Heat transfer enhancement in rotating disk boundary layer

Abstract

A generally admitted fact about the nanofluids is the expedition of heat transfer process in comparison to pure fluids. The calculation of enhanced rate of heat transfer depends strongly upon the nanofluid modeling. Following the experimental evidence most of the researchers assume the nanofluid to be a homogeneous mixture. However, this is a severe condition that results in under-prediction of heat transfer rates. Due to the ongoing convection phenomena the nanoparticle concentration is actually non-homogeneous within the boundary-layer because of the presence of concentration gradients. The objective of this study is to calculate the heat transfer enhancement in 3-D boundary-layer when the working fluid is a nanofluid. The rotating disk geometry, which perhaps serves as the bench mark for the 3-D boundary-layers, have been chosen for the purpose here. The non-homogeneous nanofluid modeling has been utilized and a percent increase in Nusselt number has been calculated. Detailed analyses of flow and heat transfer phenomena for nanofluids have been conducted under the influence of several physical parameters.