Heat transfer performance study of Cu-ethanol/ethylene glycol/propylene glycol-water nanofluids in a wavy-walled tube heat exchanger

Abstract

With the rapid consumption of nonrenewable energy sources, improving the heat transfer efficiency of conventional fixed tube plate heat exchangers, optimizing their structure, and finding more efficient coolants have become popular topics. In this paper, the cooling effect of ethanol/ethylene glycol/propylene glycol-water solution with a mass fraction of 50 % in a wavy-walled tube heat exchanger was investigated, while Cu nanoparticles with volume fractions of 1.5 % and 3.0 % were added to the cold working mass to form three different nanofluids. The effects of the three nanofluids at different volume fractions on the heat transfer performance of the wavy-walled tube heat exchanger were analyzed with numerical simulations, while the microscopic mechanism of the enhanced thermal conductivity of the nanofluids was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of the nanofluids was greatly enhanced due to the formation of adsorption layers with different properties on the nanoparticle surfaces, and the Cu–ethylene glycol-water nanofluid showed the largest increase in thermal conductivity among the three nanofluids. It was also found that the shell-side pressure drop, convective heat transfer coefficient, and heat exchange quantity of the nanofluid in the wavy-walled tube heat exchanger significantly increased with an increase of volume fraction. The comprehensive heat transfer performance of the three nanofluids was found to be better compared to the base fluid. Cu-ethanol/EG/PG-water nanofluid with a volume fraction of 3.0 % increased the PEC of the heat exchanger by 10.4 %, 19.8 % and 27.6 %, respectively, at a volume flow rate of 1.53 m3/h. Therefore, the Cu-propylene glycol-water nanofluid had the best comprehensive heat transfer performance. Cu-ethanol-water nanofluid volume fraction of 3.0 % reaches a maximum PEC value of about 3.12 at Qv near about 2.0 m3/h, and Cu-EG-water nanofluid volume fraction of 3.0 % has a peak PEC value of about 4.07 at Qv of near about 2.0 m3/h. Therefore, the Cu-ethanol-water and Cu-ethylene glycol-water nanofluids are the optimal solutions for the combined heat transfer performance within the study.