Highest Heat Transfer Enhancement Research Articles

Numerical Investigation and Thermal Transfer on a Wall Corrugated without and with Artificial Roughness

The objective of this study is to give the designer an appreciation of the heat transfer enhancement in turbulent flows through corrugated channels in a heat plate exchanger. Precisely, the influence of a new technic named the artificial roughness is probed on corrugated walls, with their variable wall amplitudes for assessing the effectiveness of the heat exchange. For that purpose, a numerical simulation approach is adopted. The rectangular, triangular, trapezoidal and sinusoidal corrugated wall and artificial roughness wall shapes are investigated, in order to determine the optimal wall profile resulting in significance increase in the heat exchange process with a minimum friction loss. The numerical results are presented in the form of isotherms, streamlines, contour, Nusselt number (Nu) and friction coefficient (Cf) using commercial software ANSYS- Fluent where the Reynolds number is in the range from 3 000 to 12 000. Our simulations reveal that the sinusoidal-corrugated channel has the highest heat transfer enhancement followed by rectangular, triangular and trapezoidal-corrugated channel. In addition, introduction of artificial roughness in the wavy channel induces stronger secondary flow which makes the flow three-dimensional and improve the heat transfer by a maximum 40% at a Reynolds number equal to 12 000. This may indicate benefits for designing heat plate compact exchangers capable of higher performances in the turbulent flow regimes.

Split of heat transfer regions and flow characteristics of perforated blockages with inclined holes for trailing edge cooling

Perforated blockages with inclined impingement holes are one of the cooling methods that can be used in the trailing edge of gas turbine. This method has a high heat transfer enhancement as well as high frictional resistance. Numerical investigation has been conducted to make a deep insight into the flow fields and pressure distribution of this cooling structure. Split of high heat transfer region has been detected in the impingement region, which may enlarge the thermal stress of metal bulk. The pressure gradient and counter rotating vortex is found to be the mainspring of this phenomenon. Large total pressure dissipation is founded within the impingement chambers.

Numerical determination of interfacial heat transfer coefficient for an aligned dual scale porous medium

PurposeFluid flow and heat transfer in a dual scale porous media is investigated to determine the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient, numerically. The studied porous media is a periodic dual scale porous media. It consists of the square rods which are permeable in an aligned arrangement. It is aimed to observe the enhancement of heat transfer through the porous media, which is important for thermal designers, by inserting intra-pores into the square rods. A special attention is given to the roles of size and number of intra-pores on the heat transfer enhancement through the dual scale porous media. The role of intra-pores on the pressure drop of air flow through porous media is also investigated by calculation and comparison of the friction coefficient.Design/methodology/approachTo calculate the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient, the governing equations which are continuity, momentum and energy equations are solved to determine velocity, pressure and temperature fields. As the dual scale porous structure is periodic, a representative elementary volume is generated, and the governing equations are numerically solved for the selected representative volume. By using the obtained velocity, pressure and temperature fields and using volume average definition, the volume average of aforementioned parameters is calculated and upscaled. Then, the interfacial convective heat transfer coefficient and the friction coefficient is numerically determined. The interparticle porosity is changed between 0.4 and 0.75, while the intraparticle varies between 0.2 and 0.75 to explore the effect of intra-pore on heat transfer enhancement.FindingsThe obtained Nusselt number values are compared with corresponding mono-scale porous media, and it is found that heat transfer through a porous medium can be enhanced threefold (without the increase of pressure drop) by inserting intraparticle pores in flow direction. For the porous media with low values of interparticle porosity (i.e. = 0.4), an optimum intraparticle porosity exists for which the highest heat transfer enhancement can be achieved. This value was found around 0.3 when the interparticle porosity was 0.4.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of the study are interesting, especially from heat transfer enhancement point of view. However, further studies are required. For instance, studies should be performed to analyze the rate of the heat transfer enhancement for different shapes and arrangements of particles and a wider range of porosity. The other important parameter influencing heat transfer enhancement is the direction of pores. In the present study, the intraparticle pores are in flow direction; hence, the enhancement rate of heat transfer for different directions of pores must also be investigated.Practical implicationsThe application of dual scale porous media is widely faced in daily life, nature and industry. The flowing of a fluid through a fiber mat, woven fiber bundles, multifilament textile fibers, oil filters and fractured porous media are some examples for the application of the heat and fluid flow through a dual scale porous media. Heat transfer enhancement.Social implicationsThe enhancement of heat transfer is a significant topic that gained the attention of researchers in recent years. The importance of topic increases day-by-day because of further demands for downsizing of thermal equipment and heat recovery devices. The aim of thermal designers is to enhance heat transfer rate in thermal devices and to reduce their volume (and/or weight in some applications) by using lower mechanical power for cooling.Originality/valueThe present study might be the first study on determination of thermal transport properties of dual scale porous media yielded interesting results such as considerable enhancement of heat transfer by using proper intraparticle channels in a porous medium.

