Investigation of Heat Transfer Coefficient Enhancement for CuO/TiO2 Nanocomposite in a Tube Heat Exchanger

Abstract

In order to improve the efficiency and rate of heat transfer in heat exchangers, various techniques such as increasing the heat transfer coefficient are proposed. This study is devoted to the investigation of heat transfer coefficient variations due to the addition of CuO, TiO2 and CuO/TiO2 nanoparticles into a shell and tube heat exchanger. CuO/TiO2 nanocomposite was synthesized using mechanical technique. Particle size analyzer was used to determine the size distribution of CuO/TiO2 nanocomposite. The results indicated an increase in the nanofluid heat transfer coefficient and overall heat transfer coefficient by increasing the nanoparticle composition and temperature. The heat transfer coefficients of CuO nanofluid are higher than that of TiO2 and the heat transfer coefficient of the nanocomposite is the highest. The heat transfer coefficient and overall heat transfer coefficient were enhanced 4.58 to 12.42 times and 4.01 to 12.33, respectively by increasing nanocomposite mass fraction. The highest heat transfer coefficients occur at the 75/25% CuO/TiO2 nanocomposite mass ratio.