Experimental investigation into convective heat transfer in the transition flow regime by using nanofluids in a rectangular channel

Abstract

The growing demand for energy worldwide requires attention to the design and operating of heat exchangers and thermal devices to utilise and save thermal energy. There is a need to find new heat transport fluids with better heat transfer properties to increase convective heat transfer, and nanofluids are good alternatives to conventional heat transport fluids. Although extensive research has been done on the properties of nanofluids in recent decades, there is still a lack of research on convection heat transfer involving nanofluids, particularly in the transitional flow regime. This study focused on the application of nanofluids in heat exchangers as heat transport fluids by investigating forced convective heat transfer of alumina-water and titanium dioxide-water nanofluids prepared by using the one-step method. The particle size used was 46 nm and 42 nm for the aluminium oxide and the titanium dioxide respectively. Uniform heat flux boundary conditions were used by uniformly heating the rectangular channel electrically. Nanofluids with volume concentrations of 0.3, 0.5 and 1% were used for the alumina-water nanofluids, and volume concentrations of 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1% were used for the titanium dioxide-water nanofluids. The viscosity of the nanofluids under investigation was determined experimentally, while the thermal conductivity and other properties were predicted by using suitable correlations from the literature. A Reynolds number range of 200 to 7 000 was covered, and the investigated flow rates included the laminar and turbulent flow regimes, as well as the transition regime from laminar to turbulent flow. Temperatures and pressure drops were measured to evaluate heat transfer coefficients, Nusselt numbers and pressure drop coefficients. Heat transfer and hydrodynamic characteristics in the transition flow regime were carefully studied and compared with those in the transition regime when flowing pure water in the same test section. The study also investigated another approach of enhancing heat transfer in heat exchangers by increasing the heat transfer area of the heat exchanger itself, and this was done by filling the rectangular test section with porous media to increase the heat transfer surface area and thus enhance heat transfer. Hence in this study, the effect of using porous media was also studied by filling the rectangular test section with high-porosity nickel foam. The permeability of the used nickel foam was determined by conducting pressure drop measurements through the nickel foam in the test section, and heat transfer and pressure drop parameters were measured and compared with those in the empty test section. The results showed that all the nanofluids used enhanced heat transfer, particularly in the transition flow regime. The 1.0% volume concentration alumina nanofluid showed maximum enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient, with values of 54% and 11% in the turbulent regime. The maximum enhancement of the heat transfer coefficient was 29.3% in the transition regime for the 1.0% volume concentration titanium dioxide-water nanofluid. The thermal performance factor in the transition flow regime was observed to be better than that in the turbulent and laminar flow regimes for all the nanofluids. The results of the nickel foam test section showed that the values of the friction coefficient were 24.5 times higher than the values of the empty test section, and the Nusselt number was observed to be three times higher when using nickel foam than without foam in the test section. No transition regime was observed for the foam-filled test section on either the heat transfer results or the pressure drop results; however, transition from laminar to turbulent was found for the test section without foam. The results of the thermal factor of the foam-filled test section showed a thermal performance factor higher than unity through the entire Reynolds number range of 2 000 to 6 500, with better thermal performance factor at lower Reynolds number.