Pressure drop and heat transfer characteristics in 60° Chevron plate heat exchanger using Al2O3, GNP and MWCNT nanofluids

Abstract

PurposeThe study aims to use nanofluids as coolants for improving heat transfer peculiarities of plate heat exchangers (PHE). The experimental and numerical investigations are thoroughly performed using distilled water-based Al2O3, graphene nanoplatelet (GnP) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) nanofluids.Design/methodology/approachThe numerical simulation based on Single Phase Model (SPM) was performed on a realistic 3 D model of PHE having similar dimensions as of the actual plate. The standard k-epsilon turbulent model was used to solve the problem. The concentration and flow rate of nanofluids were ranging from 0.1 to 1 Vol.% and 1 to 5 lpm, respectively, at 30°C. Whereas, hot side fluid is distilled water at 2 lpm and 80°C. The heat transfer characteristics such as bulk cold outlet temperature, heat transfer rate (HTR), heat transfer coefficient (HTC), Nusselt number (Nu), pressure drop, pumping power, effectiveness and exergy loss were experimentally evaluated using nanofluids in a PHE.FindingsThe experimental results were then compared with the numerical model. The experimental results revealed maximum enhancement in an average heat transfer rate of 9.86, 14.86 and 17.27% using Al2O3, GnP and MWCNT nanofluids, respectively, at 1 Vol.%. The present computational fluid dynamics model accurately predicts HTR, and the results deviate <1.1% with experiments for all the cases. The temperature and flow distribution show promising results using nanofluids.Originality/valueThe study helps to visualise heat transfer and flow distribution in PHE using different nanofluids under different operating conditions.