Phase-change heat transfer of single/hybrid nanoparticles-enhanced phase-change materials over a heated horizontal cylinder confined in a square cavity

The melting process of a nano-enhanced phase-change material is investigated in a square cavity with a hot cylinder located in the middle of the cavity in the presence of both single and hybrid nanoparticles. The dimensionless partial differential equations are solved numerically using the Galerkin finite element method using a grid with 6000 quadrilateral elements. The effects of the volume fraction of nanoparticles, the Fourier number, the thermal conductivity parameter, and the viscosity parameters are studied. The results show that the solid-liquid interface and the liquid fraction are significantly affected by the volume fraction of nanoparticles and the thermal conductivity parameter. Additionally, it is found that the melting rate is much larger when the Fourier number changes between 0 and 0.5 and a further increase in the Fourier number causes a reduction in the rate of the melting.     

Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model for heat transfer of Marangoni boundary layer flow in a copper–water nanofluid

The Cattaneo–Christov heat flux is first utilized to explore the heat transfer characteristics of Marangoni boundary layer flow in a copper–water nanofluid. The Marangoni boundary layer flow is driven by exponential temperature. Five different types of nanoparticle shapes including sphere, hexahedron, tetrahedron, column and lamina are considered for the copper–water nanofluid. The nonlinear system of partial differential equations is reduced by similarity transformations and then solved numerically by the shooting method. It is found that sphere nanoparticle has better heat transfer enhancement than other nanoparticle shapes and both the temperature and the thickness of the thermal boundary layer are lower for the Cattaneo–Christov heat flux model than the classical Fourier's law of heat conduction.     

Phase change characteristics of ethylene glycol solution‐based nanofluids for subzero thermal energy storage

Nanofluids, particularly water‐based nanofluids, have been extensively studied as liquid–solid phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage (TES). In this study, nanofluids with aqueous ethylene glycol (EG) solution as the base fluid are proposed as a novel PCM for cold thermal energy storage. Nanofluids were prepared by dispersing 0.1–0.4 wt% TiO₂ nanoparticles into 12, 22, and 34 vol.% EG solutions. The dispersion stability of the nanofluids was evaluated by Turbiscan Lab. The liquid–solid phase change characteristics of the nanofluids were also investigated. Phase change temperature (PCT), nucleation temperature, and half freezing time (HFT) were investigated in freezing experiments. Subcooling degree and HFT reduction were then calculated. Latent heat of solidification was measured using differential scanning calorimetry. Thermal conductivity was determined using the hot disk thermal constant analyzer. Experimental results show that the nanoparticles decreased the PCT of 34 vol.% EG solution but minimally influenced the PCT of 12 and 22 vol.% EG solutions. For all nanofluids, the nanoparticles decreased the subcooling degree, HFT, and latent heat but increased the thermal conductivity of the EG solutions. The mechanism of the improvement of the phase change characteristics and decrease in latent heat by the nanoparticles was discussed. The nanoparticles simultaneously served as nucleating agent that induced crystal nucleation and as impurities that disturbed the growth of water crystals in EG solution‐based nanofluids. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heat and mass transfer in a MHD non‐Darcian micropolar fluid over an unsteady stretching sheet with non‐uniform heat source/sink and thermophoresis

The effect of heat and mass transfer in a MHD non‐Darcian flow of a micropolar fluid over an unsteady stretching sheet with thermophoresis and non‐uniform heat source/sink is discussed. The fluid is electrically conducting in the presence of a uniform applied magnetic field. The arising nonlinear problem is solved by the Keller box method. The effects of various physical parameters on skin friction, local Nusselt number, and Sherwood number are presented graphically and in tabular form. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21018     

Experimental investigation of convective heat transfer coefficient of Al2O3/water nanofluid at lower concentrations in a car radiator

For many years, water and ethylene glycol were used as conventional coolants in automotive car radiators, but these coolants offer lower thermal conductivity than is required. This study is focused on the application of water‐based Al₂O₃ nanofluid at lower concentrations in a car radiator. The Al₂O₃ nanoparticles with an average diameter of 50 nm are dispersed in demineralized water at four different volume concentrations (0.1 vol. % to 0.4 vol. %) without any dispersant or stabilizer. Flow rate is varied in the range of 2 l/min to 5 l/min and inlet coolant temperature to the radiator is set to 50 °C, 60 °C, and 70 °C. The results show that the heat transfer coefficient increases with an increase in particle concentration, flow rate, and inlet temperature of coolant and the maximum increase in heat transfer coefficient is 45.87 % compared to pure water. However, the Nusselt number increases with the increase in particle concentration, Reynolds number, and inlet temperature of the coolant. In addition with the experimental study, a regression analysis is performed by using the ANOVA method and generates a correlation for the convective heat transfer coefficient.     