Performance evaluation of nanofluid flow in conical and helical coiled tubes

Nanofluid and coiled tubes have been employed as two passive methods for enhancing the heat transfer. In the present study, the turbulent flow of CuO–water nanofluid in helical and conical coiled tubes was numerically investigated with constant wall temperature through mixture model. The thermophysical properties of base fluid (water) were considered as temperature-dependent functions, while Brownian effects were adopted in thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of nanofluid. Simulation results were validated using experimental data for heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in helical coiled tube for different Reynolds numbers. Four different geometries were simulated and compared. The first one was a conical coiled tube; the others were helical coiled tubes whose coil diameters were minimum, maximum, and median of the conical coiled tube pitch coil diameter. The velocity profiles indicated stronger secondary flow in conical coiled tube at a specified Dean number. The obtained results also showed higher heat transfer enhancement in the conical coiled tube in comparison with helical coiled tube with the same average pitch coil diameter. Moreover, the nanoparticle-induced heat transfer enhancement was more effective in conical coiled tube.

Dropwise Condensation on Superhydrophobic Microporous Wick Structures

Previous research in dropwise condensation (DWC) on rough microtextured superhydrophobic surfaces has demonstrated evidence of high heat transfer enhancement compared to smooth hydrophobic surfaces. In this study, we experimentally investigate the use of microporous sintered copper powder on copper substrates coated with a thiol-based self-assembled monolayer to attain enhanced DWC for steam in a custom condensation chamber. Although microtextured superhydrophobic surfaces have shown advantageous droplet growth dynamics, precise heat transfer measurements are underdeveloped at high heat flux. Sintered copper powder diameters from 4 μm to 119 μm were used to investigate particle size effects on heat transfer. As powder diameter decreased, competing physical factors led to improved thermal performance. At consistent operating conditions, we experimentally demonstrated a 23% improvement in the local condensation heat transfer coefficient for a superhydrophobic 4 μm diameter microporous copper powder surface compared to a smooth hydrophobic copper surface. For the smallest powders observed, this improvement is primarily attributed to the reduction in contact angle hysteresis as evidenced by the decrease in departing droplet size. Interestingly, the contact angle hysteresis of sessile water droplets measured in air is in contradiction with the departing droplet size observations made during condensation of saturated steam. It is evident that the specific design of textured superhydrophobic surfaces has profound implications for enhanced condensation in high heat flux applications.

Effect of bleed hole on internal flow and heat transfer in matrix cooling channel

Matrix is an internal cooling scheme which has advantages of stronger heat transfer and better structural strength than conventional serpentine ribbed channels in gas turbine blades. In some compound cooling designs, coolant is extracted from the internal channel to the outer chamber to realize impingement. This paper analyzes the effect of bleed extraction on the flow field and heat transfer in matrix cooling channel by numerical simulations. RANS method is employed to present detailed flow field and heat transfer distribution. The investigated matrix channel is comprised of eight sub-channels which form two layers, the rib angle is 45° and the sub-channel aspect ratio is 1:1. The results indicate that heat transfer augmentation is caused by the large-scale streamwise vortexes which dominate the sub-channel flow. Extraction can create extremely high heat transfer enhancement level around bleed holes and alter the flow structures in the sub-channel. Cases of different diameters, positions and arrangements of holes are compared and the result shows that the bleed position has the most significant effect on the internal flow and heat transfer. Bleed holes between the sub-channel centerline and rib-side wall can provide strong heat transfer and good thermal performance. The internal matrix cooling capacity can be maintained with 25% mass extraction. Although the thermal performance of matrix channel can be improved by bleed holes, it is lower than most of the conventional cooling methods unless the baseline matrix structure was modified.

