of heat exchangers attached to the core. The configuration considered is a flat tube (with a working fluid flowing in the tube) of the thickness of the stack plate attached to both ends of the stack plate. Geometrical and operational parameters as well as thermophysical properties of the heat exchangers, transport fluids in the heat exchangers, stack plate and the thermoacoustic working fluid were organized into dimensionless groups that allowed accounting for their impact on the performance of the heat exchangers. Two types of thermal boundary conditions were considered: constant temperature and constant heat flux along the heat exchanger tubes. Numerical simulations were carried out with the model introduced in the paper. The temperature distributions and heat fluxes near the edge of the stack plate were found to be nonlinear. The influence of system parameters on the thermal performance of the heat exchangers was analyzed.This article is dedicated to Prof. D. Mewes, whose knowledge, creativity, enthusiasm and dedication to engineering science was an inspiration to me and to many students, scientists, engineers and colleagues all over the world (C. Herman).     

Electrorheology of dielectric liquids

Dielectric liquids that show striking electrorheological (ER) effects are formulated by controlling the conductivity. Although the viscosity is increased on the application of a d.c. field, the flow of electrified fluids is Newtonian in the plain electrodes with smooth surfaces. When the liquids are sandwiched between the electrodes with flocked fabrics, the viscosity behavior is converted from Newtonian to shear-thinning flow. In electric fields, the convective flow is induced over the system due to the electrohydrodynamic(EHD) effect. The interactions between EHD convection and external shear give rise to the additional energy dissipation and in turn the increase in viscosity. The ER effects of simple liquids are very attractive in application to new fluid devices.