Numerical study on convective heat transfer for water-based alumina nanofluids

Abstract

The present work is an experimental study of steady state convective heat transfer of de-ionized water with a (0.04% by volume) volume fraction of Al2O3 nanoparticles dispersed to form a nanofluid that flows through an aluminium tube.Laminar fully developed flow heat transfer coefficient of Al2O3 nanoparticles are dispersed in water in circular tube is discussed in this paper. In order to validate the heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid in circular tube commercially available CFD software FLUENT 6.3.26 is used. The thermo-physical properties of the Al2O3nanofluid are estimated by using the equations available in literature. Thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid are considered for heat transfer coefficient by assuming nanofluid is a single-phase fluid. Constant Wall Heat Flux (CWHF) boundary condition is incorporated for heat transfer analysis. The flow and temperature fields are assumed fully developed (x/D>10). The analysis is conducted in the volume concentration from 0.4%.A maximum of 2.25 times heat transfer enhancement is obtained by using nanofluid as working medium.