Optimization of natural convection heat transfer of Newtonian nanofluids in a cylindrical enclosure

This study characterizes and optimizes natural convection heat transfer of two Newtonian Al2O3 and TiO2/water nanofluids in a cylindrical enclosure. Nusselt number (Nu) of nanofluids in relation to Rayleigh number (Ra) for different concentrations of nanofluids is investigated at different configurations and orientations of the enclosure. Results show that adding nanoparticles to water has a negligible or even adverse influence upon natural convec-tion heat transfer of water:only a slight increase in natural convection heat transfer of Al2O3/water is observed, while natural convection heat transfer for TiO2/water nanofluid is inferior to that for the base fluid. Results also reveal that at low Ra, the likelihood of enhancement in natural convection heat transfer is more than at high Ra:at low Ra, inclination angle, aspect ratio of the enclosure and nanoparticle concentration influence natural convec-tion heat transfer more pronouncedly than that in high Ra.     

Effect of inlet and outlet location on the mixed convective cooling inside the ventilated cavity subjected to an external nanofluid

In this paper, mixed convection flow and temperature fields in a vented square cavity subjected to an external copper–water nanofluid are studied numerically. The natural convection effect is attained by heating from the constant flux heat source on the bottom wall and cooling from the injected flow. In order to investigate the effect of inlet and outlet location, four different placement configurations of the inlet and outlet ports are considered. In each of them, both the inlet and outlet ports are alternatively located either on the top or the bottom of the sides and external flow enters in to the cavity through an inlet opening in the left vertical wall and exits from another opening in the opposite wall. The remaining boundaries are considered adiabatic. The governing equations have been solved using the finite volume approach, using SIMPLE algorithm on the collocated arrangement. The study has been carried out for the Reynolds number in the range of 50 ≤ Re ≤ 1000, with Richardson numbers 0 ≤ Ri ≤ 10 and for solid volume fraction 0 ≤ ? ≤ 0.05. Results are presented in the form of streamlines, isotherms, average Nusselt number. In addition, the effects of solid volume fraction of nanofluids on the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics have been investigated and discussed. The algorithm and the computer code have been also compared with numerical results in order to verify and validate the model.     

Application of nanofluids in heating buildings and reducing pollution

This paper presents nanofluid convective heat transfer and viscosity measurements, and evaluates how they perform heating buildings in cold regions. Nanofluids contain suspended metallic nanoparticles, which increases the thermal conductivity of the base fluid by a substantial amount. The heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids increases with volume concentration. To determine how nanofluid heat transfer characteristics enhance as volume concentration is increased; experiments were performed on copper oxide, aluminum oxide and silicon dioxide nanofluids, each in an ethylene glycol and water mixture. Calculations were performed for conventional finned-tube heat exchangers used in buildings in cold regions. The analysis shows that using nanofluids in heat exchangers could reduce volumetric and mass flow rates, and result in an overall pumping power savings. Nanofluids necessitate smaller heating systems, which are capable of delivering the same amount of thermal energy as larger heating systems using base fluids, but are less expensive; this lowers the initial equipment cost excluding nanofluid cost. This will also reduce environmental pollutants because smaller heating units use less power, and the heat transfer unit has less liquid and material waste to discard at the end of its life cycle.     

Heat transfer rate of a closed-loop oscillating heat pipe with check valves using silver nanofluid as working fluid