Heat transfer enhancement in suddenly expanding annular shear-thinning flows

Heat transfer enhancement in suddenly expanding annular pipe flows of Newtonian and shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluids is studied within the steady laminar flow regime. Conservation of mass, momentum, and energy equations, along with the power-law constitutive model are numerically solved. The impact of inflow inertia, annular-diameter-ratio, k, power-law index, n, and Prandtl numbers, is reported over the following range of parameters: Re = {50, 100, 150}, k = {0, 0.5, 0.7}; n = {1, 0.8, 0.6}; and Pr = {1, 10, 100}. Heat transfer enhancement downstream of the expansion plane, i.e., Nusselt numbers greater than the downstream fully developed value, Nu/Nufd > 1, is only observed for Pr = 10 and 100. In general, higher Prandtl numbers, power-law index values, and annular-diameter-ratios, result in more significant heat transfer enhancement downstream of the expansion plane. Heat transfer augmentation, for Pr = 10 and 100, increases with the annular-diameter-ratio. For a given annular-diameter-ratio and Reynolds numbers, increasing the Prandtl number from Pr = 10 to Pr = 100, always results in higher peak Nu values, Numax, for both Newtonian and shear-thinning flows. All Numax values are located downstream of the flow reattachment point, in the case of suddenly expanding round pipe flows, i.e., κ = 0. However, for suddenly expanding annular pipe flows, i.e., κ = 0.5 and 0.7, Numax values appear upstream the flow reattachment point. For Pr = 10 and 100, shear-thinning flows display two local peak Nu/Nufd values, in comparison with one peak value in the case of Newtonian flows. The highest heat transfer enhancement, Numax/Nufd ≈ 5, is observed at κ = 0.7, n = 0.6, and Pr = 100.

Heat transfer enhancement using U-shaped flow routing plates in cooling printed circuit boards

This study presents a numerical investigation on the effect of the U-shaped flow routing plate to laminar mixed convection heat transfer from protruded heat sources at the side walls of a horizontal channel. The air was used as a cooling fluid and protruded heat sources were equipped as 4 × 8 rows into the rectangular channel with insulated walls. Numerical investigations are carried out for the plate width/channel width ratio (LP/W) of 3/20, 1/10, 1/20 and plate angles (α) of 0°, 30°, 60° at different Reynolds (Re), modified Grashof (Gr*) and Richardson (Ri) numbers. In the study, periodic plate placement was analyzed numerically and the effects of a plate placement array on heat transfer enhancement were investigated. The highest heat transfer enhancement (180%) was observed for the values of α = 30° LP/W = 3/20 at all the Re, Gr* and Ri number values. The predominance of natural convection increases the use of the flow routing plate effectiveness but causes a decrease in the heat transfer enhancement after a certain number of Ri. Therefore, the increase in natural convection needs to be controlled. Theoretical fan power (Nfan) requirements due to pressure loss are also investigated. Depending on the parameters used in the numerical study, as a result of the plate usage, the pressure losses increased according to the case without a plate. It is observed that the most important factor affecting the pressure loss was the Re number and this case indicated that the plate placement was more appropriate for low values of Re. The findings obtained during the numerical studies were presented in detail as graphics of the row averaged Nusselt number (Nurow ave.) and the heater temperatures, surface stream lines, and temperature contours.

