Thermophysical properties, heat transfer and pressure drop of COOH-functionalized multi walled carbon nanotubes/water nanofluids

Abstract

This paper is a continuation of the authors' previous work on the thermophysical properties, heat transfer, and pressure drop of nanofluids [Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 52 (2014) 68–78]. In this paper, an experimental study is carried out to study the turbulent flow of COOH-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes/water nanofluid flowing through a double tube heat exchanger. For this purpose, first, the thermophysical properties of the nanofluid, including the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity, have been measured at various temperatures and concentrations. Using the measured data, new correlations as a function of temperature and concentration are presented to predict the thermophysical properties. In the next step, the effects of low volume fractions of the nanofluid (from 0.05% to 1%) on the heat transfer rate are studied at the Reynolds numbers between 5000 and 27,000. The experimental results reveal that with increasing the nanofluid concentration, the heat transfer coefficient and thermal performance factor increase. On average, a 78% increase in heat transfer coefficient, a 36.5% increase in the average Nusselt number, and a 27.3% penalty in the pressure drop are recorded for the highest concentration of MWCNTs in water.