Comparison between single-phase and two-phases CFD modeling of laminar forced convection flow of nanofluids in a circular tube under constant heat flux

In this article, forced convection heat transfer with laminar and developed flow for water-Al₂O₃ nanofluid inside a circular tube under constant heat flux from the wall was numerically investigated using computational fluid dynamics method. Both single and two-phase models are accomplished for either constant or temperature dependent properties. For this study nanofluids with size particles equal to 100 nm and particle concentrations of 1 and 4 wt% were used. It is observed that the nanoparticles when dispersed in base fluid such as water enhance the convective heat transfer coefficient. The Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids were obtained for different nanoparticle concentrations and various Reynolds numbers. Heat transfer was enhanced by increasing the concentration of nanoparticles in nanofluid and Reynolds number. Also, a correlation based on the dimensionless numbers was obtained for the prediction the Nusselt number. The modeling results showed that the predicted values were in very good agreement with reference experimental data.     

Comparative study of Euler and mixture models for turbulent flow of Al2O3 nanofluid inside a horizontal tube

In this paper, turbulent forced convective flow of water Al₂O₃ nanofluid, with particle diameter equal to 40 nm in a horizontal circular tube, exposed to convection with saturated steam at the wall, is numerically analyzed. Two different approaches are taken into consideration: Euler and mixture models. It is comprehended that convective heat transfer coefficient enhances with increasing the particle volume concentration and Reynolds number. The two models almost showed the same results. However, mixture model was in a better agreement with experimental results for the estimation of average Nusselt number.     

A Comparative Analysis of Single and Two-Phase Models of Turbulent Convective Heat Transfer in a Tube for TiO2 Nanofluid with CFD

In this article, turbulent forced convection flow of dilute water/TiO₂ nanofluid with a particle diameter equal to 30 nm in a horizontal circular tube exposed to convection with saturated steam at the wall, is numerically analyzed. Two different approaches are taken into consideration: single and two-phase mixture models. It is comprehended that the convective heat transfer coefficient increases with the particle volume concentration and Reynolds number. On the other hand, the mixture model was in better agreement with experimental data than the single phase approach.     

Numerical investigation on the single phase forced convection heat transfer characteristics of TiO2 nanofluids in a double-tube counter flow heat exchanger

In this study, forced convection flows of nanofluids consisting of water with TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in a horizontal tube with constant wall temperature are investigated numerically. The horizontal test section is modeled and solved using a CFD program. Palm et al.'s correlations are used to determine the nanofluid properties. A single-phase model having two-dimensional equations is employed with either constant or temperature dependent properties to study the hydrodynamics and thermal behaviors of the nanofluid flow. The numerical investigation is performed for a constant particle size of Al₂O₃ as a case study after the validation of its model by means of the experimental data of Duangthongsuk and Wongwises with TiO₂ nanoparticles. The velocity and temperature vectors are presented in the entrance and fully developed region. The variations of the fluid temperature, local heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop along tube length are shown in the paper. Effects of nanoparticles concentration and Reynolds number on the wall shear stress, Nusselt number, heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop are presented. Numerical results show the heat transfer enhancement due to presence of the nanoparticles in the fluid in accordance with the results of the experimental study used for the validation process of the numerical model.     

An experimental study of forced convective heat transfer for fully developed Al 2 O 3 –water nanofluid in an annulus tube

Nanofluids have been known as practical materials to ameliorate heat transfer within diverse industrial systems. The current work presents an empirical study on forced convection effects of Al₂O₃–water nanofluid within an annulus tube. A laminar flow regime has been considered to perform the experiment in high Reynolds number range using several concentrations of nanofluid. Also, the boundary conditions include a constant uniform heat flux applied on the outer shell and an adiabatic condition to the inner tube. Nanofluid particle is visualized with transmission electron microscopy to figure out the nanofluid particles. Additionally, the pressure drop is obtained by measuring the inlet and outlet pressure with respect to the ambient condition. The experimental results showed that adding nanoparticles to the base fluid will increase the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and average Nusselt number. In addition, by increasing viscosity effects at maximum Reynolds number of 1140 and increasing nanofluid concentration from 1% to 4% (maximum performance at 4%), HTC increases by 18%.     