This research investigated the effect of aspect ratios (evaporator length to inner diameter of capillary tube), inclination angles, and concentrations of silver nanofluid on the heat transfer rate of a closed-loop oscillating heat pipe with check valves (CLOHP/CV). The CLOHP/CV was made from copper tubing with an internal diameter of 2 mm. Two check valves were inserted into the tube. The tube had 40 meandering turns. The length of the evaporator was 50, 100, and 150 mm. The lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser section were equal. The concentration of silver nanofluid was 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, and 1 %w/v, and the operating temperature was 40, 50, and, 60°C. It was found that the heat transfer rate of the CLOHP/CV using silver nanofluid as a working fluid was better than that the heat transfer rate when pure water is used because the silver nanofluid increases the heat flux by more than 10%. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Man Yeong Ha Sakultala Wannapakhe received her B.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering (Manufacturing) from Mahasarakham University, Thailand, in 2005. She then received her M. Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Mahasarakham University, Thailand, in 2007. Sakultala Wannapakhe is currently a Ph.D. student in Energy Technology at Mahasarakham University, Thailand. Sampan Rittidech received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Chiang Mai University, Thailand, in 2002. Dr. Sampan Rittidech is currently an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Mahasarakham University in Thailand. Dr. Sampan’s research interests include heat transfer, heat pipe, and heat exchanger. Bopit Bubphachot received his Ph.D. degree in Engineering Mechanics and Energy from University of Tsukuba, Japan, in 2008. Dr. Bopit Bubphachot is currently an Lecturer at the Faculty of Engineering at Mahasarakham University in Thailand. Dr. Bopit’s research interests include Metal Forming (Fine Blanking Process), FEM Simulation in Metal Forming Process and Fatigue and Creep-Fatigue strength for Perforated Plate. Osamu Watanabe received his Ph.D. degree in Engineering from University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1981. Dr. Osamu Watanabe is currently a Professor at Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering at University of Tsukuba, Japan. Dr. Osamu’s research interests include inelastic behavior, material strength in nuclear or thermal plants, code and standard for plant technology.     

Investigation of turbulent convective heat transfer and pressure drop of TiO2/water nanofluid in circular tube

Turbulent heat transfer behavior of titanium dioxide/water nanofluid in a circular pipe was investigated experimentally where the volume fraction of nanoparticles in the base fluid was less than 0.25%. The experimental measurements have been carried out in the fully-developed turbulent regime for various volumetric concentrations. The results indicated that addition of small amounts of nanoparticles to the base fluid augmented heat transfer remarkably. There was no much effect on heat transfer enhancement with increasing the volume fraction of nanoparticles. The measurements also showed that the pressure drop of nanofluid was slightly higher than that of the base fluid and increased with increasing the volume concentration. In this paper, experimental results have been compared with the existing correlations for nanofluid convective heat transfer coefficient in turbulent regime. Finally, a new correlation of the Nusselt number will be presented using the results of the experiments with titanium dioxide nanoparticles dispersed in water.     

Pool boiling heat transfer of functionalized nanofluid under sub-atmospheric pressures

A water-based functionalized nanofluid was made by surface functionalizing the ordinary silica nanoparticles. The functionalized nanoparticles were water-soluble and could still keep dispersing well even at the mass concentration of 10% and no sedimentation was observed. An experimental study was carried out to investigate the pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of functionalized nanofluid at atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures. The same work was also performed for DI water and traditional nanofluid consisted of water and ordinary silica nanoparticles for the comparison. Experimental results show that there exist great differences between pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of functionalized and traditional nanofluid. The differences mainly result from the changes of surface characteristics of the heated surface during the boiling. A porous deposition layer exists on the heated surface during the boiling of traditional nanofluid; however, no layer exists for functionalized nanofluid. Functionalized nanofluid can slightly increase the heat transfer coefficient comparing with the water case, but has nearly no effects on the critical heat flux. It is mainly due to the changes of the thermoproperties of nanofluids. Traditional nanofluid can significantly enhance the critical heat flux, but conversely deteriorates the heat transfer coefficient. It is mainly due to effect of surface characteristics of the heated surface during the boiling. Therefore, the pool boiling heat transfer of nanofluids is governed by both the thermoproperties of nanofluids and the surface characteristics of the heated surface.     

