Comparison of the pseudo-single-phase continuum model and the homogeneous single-phase model of nanofluids

Abstract

We investigate forced convection of a nanofluid in the entrance region of a cylinder and in the fully-developed region of a coaxial cylinder employing the pseudo-single-phase continuum model and the homogeneous single-phase model. While the homogeneous single-phase model assumes a uniform nanoparticle distribution, the pseudo-single-phase continuum model takes care of nonuniform nanoparticle distribution. There has been controversy regarding the cause of heat transfer enhancement in nanofluids. Whether it is caused solely by the variation of thermophysical properties or the nanoparticle distribution also affect it. This controversy may be resolved employing these two models. It is found that nanoparticles drift from hot wall to cold central region in the entrance region, while they drift from cold inner surface to hot outer surface in the fully-developed coaxial cylinder due to the thermophoresis. The resulting nonuniform distributions of nanoparticles are found to add the heat transfer enhancement slightly. On the other hand, the frictional dissipation increases when the heat transfer rate increases. In a sense, the enhanced heat transfer rate is partly achieved at the expense of a higher energy consumption.