THE EFFECT OF VORTEX GENERATOR BASE LENGTH ON THERMAL HYDRAULIC PERFORMANCE ACROSS FIN-AND-TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Heat transfer enhancement is believed can be achieved by using vortex generator. In the past decades, many researches have been performed to investigate the effect of various vortex generator geometry and parameters including vortex generator angle of attack and height. However, less study has been conducted to investigate the influence of vortex generator length at different arrangement towards the heat transfer performance across the fin-and-tube heat exchanger (FTHE). Therefore, the effects of different strategy on the rectangular winglet vortex generator (RWVG) base length towards the thermal hydraulic performance across the FTHE were numerically investigated in this study. Two types of RWVG arrangement known as common flow down (CFD) or common flow up (CFU) arrangement were used and placed behind four rows of tube in inline arrangement. Total of 7 cases were investigated including the default RWVG, extended front and extended back for both RWVG in CFD and CFU arrangement together with FTHE without vortex generator which was set as the baseline case. The Reynolds number ranged from 500 to 900. It was found that the size of the wake region behind the RWVG contributed to the additional pressure drop penalty across the FTHE. Meanwhile, different thermal characteristics were found for different base length strategy in CFD and CFU arrangement. For RWVG arranged in CFD and CFU arrangement, the extended back case shows the highest heat transfer enhancement with 5 – 25 % and 5 – 15 % increment compared to the baseline case respectively. Based on JF factor evaluation, default RWVG in CFU arrangement provide better heat transfer enhancement than the pressure drop penalty compared to other RWVG cases with average JF factor value is 0.8. Nonetheless, none of the tested cases shows higher JF factor value than the baseline case.

Effects of nanoparticle shapes on laminar forced convective heat transfer in curved ducts using two-phase model

In this study, effects of particle shape on Al2O3-water nanofluids laminar forced convection in developing and fully developed regions of a curved square duct were investigated numerically using Eulerian-Lagrangian two-phase approach. In order to improve the accuracy of the two-phase model for laminar convective heat transfer of nanofluids containing non-spherical nanoparticles, two new nanoparticle shape descriptors, flatness and elongation, were introduced. Compared with base fluid (water), nanofluids containing platelet shaped nanoparticles has the highest heat transfer enhancement, which is followed by nanofluids containing nanoparticles with cylinder, blade, sphere and brick shapes, respectively. Non-spherical nanoparticles with a suitable shape, small size and relatively high volume fraction are beneficial for enhancement of heat transfer in laminar forced convection. In developing region, a pair of Dean vortices formed and grew along the duct axis, which affected nanoparticle concentration distribution and heat and mass transfer. In fully developed region, convective heat transfer efficiencies of nanofluids are larger than 1 and vary with nanoparticle shape, size, volume fraction and Reynolds number. Enhancement of the convective heat transfer in nanofluids was attributed to the enhancement of effective thermal conductivity and effective viscosity, change of flow structure and reduction of thermal boundary layer thickness due to the presence of nanoparticles and their shapes. New correlations of Nusselt number and fraction factor with nanoparticle shape (sphericity, flatness and elongation), size and volume fraction were developed in order to predict convective heat transfer of nanofluids containing spherical and non-spherical nanoparticles.

A new cooling design for rib roughened two-pass channel having positive effects of rotation on heat transfer enhancement on both pressure and suction side internal walls of a gas turbine blade

This paper presents a new cooling design for a typical two-pass channel of a high pressure stage turbine blade. Gas turbine blades are subjected to elevated heat loads on the pressure and suction walls. In order to enhance heat transfer from the surfaces to the relatively colder internal air (gas), rib turbulators are installed on the opposite walls of two-pass channel. Combination of Coriolis force and centrifugal buoyancy force result in increase in heat transfer on trailing walls (along the pressure surface, and radially outward coolant flow) and leading walls (along the suction surface, radially inward flow) and vice versa. This leads to non-uniform cooling in both the passes and hence a non-optimum usage of cooling potential. The present study is focused on utilizing the Coriolis force favorably in both the passes by rotating the typical arrangement of two-pass channels by 90°. Detailed heat transfer coefficients were measured by transient liquid crystal thermography under rotating conditions. In order to match the direction of Buoyancy force as it exists in actual engines, colder air was passed during the transient experiment. The heat transfer experiments were carried out at a Reynolds number of 20000 and Rotation numbers of 0 and 0.1. The Nusselt numbers have been reported in two forms, (a) normalized with respect to Dittus-Boelter correlation for developed turbulent flow in circular duct, (b) normalized with corresponding Nusselt number obtained from smooth channel experiments. In order to understand the heat transfer characteristics of both traditional and new design, numerical simulations were also carried out for all configurations and at all experimental conditions to obtain flow and heat transfer predictions. A combined experimental and numerical discussion has been provided to explain the findings of the present study and to support the proposed design. It has been reported that the new design has 11% higher heat transfer enhancement at 8% lower pumping power compared to the traditional two pass rib roughened duct.