中低温环境下Al_2O_3-乙醇纳米流体稳定性的研究

采用"两步法"制备浓度为1.0%且不含分散剂的Al2O3-乙醇纳米流体,研究了中低温环境下温度变化对Al2O3-乙醇纳米流体稳定性的影响。采用紫外吸光度方法评价了纳米流体的稳定性;测试了悬浮颗粒的粒径分布并拟合出不同温度下粒径分布随时间的变化关系,计算了悬浮颗粒的沉降速率并拟合出不同温度下沉降速率随时间的变化关系;从势垒值变化的角度解释了温度影响纳米流体稳定性的原因。结果显示,Al2O3-乙醇纳米流体能在低温下保持较好的稳定性。     

Stagnation Point Flow of a Nanofluid Past a Permeable Cylinder with Chemical Reaction

The primary objective of the present paper is to investigate the novel aspect of nanofluid flow near the stagnation‐point past a permeable cylinder with chemical reaction. The prescribed surface heat and nanoparticle fluxes are also taken into account. The improved homotopy analysis method is introduced to obtain the recursively analytic solutions with high precision. The convergence of the obtained series solution is discussed explicitly. Besides, the effects of physically significant parameters on skin friction coefficient, local Nusselt number, local Sherwood number, as well as profiles of velocity, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction are examined and discussed in detail. It is found that the local Sherwood number increases when a chemical reaction occurs in the nanofluid. It is also indicated that the increase of the reaction rate parameter leads to a higher temperature and a lower nanoparticle volume fraction.     

Natural Convection Heat Transfer of Liquid Metal Gallium Nanofluids in a Rectangular Enclosure

A new mixed nanofluid (Cu/diamond–gallium [Cu/diamond–Ga] nanofluid) is proposed, and the mass ratio of Cu nanoparticles and diamond nanoparticles in the new mixed nanofluid is 10:1. The natural convection heat transfer of Cu/diamond–Ga nanofluid, Cu–gallium (Cu–Ga) nanofluid, and liquid metal gallium with different volume fractions in a rectangular enclosure is investigated by a single‐phase model in this paper. The effects of temperature difference, nanoparticle volume fraction and the kinds of nanofluid on the natural convection heat transfer are discussed. The natural convection heat transfer of the three kinds of fluids is compared. It is found that Nusselt numbers of the Cu/diamond–Ga nanofluid along with X direction increases with the nanoparticle volume fraction and temperature difference. Cu/diamond–Ga nanofluid can enhance the heat transfer by 73.0% and 9.7% at low‐temperature difference (ΔT = 1 K) compared with liquid metal gallium and Cu–Ga nanofluid, respectively. It also can enhance the heat transfer by 85.9% and 5.2% at high‐temperature difference (ΔT = 11 K) compared with liquid metal gallium and Cu–Ga nanofluid, respectively.     

Numerical investigation on the use of nanofluids in natural convection heat exchangers using a mixture‐phase approach

In the present research, the behavior of a Newtonian nanofluid (water–Al₂O₃) in a mixture phase model approach is numerically examined. The process of heating is done in two different ways. Deterioration was found in the mean Nusselt number of a nanofluid in the mixture‐phase model approach when compared to the mean Nusselt number of pure water. However, in the single‐phase model there was an increase in the Nusselt number when compared to the Nusselt number of pure water. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20383     

A simple analytical model for calculating the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids

A simple mathematical model for calculating the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids has been developed based on the thermal resistance approach. The model is developed by considering both effects of a solid‐like nanolayer and convective heat transfer caused by Brownian motion which have not been considered simultaneously by most available models in the literature. In addition the correlation of Prasher and Phelan for the convective heat transfer coefficient is modified to take into account the effect of the solid‐like nanolayer. In addition a general value for n (different from the one presented by Tillman and Hill) is introduced to modify the thickness of the solid‐like nanolayer. The latter is done by considering both conduction and convection heat transfer mechanisms. Comparisons with previously published experimental results and other mathematical models show that the presented model could well predict a nanofluids effective thermal conductivity as a function of the nanoparticles mean diameter, volume fraction, and temperature for different kinds of nanofluids. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20290