Entropy Generation of Natural Convection Heat Transfer in a Square Cavity Using Al2O3–Water Nanofluid

Entropy generation of an Al₂O₃–water nanofluid due to heat transfer and fluid friction irreversibility has been investigated in a square cavity subject to different side‐wall temperatures using a nanofluid for natural convection flow. This study has been carried out for the pertinent parameters in the following ranges: Rayleigh number between 10⁴ and 10⁷ and volume fraction between 0 and 0.05. Based on the obtained dimensionless velocity and temperature values, the distributions of local entropy generation, average entropy generation, and average Bejan number are determined. The results are compared for a pure fluid and a nanofluid. It is totally found that the heat transfer, and entropy generation of the nanofluid is more than the pure fluid and minimum entropy generation and Nusselt number occur in the pure fluid at any Rayleigh number. Results depict that the addition of nanoparticles to the pure fluid has more effect on the entropy generation as the Rayleigh number goes up.     

Numerical investigation of nanofluids forced convection in circular tubes

In this paper, developing laminar forced convection flow of a water–Al₂O₃ nanofluid in a circular tube, submitted to a constant and uniform heat flux at the wall, is numerically investigated.A single- and two-phase model (discrete particles model) is employed with either constant or temperature-dependent properties. The investigation is accomplished for size particles equal to 100 nm. The maximum difference in the average heat transfer coefficient between single- and two-phase models results is about 11%. Convective heat transfer coefficient for nanofluids is greater than that of the base liquid. Heat transfer enhancement increases with the particle volume concentration, but it is accompanied by increasing wall shear stress values. Higher heat transfer coefficients and lower shear stresses are detected in the case of temperature dependents models. The heat transfer always improves, as Reynolds number increases, but it is accompanied by an increase of shear stress too.Moreover a comparison with data present in the literature is carried out.     

Estimation of heat transfer coefficient and friction factor in the transition flow with low volume concentration of Al2O3 nanofluid flowing in a circular tube and with twisted tape insert

Experiments to evaluate heat transfer coefficient and friction factor for flow in a tube and with twisted tape inserts in the transition range of flow with Al₂O₃ nanofluid are conducted. The results showed considerable enhancement of convective heat transfer with Al₂O₃ nanofluids compared to flow with water. It is observed that the equation of Gleninski applicable in transitional flow range for single-phase fluids showed considerable deviation when compared with values obtained with nanofluid. The heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid flowing in a tube with 0.1% volume concentration is 23.7% higher when compared with water at number of 9000. Heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop with nanofluid has been experimentally determined with tapes of different twist ratios and found to deviate with values obtained from equations developed for single-phase flow. A regression equation is developed to estimate the Nusselt number valid for both water and nanofluid flowing in the transition flow Reynolds number range in circular plain tube and with tape inserts. The maximum friction factor with twisted tape at 0.1% nanofluid volume concentration is 1.21 times that of water flowing in a plain tube.     

Heat transfer enhancement for combined convection flow of nanofluids in a vertical rectangular duct considering radiation effects

In this paper, combined convective heat transfer and nanofluids flow characteristics in a vertical rectangular duct are numerically investigated. This investigation covers Rayleigh numbers in the range of 2 × 10⁶ ≤ Ra ≤ 2 × 10⁷ and Reynolds numbers in the range of 200 ≤ Re ≤ 1000. Pure water and five different types of nanofluids such as Ag, Au, CuO, diamond, and SiO₂ with a volume fraction range of 0.5% ≤ φ ≤ 3% are used. The three‐dimensional steady, laminar flow, and heat transfer governing equations are solved using finite volume method (FVM). The effects of Rayleigh number, Reynolds number, nanofluids type, nanoparticle volume fraction of nano‐ fluids, and effect of radiation on the thermal and flow fields are examined. It is found that the heat transfer is enhanced using nanofluids by 47% when compared with water. The Nusselt number increases as the Reynolds number and Rayleigh number increase and aspect ratio decreases. A SiO₂ nanofluid has the highest Nusselt number and highest wall shear stress while the Au nanofluid has the lowest Nusselt number and lowest wall shear stress. The results also revealed that the wall shear stress increases as Reynolds number increases, aspect ratio decreases, and nanoparticle volume fraction increases. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20354     

