Thermal resistance of screen mesh wick heat pipes using the water-based Al2O3 nanofluids

In the present study, the effect of nanofluids on the thermal performance of heat pipes is experimentally investigated by testing circular screen mesh wick heat pipes using water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids with the volume fraction of 1.0 and 3.0 Vol.%. The wall temperature distributions and the thermal resistances between the evaporator and the adiabatic sections are measured and compared with those for the heat pipe using DI water. The averaged evaporator wall temperatures of the heat pipes using the water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids are much lower than those of the heat pipe using DI water. The thermal resistance of the heat pipe using the water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids with the volume fraction of 3.0 Vol.% is significantly reduced by about 40% at the evaporator-adiabatic section. Also, the experimentally results implicitly show that the water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids as the working fluid instead of DI water can enhance the maximum heat transport rate of the heat pipe. Based on the two clear evidences, we conclude that the major reason which can not only improve the maximum heat transport rate but also significantly reduce the thermal resistance of the heat pipe using nanofluids is not the enhancement of the effective thermal conductivity which most of previous researchers presented. Especially, we experimentally first observe the thin porous coating layer formed by nanoparticles suspended in nanofluids at wick structures. Based on the observation, it is first shown that the primary mechanism on the enhancement of the thermal performance for the heat pipe is the coating layer formed by nanoparticles at the evaporator section because the layer can not only extend the evaporation surface with high heat transfer performance but also improve the surface wettability and capillary wicking performance.     

An investigation of the thermal performance of cylindrical heat pipes using nanofluids

In this work, a two-dimensional analysis is used to study the thermal performance of a cylindrical heat pipe utilizing nanofluids. Three of the most common nanoparticles, namely Al₂O₃, CuO, and TiO₂ are considered as the working fluid. A substantial change in the heat pipe thermal resistance, temperature distribution, and maximum capillary heat transfer of the heat pipe is observed when using a nanofluid. The nanoparticles within the liquid enhance the thermal performance of the heat pipe by reducing the thermal resistance while enhancing the maximum heat load it can carry. The existence of an optimum mass concentration for nanoparticles in maximizing the heat transfer limit is established. The effect of particle size on the thermal performance of the heat pipe is also investigated. It is found that smaller particles have a more pronounced effect on the temperature gradient along the heat pipe.     

Augmented Thermal Performance of Straight Heat Pipe Employing Annular Screen Mesh Wick and Surfactant Free Stable Aqueous Nanofluids

Stable surfactant-free Al₂O₃/deionized (DI) water nanofluids are prepared by a two-step process and are stabilized using an ultrasonic homogenizer. The thermal conductivity enhancement measured by a transient hot wire technique demonstrated a nonlinear relationship with increase in volume fraction of dispersed nanoparticles and attains a maximum enhancement of 15% for 1 vol% of Al₂O₃ loading in deionized water at 70°C. The stabilized Al₂O₃/DI water nanofluids were employed as the working fluid in a screen mesh wick heat pipe placed horizontally. The straight heat pipe configuration is altered for more practicality in use, with crimped edges, extended conduction lengths, and minute surface depressions. The heat pipe is tested at various levels of heat inputs and concentrations of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. The evaporator section is heated by circulating water through a heating chamber, and the condenser section is cooled under free convection. The experimental results show an optimum reduction of 22% in the thermal resistance value using 1 vol% of Al₂O₃/DI nanofluids as compared to DI water at low heat input of 12 W. The stabilized operation of the heat pipe is observed at high heat input of 73 W and at low concentration of 0.005 vol% Al₂O₃/DI water nanofluids. The findings emphasize potential for nanofluids as future heat pipe fluids.     

