Investigation into the thermo-hydrodynamics of ferrofluid flow under the influence of constant and alternating magnetic field by InfraRed Thermography

Abstract

Convective flow of single-phase ferrofluids under the influence of constant and alternating magnetic field has attracted attention as an effective strategy for enhanced heat transfer in mini/micro thermal systems. In the present study, an attempt has been made to gain deep insight of the heat transfer characteristics of single-phase ferrofluid flow in a heated stainless steel tube under the influence of constant and time-varying magnetic field. The governing parameters are mainly the magnetic flux density (B) and perturbation frequency (f) of the applied magnetic field. Three magnetic flux density value of B = 0 G, 700 G and 1080 G have been used for constant magnetic field. Constant value of B = 1080 G was used for alternating magnetic field while, frequencies of applied magnetic field has been varied from 0.1 Hz to 5 Hz. Flow Reynolds number was kept constant to Re = 66. Some 2-D numerical simulations have also been performed to qualitatively support the experimental data. The study is focused to delineate the mechanism of augmentation of heat transfer through the interaction of available force fields, i.e., interplay of magnetic force and inertia of the flow, and also the effect of various time scales on the flow and thermal behavior. Major inferences of the study are (a) on the application of external magnetic (constant and alternating), heat transfer augments (b) existence of a threshold frequency of external magnetic field for maximum augmentation as outcome of advective time-scale and magnetic perturbation time-scale. InfraRed Thermography (IRT) has been used to measure the wall temperature, while, some bright field visualizations have also been done to qualitatively support the explanations of experimental data.