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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Experimental investigation of oxide nanofluids laminar flow convective heat transfer

In the present investigation nanofluids containing CuO and Al₂O₃ oxide nanoparticles in water as base fluid in different concentrations produced and the laminar flow convective heat transfer through circular tube with constant wall temperature boundary condition were examined. The experimental results emphasize that the single phase correlation with nanofluids properties (Homogeneous Model) is not able to predict heat transfer coefficient enhancement of nanofluids. The comparison between experimental results obtained for CuO / water and Al₂O₃ / water nanofluids indicates that heat transfer coefficient ratios for nanofluid to homogeneous model in low concentration are close to each other but by increasing the volume fraction, higher heat transfer enhancement for Al₂O₃ / water can be observed.     

Critical review of heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids

Researches in heat transfer have been carried out over the previous several decades, leading to the development of the currently used heat transfer enhancement techniques. The use of additives is a technique applied to enhance the heat transfer performance of base fluids. Recently, as an innovative material, nanometer-sized particles have been used in suspension in conventional heat transfer fluids. The fluids with these solid-particle suspended in them are called ‘nanofluids’. The suspended metallic or nonmetallic nanoparticles change the transport properties and heat transfer characteristics of the base fluid. The aim of this review is to summarize recent developments in research on the heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids for the purpose of suggesting some possible reasons why the suspended nanoparticles can enhance the heat transfer of conventional fluids and to provide a guide line or perspective for future research.     

Comparative review of turbulent heat transfer of nanofluids

Three essential aspects of the turbulent-flow, convective heat transfer of nanofluids relevant to their applications are comparatively reviewed in detail based on both theoretical analyses and experimental data. These aspects are: (a) selection – the comparison criteria of the thermophysical property-related heat transfer performance of nanofluids and their base fluids, (b) design – the predictions of the heat transfer coefficients of nanofluids based on homogeneous fluid models by using nanofluid effective thermophysical properties, and (c) effectiveness – the enhancements of the heat transfer coefficients of nanofluids over their base fluids. This review, including research from the inception of nanofluids to date, quantifies the accuracy of bases for future nanofluid evaluation.     

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.     

Numerical research of nature convective heat transfer enhancement filled with nanofluids in rectangular enclosures

Heat transfer enhancement utilizing nanofluids in a two-dimensional enclosure is investigated for various pertinent parameters. The Khanafer's model is used to analyze heat transfer performance of nanofluids inside an enclosure taking into account the solid particle dispersion. Transport equations are model by a stream function-vorticity formulation and are solved numerically by finite-difference approach. Based upon the numerical predictions, the effects of Rayleigh number (Ra) and aspect ratio (AR) on the flow pattern and energy transport within the thermal boundary layer are presented. The diameter of the nanoparticle d_p is taken as 10 nm in nanofluids. The buoyancy parameter is 10³ ≤ Ra ≤ 10⁶ and aspect ratios (AR) of two-dimensional enclosure are 1/2, 1, 2. Results show that increasing the buoyancy parameter and volume fraction of nanofluids cause an increase in the average heat transfer coefficient. Finally, the empirical equation was built between average Nusselt number and volume fraction.     

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.     

Development of new correlations for convective heat transfer and friction factor in turbulent regime for nanofluids

This paper presents new correlations for the convective heat transfer and the friction factor developed from the experiments of nanoparticles comprised of aluminum oxide, copper oxide and silicon dioxide dispersed in 60% ethylene glycol and 40% water by mass. The experimental measurements were carried out in the fully developed turbulent regime for the aforementioned three different nanofluids at various particle volumetric concentrations. First, the rheological and the thermophysical properties such as viscosity, density, specific heat and thermal conductivity were measured at different temperatures for varying particle volume concentrations. Next, these properties were used to develop the heat transfer coefficient correlation from experiments, as a function of these properties and the particle volumetric concentration. The pressure loss was also measured and a new correlation was developed to represent the friction factor for nanofluids.     

Influence of nanofluids on mixed convective heat transfer over a horizontal backward‐facing step

Predictions are reported for laminar mixed convection using various types of nanofluids over a horizontal backward‐facing step in a duct, in which the upstream wall and the step are considered adiabatic surfaces, while the downstream wall from the step is heated to a uniform temperature that is higher than the inlet fluid temperature. The straight wall that forms the other side of the duct is maintained at constant temperature equivalent to the inlet fluid temperature. Eight different types of nanoparticles, Au, Ag, Al₂O₃, Cu, CuO, diamond, SiO₂, and TiO₂, with 5% volume fraction are used. The conservation equations along with the boundary conditions are solved using the finite volume method. Results presented in this paper are for a step height of 4.9 mm and an expansion ratio of 1.942, while the total length in the downstream of the step is 0.5 m. The Reynolds number is in the range of 75 ≤ Re ≤ 225. The downstream wall was fixed at a uniform wall temperature in the range of 0 ≤ ΔT ≤ 30 °C which is higher than the inlet flow temperature. Results reveal that there is a primary recirculation region for all nanofluids behind the step. It is noticed that nanofluids without secondary recirculation region have a higher Nusselt number and it increases with Prandtl number decrement. On the other hand, nanofluids with secondary recirculation regions are found to have a lower Nusselt number. Diamond nanofluid has the highest Nusselt number in the primary recirculation region, while SiO₂ nanofluid has the highest Nusselt number downstream of the primary recirculation region. The skin friction coefficient increases as the temperature difference increases and the Reynolds number decreases. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20344     

The characteristics of convective heat transfer in microchannel heat sinks using Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids

The present study aims to provide an overall analysis about nanofluids flowing through microchannel heat sinks. Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ nanofluids based on deionized water with particle volume fractions of 0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, 1.0% were prepared by the two-step dispersion method. Nonionic surfactant polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was added into the nanofluids to avoid particle aggregation and enhance stability. An ImageIR 3350 was used to get the temperature distribution on the substrate of microchannel heat sinks. The results reveal that the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ nanofluids are both improved with the increase of particle volume fraction. Compared with a rectangular microchannel heat sink, the performance of heat transfer in fan-shaped microchannel heat sink is more strengthened using Al₂O₃ nanofluids. The thermal motion of nanoparticles could promote the interruption of laminar flow and intensify the heat transfer between fluids and channel walls. The cyclical change with a fixed period on equivalent diameter could also help destroy the boundary layers.     

