Heat transfer enhancement in nanofluids. A numerical approach

Abstract

The aim of the reported investigation is to asses the effect of brownian and thermophoretic diffusion in nanofluids convective heat transfer. In order to capture these effects, a new equation for particles distribution had to be consider. Momentum and energy equations have been reformulated in order to include brownian and thermophretic diffusion. These modes of diffusion have been suggested extensively in the literature but their effect on momentum and energy transport has not yet been numerically analyzed. In order to obtain a solution for the modified set of governing equations, a new CFD solver had to be devised. The new solver has been applied to a case study involving hydrodynamic and thermally developing laminar flow regime in a pipe. Pure base fluid solutions have been used to asses the accuracy of the model. Numerical nanofluid solutions compare reasonably well with both experimental results obtained elsewhere and the Churchill and Ozoe correlation. The observed heat transfer enhancement by the nanofluid has been attributed to its transport properties rather than to another transport mechanism.