A Short Review on Thermal Properties of Nanofluids in Heat Transfer Applications

Abstract

Due to the increased technology penetration in urban and rural areas, energy consumption has seen an upward trend. To fulfil the energy demand, we must go for optimization of the energy demand in various industrial as well as domestic applications in a heat exchanger device by improving the heat transfer rate by applying various heat transfer enrichment methods such as passive, active, and combined methods. Therefore, numerous techniques have been encouraged to boost heat transfer rate and to reduce the cost and size of equipment especially the heat exchangers like radiators, refrigeration systems etc. In the present work, a short review of various heat transfer augmentation techniques by using different nanofluids of different nanoparticle sizes and concentrations to improve the “heat transfer rate” (Q) and “overall heat transfer coefficient” (U) in a variety of heat exchangers in different industrial applications is carried out. The impact of the concentration of nanofluids on heat transfer rate and heat transfer coefficient is particularly given special importance in this review. Also, the impact of the Reynolds (Re) number and Nusselt (Nu) number on heat transfer rate and frictional factors are presented.