Intensification of thermal efficiency of a cross-flow heat exchanger under turbulent flow conditions using CuFe2O4/water nanofluid

Abstract

The use of nanofluids has opened new intellectual horizons in improving the performance of heat exchangers. Therefore, in this work an experimental study was conducted for investigating the effect of CuFe2O4/water nanofluid on the heat transfer rate enhancement in a cross-flow type heat exchanger under turbulent flow conditions. Heat transfer rate were examined at different volume percentages of CuFe2O4 nanoparticle (0≤ φ ≤ 0.9% vol.) with a nominal diameter of 28 nm at three inlet fluid temperatures of 72, 80 and 88 °C, water pump rotational speeds of 2000 rpm and 3000 rpm, and cross-flow fan speeds of 1500, 2000 and 2500 rpm. According to the results, the heat transfer rate in the case of using nanofluids with a volume percentage of 0.1% was significantly higher than that of distilled water in all test conditions. The highest relative increase in the universal heat transfer coefficient (U) equal to 92.3%, compared to the use of water (φ = 0) was obtained at 0.1% vol% of nanoparticles, the lowest temperature of fluid entering the heat exchanger (72 °C), medium pump speed (2000 rpm) and low fan speed (1500 rpm). The maximum Performance Evaluation Criterion (PEC) improvement of 44.46% also occurred at this working condition.