Numerical study of transient buoyancy-driven convective heat transfer of water-based nanofluids in a bottom-heated isosceles triangular enclosure

A numerical study of transient buoyancy-driven convective heat transfer of water-based nanofluids inside a bottom-heated horizontal isosceles triangular cylinder is presented. Nano-sized copper oxide (CuO) particles suspended in water with two different volume fractions are considered. The thermophysical properties of water in the presence of nanoparticles are predicted using existing models, in which the effects of the Brownian motion of nanoparticles are taken into account. It is shown that pitchfork bifurcation appears for relatively high Grashof numbers and the critical Grashof number is found to be 5.60 × 10⁴. The predicted development of convective flow of nanofluids is presented by means of the average Nusselt number over the bottom. Additionally, the flow development time towards a steady/quasi-steady state and the time-averaged Nusselt number are scaled with Grashof number. It is also shown that at constant Grashof numbers the time-averaged Nusselt number is lowered as more nanoparticles are added to the base liquid and will be overestimated if the Brownian motion effects are not considered.     

Numerical study of convective heat transfer of nanofluids in a circular tube two-phase model versus single-phase model

Laminar convective heat transfer of nanofluids in a circular tube under constant wall temperature condition is studied numerically using a CFD¹ approach. Single-phase and two-phase models have been used for prediction of temperature, flow field, and calculation of heat transfer coefficient. Effects of some important parameters such as nanoparticle sources, nanoparticle volume fraction and nanofluid Peclet number on heat transfer rate have been investigated. The results of CFD simulation based on two-phase model were used for comparison with single-phase model, theoretical models and experimental data. Results have shown that heat transfer coefficient clearly increases with an increase in particle concentration. Also the heat transfer enhancement increases with Peclet number. Two-phase model shows better agreement with experimental measurements. For Cu/Water nanofluid with 0.2% concentration, the average relative error between experimental data and CFD results based on single-phase model was 16% while for two-phase model was 8%. Based on the results of the simulation it was concluded that the two-phase approach gives better predictions for heat transfer rate compared to the single-phase model.     

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.     

A lattice Boltzmann simulation of enhanced heat transfer of nanofluids

Due to its distinctive characteristics nanofluid has drawn much attention from academic communities since the last decade. Compared with conventional fluids, nanofluid has higher thermal conductivity and surface to volume ratio, which enables it to be an effective working fluid in terms of heat transfer enhancement. Recent experimental works have shown that with low nanoparticle concentrations (1–5 vol.%), the effective thermal conductivity of the suspensions can increase by more than 20% for various mixtures. Although many outstanding experimental works have been carried out, the fundamental understanding of nanofluid characteristics and performance is still not sufficient. Much more theoretical and numerical studies are required. Over the past two decades, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has experienced a rapid development and well accepted as a useful method to simulate various fluid behaviours. In the present study, the LBM is employed to investigate the characteristics of nanofluid flow and heat transfer. By coupling the density and temperature distribution functions, the hydrodynamics and thermal features of nanofluids are properly simulated. The effects of the parameters including Rayleigh number and volume fraction of nanoparticles on hydrodynamic and thermal performances are investigated. The results show that both Rayleigh number and solid volume fraction of nanoparticles have influences on heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids; and there is a critical value of Rayleigh number on the performance of heat transfer enhancement.     

Application of nanofluids in heat exchangers: A review

The purpose of this review summarizes the important published articles on the enhancement of the convection heat transfer in heat exchangers using nanofluids on two topics. The first section focuses on presenting the theoretical and experimental results for the effective thermal conductivity, viscosity and the Nusselt number reported by several authors. The second section concentrates on application of nanofluids in various types of heat exchangers: plate heat exchangers, shell and tube heat exchangers, compact heat exchangers and double pipe heat exchangers.     

Pool boiling heat transfer of non-Newtonian nanofluids

This paper reports on the investigation of pool boiling heat transfer of γ-Al₂O₃/CMC non-Newtonian nanofluids. To prepare nanofluids, γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles were dispersed in CMC solution (carboxy methyl cellulose in water) using ultrasonic mixing and mechanical mixer. Different concentrations of CMC non-Newtonian fluids and γ-Al₂O₃/CMC non-Newtonian nanofluids were tested under nucleate pool boiling heat transfer conditions. Experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure. Results show that the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of CMC solutions is lower than water. The decrease in boiling heat transfer is more pronounced at higher CMC concentrations and, as a result, higher solution viscosity. Adding nanoparticles to CMC non-Newtonian solutions results in an improved boiling heat transfer performance. The enhancement in the boiling heat transfer coefficient increases with the nanoparticle concentration; at a concentration of 1.4 wt.%, the boiling heat transfer coefficient increases by about 25% when compared to the base fluid.