Thermal Performance Enhancement of L-Shaped Microgrooved Heat Pipe Containing Water-Based Al2O3 Nanofluids

An experimental study was performed to investigate the thermal performance of an L-shaped grooved heat pipe with cylindrical cross section, which contained 0.5 wt% water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluid as the working fluid. The transient performance of the heat pipe and the effect of cooling water temperature on the heat transfer characteristics of the heat pipe were investigated. The outer diameter and the length of the heat pipe were 6 mm and 220 mm, respectively. Experimental results revealed that the temperature of the cooling water has a significant effect on the thermal resistance of the heat pipe containing nanofluids as its working fluid. By increasing the cooling water temperature from 5°C to 27.5°C, the thermal resistance decreases by approximately 40%. At the same charge volume, test results indicated an average reduction of 30% in thermal resistance of heat pipes with nanofluid as compared with heat pipe containing pure water. For transient conditions, unsteady state time for nanofluids was reduced by approximately 28%, when compared with water as the working fluid.     

Thermal performance and operational attributes of the startup characteristics of flat-shaped heat pipes using nanofluids

Thermal performance, transient behavior and operational start-up characteristics of flat-shaped heat pipes using nanofluids are analyzed in this work. Three different primary nanofluids namely, CuO, Al₂O₃, and TiO₂ were utilized in our analysis. A comprehensive analytical model, which accounts in detail the heat transfer characteristics within the pipe wall and the wick within the condensation and evaporation sections, was utilized. The results illustrate enhancement in the heat pipe performance while achieving a reduction in the thermal resistance for both flat-plate and disk-shaped heat pipes throughout the transient process. It was shown that a higher concentration of nanoparticles increases the thermal performance of either the flat-plate or disk-shaped heat pipes. We have also established that for the same heat load a smaller size flat-shaped heat pipe can be utilized when using nanofluids.     

Numerical Simulation of the Thermal Performance of a Nanofluid-Filled Heat Pipe

Improving the working fluid transport properties is a way to enhance the thermal performance of heat transfer equipment. In this research work, a two-dimensional numerical simulation is used to investigate the thermal performance of a nanofluid-filled cylindrical heat pipe. The considered nanofluid is pure water as the base fluid with dispersed Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. Effects of particle volume fractions, particle diameters, various heat inputs, and wick structures on thermal performance of the heat pipe are investigated and the results are compared with that of the pure water. A comparison is made for the first time between the results of a simulation by considering fluid flow in the liquid-wick region and treating this region as pure conduction. The results show the heat pipe thermal performance enhancement and a decrease in thermal resistance for about 31% when 5% particle volume fraction with a particle diameter of 10 nm is used. Also, an insignificant effect of heat input on thermal resistance and variation of pressure distribution in the presence of nanoparticles are observed.     

Buoyancy-driven heat transfer of water-based Al2O3 nanofluids in a rectangular cavity

In this paper, thermal characteristics of natural convection in a rectangular cavity heated from below with water-based nanofluids containing alumina (Al₂O₃ nanofluids) are theoretically investigated with Jang and Choi’s model for predicting the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids and various models for the effective viscosity. To validate theoretical results, we compare theoretical results with experimental results presented by Putra et al. It is shown that the experimental results are put between a theoretical line derived from Jang and Choi’s model and Einstein’s model and a theoretical line from Jang and Choi’s model and Pak and Cho’s correlation. In addition, the effects of the volume fraction, the size of nanoparticles, and the average temperature of nanofluids on natural convective instability and heat transfer characteristics of water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids in a rectangular cavity heated from below are theoretically presented. Based on the results, this paper shows that water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids is more stable than base fluid in a rectangular cavity heated from below as the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases, the size of nanoparticles decreases, or the average temperature of nanofluids increases. Finally, we theoretically show that the ratio of heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids to that of base fluid is decreased as the size of nanoparticles increases, or the average temperature of nanofluids is decreased.     

Heat Transfer Performance of Heat Pipe Radiator with SiO2/Water Nanofluids

The effect of nanofluids on thermal performance of the miniature heat pipe radiator which was assembled by two heat pipes containing 0.6 vol.% SiO₂/water nanofluids and 30 pieces of rectangular aluminum fins was investigated experimentally and theoretically. The wall temperatures of the miniature heat pipe and fin surface temperatures were measured. Results showed that the utilization of SiO₂/water nanofluids as a working fluid in the heat pipe enhanced the heat performance by reducing wall temperature differences. Compared with Deionized water (DI water), the thermal resistance of the miniature heat pipe with SiO₂/water nanofluids decreased by about 23% to 40%. Furthermore, the theoretical calculation on a basis of one dimension found that the fin heat dissipation in the miniature heat pipe radiator charged SiO₂/water nanofluids was about 1.17 times of that of the DI water radiator.     