Heat transfer,friction factor and effectiveness analysis of Fe3O4/water nanofluid flow in a double pipe heat exchanger with return bend

The convective heat transfer, friction factor and effectiveness of different volume concentrations of Fe₃O₄ nanofluid flow in an inner tube of double pipe heat exchanger with return bend has been estimated experimentally and turbulent flow conditions. The test section used in this study is of double pipe type in which the inner tube diameter is 0.019 m, the annulus tube diameter is 0.05 m and the total length of inner tube is 5 m. At a distance of 2.2 m from the inlet of the inner tube the return bend is provided. The hot Fe₃O₄ nanofluid flows through an inner tube, where as the cold water flows through an annulus tube. The volume concentrations of the nanoparticles used in this study are 0.005%, 0.01%, 0.03% and 0.06% with Reynolds number range from 15,000 to 30,000. Based on the results, the Nusselt number enhancement is 14.7% for 0.06% volume concentration of nanofluid flow in an inner tube of heat exchanger at a Reynolds number of 30,000 when compared to base fluid data; the pumping penalty of nanofluid is < 10%. The effectiveness of heat exchanger for water and nanofluid flow is explained in terms of number of transfer units (NTU) in order to estimate the overall performance of the double pipe heat exchanger. New correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor have been developed based on the experimental data.     

Numerical Study of Nanofluid Convective Heat Transfer in Sinusoidal Tubes

ABSTRACT

The waviness of tube wall and adding nanoparticles to fluid as two passive enhanced heat-transfer techniques are dully accepted; however, the combined effect of their simultaneous usage has not been dealt with, yet. Therefore in the present study, the convective heat transfer of nanofluid laminar flow inside straight tube and sinusoidal tubes under constant heat flux boundary condition was documented. The nanofluid used in this study was Al₂O₃/water with volume fractions from 0 to 4%. The effects of Reynolds number, volume fractions of nanoparticles, and the geometry of sinusoidal tubes upon the heat-transfer coefficient were investigated. The results showed that using sinusoidal tubes enhances heat-transfer coefficients. Also, it was observed that increasing Reynolds number leads to higher heat-transfer coefficients in the convergent section. Moreover, it was observed that increasing the sinusoidal wave amplitude augments the convective heat-transfer coefficients; however, the increase in Nusselt number was slight. Furthermore, adding nanoparticles enhances heat transfer especially in large wave amplitude sinusoidal tubes.     

Numerical Analysis of Turbulent Forced Convection of Nanofluid Flow over a Heated Shallow Cavity

This work presents a numerical investigation of turbulent forced convection of a nanofluid over a heated cavity in a horizontal duct. Heat transfers in separated flows are frequently encountered in engineering applications, such as: heat exchangers, axial and centrifugal compressor blades, gas turbines blades, and microelectronic circuit boards. Thus, it is very essential to understand the mechanisms of heat transfer in such regions in order to enhance heat transfer. Different volume fractions of nanoparticles are presented in the base fluid and different types of nanoparticles are used. The objective of this study is to check the effect of nanofluid on heat transfer in such a configuration. Numerical simulations are performed for pure water and four nanofluids (Cu, CuO, Ag, and Al₂O₃). The results are analyzed through the thermal and dynamical fields with a particular interest to the skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number evolutions. The average Nusselt number increases with the volume fraction of nanoparticles for the whole tested range of Reynolds number. A correlation of average Nusselt number versus Reynolds number and volume fraction of each type of nanoparticles over the cavity wall is proposed in this paper.     

