Heat transfer and pressure drop in turbulent nanofluid flow in a pin-fin heat sink: Fin and nanoparticles shape effects

Abstract

In this paper, the turbulent flow of a nanofluid in a channel is simulated in the presence of a pin-fin heatsink. Pin fins have different shapes, including hexagonal, circular, square, and triangular that are considered in two different arrangements. Constant heat flux is applied to the heatsink from its bottom due to the operation of an electronic chip. The nanoparticles suspended in water are alumina, which are in different shapes such as blades, bricks, cylinders, and plates. Their shape effect is investigated. The nanofluid enters the channel at a constant velocity in the range of 1–3 m/s and a constant volume percentage of 2%, and exits after cooling the pin-fin heatsink. The standard k-ε turbulence model is used to model turbulent flow, and the SIMPLEC method is employed to linearize the equations. The variables include fin type, fin arrangement, nanoparticle shape, and nanofluid velocity. Their effect on the maximum and average heatsink temperature and pressure drop (ΔP) is studied. The results show that increasing the velocity leads to a reduction in heatsink temperature, and the use of brick-shaped nanoparticles and circular fin results in the best cooling performance. Also, the use of circular fin and brick nanoparticles requires less ΔP than other cases.