Numerical Investigation of Laminar Flow Heat Transfer of TiO2-Water Nanofluid in a Heated Pipe

Abstract

The mathematical modeling of heat transfer in nanofluids based on the effects of additional particle forces was investigated with computational fluid dynamics simulations of titania-water nanofluid in a heated pipe flow. The additional particle forces analyzed were Brownian force, thermophoresis, Saffman’s lift force and Magnus lift force. The results were validated with an experimental work. The experimental results showed that the enhancements of heat transfer in nanofluids are weaker compared to water owing to the delayed onset of natural convection in the nanofluid flow. The simulation results support the experimental findings and it has been proven that the two-phase Euler–Lagrange simulation models reproduce the experiment better than single-phase simulation. The effects of additional particle forces on the deterioration of heat transfer of nanofluids are negligible. The momentum and heat transfer between base fluid and nanoparticles could be a possible explanation for this phenomenon.