Hydrothermal Characteristics of Spinel Manganese Ferrite Nanofluid in a Metal Foam Tube: Modeling of Experimental Results using Artificial Neural Network

In this research, an experimental evaluation is conducted on the hydrothermal behavior of water-based manganese ferrite nanofluid flowing in a metal foam tube. For this purpose, manganese ferrite nanoparticles are synthesized, and X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy are implemented to specify the samples for determination of phase and size of nanoparticles. The effects of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and presence of MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles inside the water on the Nusselt number and friction factor have been studied. The experimental analysis shows that the increment of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and nanoparticles concentration improve the heat transfer performance. The maximum of 19.1% and 10.5% increase in Nusselt number and friction factor have been achieved respectively by dispersion of 2 wt% manganese ferrite nanoparticles inside the deionized water at Reynolds number of 1,000. A hydrothermal index is proposed to consider the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of the nanofluid, and it is attained that the convection heat transfer improvement dominates the pressure drop in this work. According to the experimental results, the Nusselt number and friction factor of the nanofluid is modeled as a function of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and nanoparticles concentration using artificial neural network with an acceptable precision.     

Cocurrent turbulent mixed convection heat and mass transfer in falling film of water inside a vertical heated tube

A detailed numerical study has been conducted in order to analyse the combined buoyancy effects of thermal and mass diffusion on the turbulent mixed convection tube flows. Numerical results for air-water system are presented under different conditions. A low Reynolds number k-ε turbulent model is used with combined heat and mass transfer analysis in a vertical heated tube. The local heat fluxes, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are reported to obtain an understanding of the physical phenomena. Predicted results show that a better heat transfer results for a higher gas flow Reynolds number Re, a higher heat flux q_w or a lower inlet water flow Γ₀. Additionally, the results indicate that the convection of heat by the flowing water film becomes the main mechanism for heat removal from the wall.     

Numerical study of flow and heat transfer characteristics of alumina-water nanofluids in a microchannel using the lattice Boltzmann method

In the present study, mathematical modeling is performed to simulate force d convection flow of Al₂O₃/water nanofluids in a microchannel using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Simulations are conducted at low Reynolds numbers (Re ≦ 16). Results indicate that the average Nusselt number increases with the increase of Reynolds number and particle volume concentration. The fluid temperature distribution is more uniform with the use of nanofluid than that of pure water. Furthermore, great deviations of computed Nusselt numbers using different models associated with the physical properties of a nanofluid are revealed. The results of LBM agree well with the classical CFD method for predictions of flow and heat transfer in a single channel and a microchannel heat sink concerning the conjugate heat transfer problem, and consequently LBM is robust and promising for practical applications.     

Natural Convection of Al2O3 Nanofluid Between Two Horizontal Cylinders Inside a Circular Enclosure

Natural convection heat transfer within horizontal annuli has many engineering applications such as heat exchangers like fire tube heaters. In this paper numerical methods were used for the computational analysis of heat transfer from the fire tube/hot tube to the gas tube/cold tube inside the water medium using alumina nanoparticles. Because of eccentricities of both hot and cold cylinders and different diameters, the geometry is asymmetric. The mathematical model is based on two-dimensional continuity, momentum, energy, and volume fraction equations, which are solved numerically. The simulation was done for different values of particle loading, 1%, 2%, and 5%, at Rayleigh numbers 10³, 10⁴, and 10⁵. The results show that nanoparticles enhance the heat transfer by increasing the volume concentrations of particles. It was observed that the maximum and minimum augmentation of the average Nusselt number are about 30% and 14% at the Ra = 10³ and Ra = 10⁵, respectively. Although the average Nusselt number rises by increasing the Rayleigh number, the ratio of heat transfer using nanofluid to that by pure fluid decreases. Using 5% volume fraction of alumina nanoparticles at Rayleigh number of 10³ increases the heat transfer to cold tube by about 23% compared to the pure water. The effect of nanolayer formation around particles was considered in a thermal conductivity model, which shows approximately 5% increase in the Nusselt number. To verify the solution results, comparisons with previously published work on the basis of special cases are performed.     