Nanofluids transport through a novel concave/convex convergent pipe

The thermal and hydraulic performance of Al₂O₃-water nanofluid forced convective heat transfer through a concave/convex convergent pipe has been investigated in this work. The investigation is performed for a wide variety of concavity/convexity in the pipe wall profile, volume fraction of nanoparticles, and Reynolds number. An excellent agreement has been confirmed between the results of our numerical model and the available data from the literature. The findings of the current work reveal that as the pipe wall tends toward the concavity, the average heat transfer coefficient and the pressure drop along the pipe increase. Further, the concave wall profile shows a prominent enhancement in heat transfer up to 41%; while, the convex wall profile provides a sustainable and superior performance factor up to 1.223 compared to the straight one, respectively. Moreover, at any fixed wall profile, a modest rise in heat transfer and pressure drop has been observed when the nanoparticles volume fraction increases. According to the information provided in this study, the addressed configuration improvements play a crucial role in augmenting heat transfer more than employing nanofluids.     

Numerical study of turbulent forced convection flow of nanofluids in a long horizontal duct considering variable properties

The turbulent flow of nanofluids with different volume concentrations of nanoparticles flowing through a two-dimensional duct under constant heat flux condition is analyzed numerically. The nanofluids considered are mixtures of copper oxide (CuO), alumina (Al₂O₃) and oxide titanium (TiO₂) nanoparticles and water as the base fluid. All the thermophysical properties of nanofluids are temperature-dependent. The viscosity of nanofluids is obtained on basis of experimental data. The predicted Nusselt numbers exhibit good agreement with Gnielinski's correlation. The results show that by increasing the volume concentration, the wall shear stress and heat transfer rates increase. For a constant volume concentration and Reynolds number, the effect of CuO nanoparticles to enhance the Nusselt number is better than Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ nanoparticles.     

Numerical Investigation of Forced Convection Flow of Nanofluids in Rotating U-Shaped Smooth and Ribbed Channels

The impact of the nanoparticles and ribs on the thermal performance of the rotating U-type cooling channel are investigated for turbulent forced convection flow of nanofluids. The nanofluids are provided by the inclusion of the nanoparticles of TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ in water as the base fluid, namely, water/Al₂O₃ and water/TiO₂ nanofluids mixtures. The simulations are performed for three-dimensional turbulent flow and heat transfer using an RNG k-? turbulence model for Reynolds number range of 5000 to 20,000. To show the effectiveness of the ribs and nanofluids, three criteria are employed: heat transfer enhancement, pressure drop or power consumed, and the thermal performance factor. It is found that the contribution of turbulence promotion in heat transfer enhancement of the ribbed channel is more effective than that of enlarging the heat surface area. The results show that using ribs at the lowest Reynolds number and utilizing nanofluids at the highest one provide high heat transfer rate and thermal performance. At the middle Reynolds numbers, the effects of these two methods on heat transfer enhancement are relatively close to each other. In this case, if the pumping power is the main concern, using nanofluids is recommended due to providing a smaller pressure drop penalty.     

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.     

