Heat transfer of nanofluids in turbulent pipe flow

1000 Words2 Pages

Heat transfer of nanoparticle suspensions in turbulent pipe flow is studied theoretically.

The main idea upon which this work is based is that nanofluids behave more like singlephase

fluids than like conventional solidliquid mixtures. This assumption implies that

all the convective heat transfer correlations available in the literature for single-phase

flows can be extended to nanoparticle suspensions, provided that the thermophysical

properties appearing in them are the nanofluid effective properties calculated at the

reference temperature. In this regard, two empirical equations, based on a wide variety

of experimental data reported in the literature, are used for the evaluation of the

nanofluid effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity. Conversely, the other

effective properties are computed by the traditional mixing theory. The novelty of the

present study is that the merits of nanofluids with respect to the corresponding base

liquid are evaluated in terms of global energetic performance, and not simply by the

common point of view of the heat transfer enhancement. Both cases of constant

pumping power and constant heat transfer rate are investigated for different operating

conditions, nanoparticle diameters, and solidliquid combinations. The fundamental

result obtained is the existence of an optimal particle loading for either maximum heat

transfer at constant driving power or minimum cost of operation at constant heat

transfer rate. In particular, for any assigned combination of solid and liquid phases, it is

found that the optimal concentration of suspended nanoparticles increases as the

nanofluid bulk temperature is increased, the Reynolds number of the base fluid is

increased, and the length-to-diameter ratio of the pipe is decreased, while it is

practically independent of the nanoparticle diameter.

The usual design requirements for modern heat transfer equipment are reduced size and

high thermal performance. In this connection, in the past decades a considerable

research effort has been dedicated to the development of advanced methods for heat

transfer enhancement, such as those relying on new geometries and configurations, and

those based on the use of extended surfaces and/or turbulators. On the other hand,

according to a number of studies executed in recent times, a further important

contribution may derive by the replacement of traditional heat transfer fluids, such as

water, ethylene glycol and mineral oils, with nanofluids, i.e., colloidal suspensions of

nano-sized solid particles, whose effective thermal conductivity has been demonstrated

to be higher than that of the corresponding pure base liquid.

The main results of prior work on pipe flow, that is undoubtedly one of the most

investigated topics in the field of convection in nanofluids, clearly show that

nanoparticle suspensions offer better thermal performance than the base liquids at same

Reynolds number, and that heat transfer increases with increasing the nanoparticle

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