A numerical comparison among different water-based hybrid nanofluids on their influences on natural convection heat transfer in a triangular solar collector for different tilt angles

Natural convection inside a triangular solar collector is investigated numerically for different nanofluids and hybrid nanofluids in this study. The individual effects of Al₂O₃–water, carbon nanotubes (CNT)–water, and Cu–water nanofluids are observed for different solid volume fractions of nanoparticles (0%–10%). Three types of hybrid nanofluids are prepared using different ratios of Al₂O₃, CNT, and Cu nanoparticles in water. A comparison is made varying the Rayleigh numbers within laminar range (10³–10⁶) for different tilt angles (0°, 30°, 60°, and 90°) of the solar collector. The inclined surface of the triangular solar collector is isothermally cold and the bottom wall (absorber plate) is isothermally hot, whereas the vertical wall with respect to the absorber plate is considered adiabatic. Average Nusselt numbers along the hot wall for different parameters are observed. Streamlines and isotherm contours are also plotted for different cases. Dimensionless governing Navier–Stokes and thermal energy conservation equations are solved by Galerkin weighted residual finite element method. Better convective heat transfer is found for higher Rayleigh number, solid volume fraction, and tilt angle. In the case of hybrid nanofluid, increasing the percentage of the nanoparticle that gives better heat transfer performance individually results in enhancing natural convection heat transfer inside the enclosure.     

Modeling of convective heat transfer of a nanofluid in the developing region of tube flow with computational fluid dynamics

In this article, convective heat transfer effect on the nanofluid flow in the developing region of a tube with constant heat flux was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). For this purpose, nanofluid containing Al₂O₃ and water as a liquid single phase with two average particle sizes of 45 and 150 nm and four particle concentrations of 1, 2, 4 and 6 wt.% were used. Effect of particle size on convective heat transfer coefficient was investigated in different Reynolds numbers (500 < Re < 2500) for various axial locations of tube. According to the modeling results, an equation was obtained for Nusselt number prediction using the dimensionless numbers. The results showed that the predicted data were in very good agreement with experimental data obtained from the literature. The maximum error was around 10%.     

Field-Synergy and Figure-of-Merit Analysis of Two Oxide–Water-Based Nanofluids' Flow in Heated Tubes

Field-synergy analysis is performed on the water–oxide nanofluid flow in circular heat sinks to examine the synergetic relation between the flow and temperature fields for heating processes. By varying the Reynolds number and the nanoparticle volume fraction, the convective heat transfer of nanofluid is investigated based on the field synergy number. For heating, the degree of synergy between the velocity and temperature fields of nanofluid flow deteriorates with the Reynolds number increase, leading to a decreased heat transfer performance of the nanofluid. By increasing the particle volume fraction, the degree of synergy between the velocity and temperature fields of the nanofluid flow can be intensified, thus going to convection heat transfer enhancement. After generating results, one can notice that the heat transfer enhancement is strongly dependent on nanoparticle type, Reynolds number, and volume fraction. The results are similar, even if the thermal conductivity of the two considered oxide nanoparticles are quite different. Additionally, a convenient figure of merit that is known as the Mouromtseff number was used as base of comparison, and the results indicated that the considered nanofluids can successfully replace water in specific applications for single-phase forced convection flow in a tube.     

Combined convection heat transfer in a lid driven cavity filled with nanofluids

A simulation study is performed of laminar steady combined convection heat transfer in a lid-driven cavity containing various types of nanofluid (CuO–water nanofluid and Al₂O₃–water nanofluid) at various boundary conditions. The influence of two different types of temperature distributions applied to the cavity's bottom wall is investigated. There are two types of temperature distributions: constant temperature (T_h) and a sinusoidal temperature distribution applied to the bottom wall, which has a higher temperature than the top moving wall (T_c). In both circumstances, the sidewalls are kept adiabatic. The finite element method is utilized for the current issue. The influence of the Richardson number, which ranges from 0.01 to 10, and the volume fraction of nanoparticles, which ranges from 0 to 0.1, on the heat transfer rate has been explored. The influence of the sinusoidal temperature distribution's amplitude and phase angle is also examined. The isotherm and streamline patterns within the cavity are diverse with distinct nanoparticle volume fractions, and the Richardson numbers are presented and analyzed. The numerical findings showed that lowering the Richardson number raises the average Nusselt number. Also, the existence of nanoparticles in pure water increases heat transmission. Additionally, raising the sinusoidal temperature's amplitude increases the average Nusselt number. The results show that the increase of average Nusselt number at (φ = 0, Gr = 10⁴, Pr = 1, Ɣ = 3π/2) for amplitude 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 is 0.53, 0.9, 1.3, and 1.87, respectively.