Analysis of suspension and heat transfer characteristics of Al2O3 nanofluids prepared through ultrasonic vibration

Nanofluids that contain nanoparticles with excellent heat transfer characteristics dispersed in a continuous liquid phase are expected to exhibit superior thermal and fluid characteristics to those in a single liquid phase primarily because of their much greater collision frequency and larger contact surface between solid nanoparticles and the liquid phase. One of the major challenges in the use of nanofluids to dissipate the heat generated in electronic equipment such as LEDs is nanoparticles’ precipitation due to their poor suspension in the fluid after periods of storage or operation, thereby leading to deterioration in the nanofluids’ heat transfer rate. In this study, ultrasonic vibration was employed to prepare Al₂O₃ nanofluids with a surfactant, a dispersant, and a combination of the two to evaluate their suspension and heat transfer characteristics. The experimental results show the Al₂O₃ nanofluid prepared with a non-ionic surfactant with a hydrophile lipophile balance (HLB) value of 12 to have the lowest nanoparticle precipitation rate and, accordingly, the highest degree of emulsification stability. Moreover, the nanofluids prepared with both the dispersant and surfactant had the greatest dynamic viscosity and lowest degree of thermal conductivity. Both the precipitation rate and dynamic viscosity of the nanoparticles increased, and their thermal conductivity coefficient decreased, the longer they remained in the Al₂O₃ nanofluids. Further, an increase in operating temperature caused an increase in the thermal conductivity coefficients of all of the Al₂O₃ nanofluids considered.     

Heat transfer enhancement in microchannel heat sinks using nanofluids

Heat transfer enhancement in a 3-D microchannel heat sink (MCHS) using nanofluids is investigated by a numerical study. The addition of nanoparticles to the coolant fluid changes its thermophysical properties in ways that are closely related to the type of nanoparticle, base fluid, particle volume fraction, particle size, and pumping power. The calculations in this work suggest that the best heat transfer enhancement can be obtained by using a system with an Al₂O₃–water nanofluid-cooled MCHS. Moreover, using base fluids with lower dynamic viscosity (such as water) and substrate materials with high thermal conductivity enhance the thermal performance of the MCHS. The results also show that as the particle volume fraction of the nanofluid increases, the thermal resistance first decreases and then increases. The lowest thermal resistance can be obtained by properly adjusting the volume fraction and pumping power under given geometric conditions. For a moderate range of particle sizes, the MCHS yields better performance when nanofluids with smaller nanoparticles are used. Furthermore, the overall thermal resistance of the MCHS is reduced significantly by increasing the pumping power. The heat transfer performance of Al₂O₃–water and diamond–water nanofluids was 21.6% better than that of pure water. The results reported here may facilitate improvements in the thermal performance of MCHSs.     

Free convection heat transfer of non Newtonian nanofluids under constant heat flux condition

Two different kinds of non-Newtonian nanofluids were prepared by dispersion of Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ nanoparticles in a 0.5 wt.% aqueous solution of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). Natural convection heat transfer of non-Newtonian nanofluids in a vertical cylinder uniformly heated from below and cooled from top was investigated experimentally. Results show that the heat transfer performance of nanofluids is significantly enhanced at low particle concentrations. Increasing nanoparticle concentration has a contrary effect on the heat transfer of nanofluids, so at concentrations greater than 1 vol.% of nanoparticles the heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids is less than that of the base fluid. Indeed it seems that for both nanofluids there exists an optimum nanoparticle concentration that heat transfer coefficient passes through a maximum. The optimum concentrations of Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ nanofluids are about 0.2 and 0.1 vol.%, respectively. It is also observed that the heat transfer enhancement of TiO₂ nanofluids is higher than that of the Al₂O₃ nanofluids. The effect of enclosure aspect ratio was also investigated. As expected, the heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids as well as the base fluid increases by increasing the aspect ratio.     

Efficiency and effectiveness enhancement of an intercooler of two‐stage air compressor by low‐cost Al2O3/water nanofluids

The present study was aimed to utilize low‐cost alumina (Al₂O₃) nanoparticles for improving the heat transfer behavior in an intercooler of two‐stage air compressor. Experimental investigation was carried out with three different volume concentrations of 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1.0% Al₂O₃/water nanofluids to assess the performance of the intercooler, that is, counterflow heat exchanger at different loads. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and overall heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid increased substantially with increasing concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles. Specific heat capacity of nanofluids were lower than base water. The intercooler performance parameters such as effectiveness and efficiency improved appreciably with the employment of nanofluid. The efficiency increased by about 6.1% with maximum concentration of nanofluid, that is, 1% at 3‐bar compressor load. It is concluded from the study that high concentration of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles dispersion in water would offer better heat transfer performance of the intercooler.     