玛湖致密砂砾岩油藏纳米排驱滑溜水体系

玛湖油田致密砂砾岩油藏压裂液减阻剂为阴离子聚合物,易于与高矿化度配制水和压裂液添加剂中的有机或者无机阳离子发生反应而形成沉淀,堵塞致密砂砾岩孔隙,造成近井地带压力异常升高,不利于压裂裂缝的进一步延伸。为了实现储层保护、促进裂缝扩展,研究提出了一套具有原位驱油功能的纳米排驱滑溜水体系,结合室内环路摩阻测试和表界面张力测试实验,确定了该体系中各个组成部分的添加比例,并依据玛湖油田现场实验数据和实验材料,对整个纳米排驱剂体系的持续抗剪切能力、耐盐能力、溶解能力和洗油能力进行评价。结果表明,所研发的纳米排驱滑溜水体系在1.2×104s-1剪切速率下,减阻率为78.92%,且在该剪切速率下,利用玛湖油田不同矿化度配制水所配制的纳米排驱滑溜水体系剪切20 min减阻率依旧保持在73%以上,同时通过使用索氏提取装置测定纳米排驱滑溜水体系对玛湖油田油砂的洗油能力为93.3%。初步筛选出一套适用于玛湖油田砂砾岩油藏的纳米排驱滑溜水体系。      

Effect of using nanofluids on efficiency of parabolic trough collectors in solar thermal electric power plants

In this paper, forced convection heat transfer nanofluid flow inside the receiver tube of solar parabolic trough collector is numerically simulated. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are carried out to study the influence of using nanofluid as heat transfer fluid on thermal efficiency of the solar system. The three-dimensional steady, turbulent flow and heat transfer governing equations are solved using Finite Volume Method (FVM) with the SIMPLEC algorithm. The results show that the numerical simulation are in good agreement with the experimental data. Also, the effect of various nanoparticle volume fraction on thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of the solar parabolic collector is discussed in details. The results indicate that, using of nanofluid instead of base fluid as a working fluid leads to enhanced heat transfer performance. Furthermore, the results reveal that by increasing of the nanoparticle volume fraction, the average Nusselt number increases.     

The Effect of Thermal Radiation on Nanofluid Cooled Microchannels

This article studies thermal analysis of single phase laminar flow nanofluid cooled rectangular microchannel heat sink (MCHS) subject to the uniform wall temperature condition. The solutions for velocity and temperature distributions are obtained from both high-aspect-ratio and low-aspect-ratio microchannels. The practical criterion for the validity of the model are used to express the cases which are assumed to produce inaccuracy in heat transfer prediction, and the participating area of base and tip plates of microchannel in radiation exchange has been defined. Radiation effects of ultra fine particles incorporated in a base coolant fluid, in heat transfer enhancement of nanofluid cooled MCHS are considered, and effects of near field thermal radiation on total heat transfer of micro heat sinks are also investigated.     

Particle Shape and Aspect Ratio Effect of Al2O3–Water Nanofluid on Natural Convective Heat Transfer Enhancement in Differentially Heated Square Enclosures

The present numerical investigation, based on the finite volume method, deals with the characterization of flow and thermal fields inside differentially heated square enclosures filled with Al₂O₃–water nanofluid. The study focuses on the effect of shapes and aspect ratios of nanoparticles (NPs), depicted by Rayleigh number (Ra), solid volume fraction (?), and enclosure on both flow and heat transfer enhancement. Streamlines, isotherms contours, and velocity profiles as well as the average Nusselt number are considered. Results found show that the heat transfer rate increases with Rayleigh number as well as with nanofluid volume fraction. For the six different examined cases of NPs’ aspect ratios, nanofluid with oblate spheroids NPs (d_p = 0.13) was found to engender a significant enhancement in the overall heat transfer. In addition, heat transfer rate was more pronounced at great values of aspect ratios of NPs for prolate spheroids. Results also showed that heat transfer enhancement decreases as the Rayleigh number increases independently of the considered enclosure, shapes, and aspect ratios of NPs.