Numerical simulation for energy and exergy analysis of a novel turbulator in a heat recovery system filled with hybrid nanofluid

Abstract

This study utilizes numerical simulation to assess the efficacy of a novel turbulator (NT) on Energy analysis (performance thermohydraulic) and exergy efficiency (ηex) of a dual-tube, heat exchanger (H.E) filled, two-phase method (TPM) ZnO-MWCNT /water, hybrid nanofluid (H.N.F). This system can be used for the novel exhaust air heat recovery system consisting of a nanofluid-based building integrated photovoltaic/thermal system or an earth-water heat exchanger. The pressure-based solver problem is employed to simulate nanofluid (NF) steady flow. ZnO-MWCNT/water TPM HNF is simulated using the Eulerian model. Inlet Reynolds number (Re) changes 10,000 to 28,000, volume fraction (φ) of ZnO and MWCNT nanoparticles (NPs) varies from 1% to 3%, and the pitch ratio (λ) of the NT is assumed to be 0, 0.25, 0.50, and 1. The discretization of the equations is done using the second-order upwind method for more accuracy in the calculations and the SIMPLE algorithm is utilized to couple the velocity (V) and pressure (P) equations. Also, the results demonstrate that the thermal performance (TP) is highly dependent on the changes in φ and Re of the HNF entering dual-tube HE. Besides, the pressure drop (Δp) is strongly dependent on the inlet V in the dual-tube HE. In addition, the use of a NT is desirable for 10,000 < Re < 28,000 and 1% < φ < 3%. Finally, the ηex of the dual-tube HE with a NT with λ = 4 is A better version by 47.22% and φ = 3% and Re enhances 10,000 to 28,000.