Natural Convection Heat Transfer in a Nanofluid Filled U-Shaped Enclosures: Numerical Investigations

In the present work, enhancement of convective heat transfer rate in three-dimensional U-shaped enclosures using nanofluids is numerically investigated. Two different types of nanoparticles, namely, Cu, and Al₂O₃, with pure water, are the considered single-phase nanofluids. Natural convection and geometric parameter effects on the averaged Nusselt numbers are investigated. Velocity vectors and isotherm fields for the Al₂O₃/H₂O nanofluid are presented at various Rayleigh numbers. The governing dimensionless equations are solved using the commercial finite-volume-based computational fluid dynamics code, FLUENT. Our results are consistent with previously published predictions. In particular, heat transfer enhancement is found to increase with increasing nanoparticles volume fractions, Rayleigh numbers, as well as cooled wall length extensions.     

Thermal performance augmentation using water based Al2O3-gamma nanofluid in a horizontal shell and tube heat exchanger under forced circulation

Shell and tube heat exchanger is one of the most prevalent heat exchangers with a wide variety of industrial applications, i.e., power plants, chemical processes, marine industries, HVAC systems, cooling of hydraulic fluid and engine oil in heavy duty diesel engines and the like specifically where a need to heat or cool a large fluid volume exist and also higher-pressure use. In the present study, the effect of using Al₂O₃-water nanofluid on thermal performance of a commercial shell and tube heat exchanger with segmental baffles is assessed experimentally. For this purpose, Al₂O₃-gamma nanoparticles with 15 nm mean diameter (99.5% purity) and Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulphonate (SDBS) as surfactant are used to make aqueous Al₂O₃ nanofluid at three various volume fractions of nanoparticles (φ = 0.03, 0.14 and 0.3%). Indeed, in this paper the effect of some parameters of hot working fluid such as Reynolds number and volume concentration of nanoparticles on heat transfer characteristics, friction factor and thermal performance factor of a shell and tube heat exchanger under laminar flow regime is investigated. The results indicate a substantial increment in Nusselt number as well as the overall heat transfer coefficient of heat exchanger by enhancement of Reynolds number and it can be seen that, at a certain Reynolds number, heat transfer characteristics of heat exchanger increase as the nanoparticles volume concentration increases. Outcomes of the heat transfer evaluation demonstrate that applying nanofluids instead of base fluid lead to increment of Nusselt number up to 9.7, 20.9 and 29.8% at 0.03, 0.14 and 0.3 vol%, respectively. Likewise it is seen that at mentioned nanoparticles volume fractions, overall heat transfer coefficient of heat exchanger enhances around 5.4, 10.3 and 19.1%, respectively. In term of pressure drop, a little penalty is found by using nanofluid in the test section. Eventually a thermal performance assessment on the heat exchanger was conducted. According to the analysis results, utilizing nanofluid at minimum and maximum nanoparticles volume fractions (φ = 0.03 and 0.3%) results in average augmentation of around 6.5% and 18.9% in thermal performance factor (η) of the heat exchanger compared to the base liquid, respectively.     

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.     

Thermal performance of flat-shaped heat pipes using nanofluids

Analytical models are utilized to investigate the thermal performance of rectangular and disk-shaped heat pipes using nanofluids. The liquid pressure, liquid velocity profile, temperature distribution of the heat pipe wall, temperature gradient along the heat pipe, thermal resistance and maximum heat load are obtained for the flat-shaped heat pipes utilizing a nanofluid as the working fluid. The flat-shaped heat pipe’s thermal performance using a nanofluid is substantially enhanced compared with one using a regular fluid. The nanoparticles presence within the working fluid results in a decrease in the thermal resistance and an increase in the maximum heat load capacity of the flat-shaped heat pipe. The existence of an optimum nanoparticle concentration level and wick thickness in maximizing the heat removal capability of the flat-shaped heat pipe was established.