EFFECT OF CORRUGATED PIPE ON LAMINAR CONVECTIVE HEAT TRANSFER BY USING SWCNT NANOFLUID: A NUMERICAL STUDY

Abstract

Extension of the tube wall’s heat transfer area and mixing nanoparticles with working fluids are the most effective and potential techniques to enhance the heat transfer rate, which is required to remove the excessive load of heat from the heat transfer apparatus. These extreme loads are dangerous threats for heat transfer equipment, which may cause several damages. Therefore, a corrugated pipe was studied numerically along with SWCNT-water nanofluid, to determine the improvement of laminar convective heat transfer rate. Ansys fluent software and steady-state control volume method were applied for simulation purposes. Hence, different volume fractions (1% - 5%) of nanoparticles were considered to mix with water to produce nanofluid. A range of Reynolds numbers from 500 to 1200 with a constant wall heat flux of 1000 W/m2 was considered to calculate the heat transfer rate. Additionally, the corresponding pumping power requirement for such improvements was also calculated. The result demonstrated that by increasing the Reynolds number, the Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient were raised significantly for corrugated pipe compared to a plain pipe. Consequently, the presence of nanoparticles in the working fluid also showed more enhancement. For the corrugated pipe, at Re =500, SWCNT-water nanofluid showed a maximum 56.52% enhancement of Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient. Furthermore, SWCNT-water nanofluid showed pumping power advantage (92% for 5% volume fraction). Additionally, correlations to calculate the Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid were also developed, which showed good agreement with numerical results. However, it can be concluded that corrugated channels, along with nanofluid, provide enhancement of heat transfer rate, Nusselt number, and pumping power advantage for the laminar developed region of a pipe.