Heat transfer characteristics of single cone-jet electrosprays

Spray cooling is an attractive proposition for thermal dissipation due to its high efficiency and markedly lower power requirements compared with more conventional air cooling systems. The local convective heat flux to single source cone-jet electrospray using thin foil thermography has been investigated parametrically. Two-phase electrospray cooling using ethanol is explored for multiple nozzle sizes (Di=0.33–1.37mm), flow rates (Q=2–16μLmin−1) and separation heights (H=2.5–17.5mm). The results show two distinct regimes of electrospray cooling; evaporative and pool electrospray cooling. Cooling performance was shown to be dependent on separation height and flow rate. Nozzle size was shown not to be a significant parameter except for small dependency for the smallest nozzle size tested. Importantly, the results demonstrate that very high peak heat transfer enhancement of up to 18.7 times over natural convection can be achieved with electrospray cooling for exceptionally low flow rates (4μLmin−1).

Numerical investigation of heat transfer enhancement in a square ventilated cavity with discrete heat sources using nanofluid

A numerical study of a laminar mixed convection problem in a ventilated square cavity partially heated from bellow is carried out. The fluid in the cavity is a water-based nanofluid containing Cu nanoparticles. The effects of monitoring parameters, namely, Richardson number, Reynolds number, and solid volume fraction on the streamline and isotherm contours as well as average Nusselt number along the two heat sources are analyzed. The computation is performed for Richardson number ranging from 0.1 to 10, Reynolds number from 10 to 500, and the solid volume fraction from 0 to 0.1. The results show that by adding nanoparticles to the base fluid and increasing both Reynolds and Richardson numbers the heat transfer rate is enhanced. It is also found, regardless of the Richardson and Reynolds numbers, and the volume fraction of nanoparticles, the highest heat transfer enhancement occurs at the left heat source surface.

Experimental and numerical investigation of forced convective heat transfer in solar air heater with thin ribs

Ribs on the underside of the absorber plate of solar air heater enhance the convective heat transfer rate of the air flowing through it. Several experimental and numerical investigations, with different rib geometry and flow conditions, have been carried out. This paper is one such effort of experimental and numerical investigations of solar air heater. It presents the effect of rib arrangements on the heat transfer and frictional loss characteristics of a rib roughened solar air heater. The geometrical and flow conditions of the present work circumscribe with aspect ratio (W/H) of 10 for the duct, blockage ratio (e/H) is 0.1, relative roughness height (e/Dh) of 0.055, relative roughness pitch (P/e) of 10, angle of attack (α) of 90° and Reynolds number (Re) from 4000 to 16000. Two thin transverse continuous and two truncated ribs are used for one pitch length. Four different rib arrangements are considered for the heat transfer, friction factor and thermo hydraulic performance parameter (THPP) investigations. A three dimensional (3D) numerical simulation is carried out with the commercial CFD code ANSYS FLUENT ver. 16.2 and RNG k–ε turbulence model. The enhanced wall treatment as wall function is used, keeping the Y+ criteria<1. The numerical results are in good agreement with the experimental results. Three important outcomes are observed in the present investigation. Rib arrangement 1, with mid ribs placed at 3.3% and 6.67% truncation from the sidewalls gives the highest heat transfer enhancement. Arrangement 3, with mid ribs placed at 5% truncation from the side walls gives the best overall THPP results and arrangement 4, with two transverse continuous ribs in between the truncated ribs shows the highest average friction factor.

Turbulent heat transfer enhancement in an air-to-water heat exchanger

Hydrothermal behavior in a water-to-air double-pipe heat exchanger is studied experimentally and numerically. To achieve fully developed conditions, the heat exchanger was built with additional lengths before and after the test section. Commercial code (ANSYS 14) is used for numerical section. In order to enhance rate of heat transfer, discontinuous helical fins is utilized. Results show that Nusselt number augments with the enhancement of Reynolds number and Prandtl number, which are calculated at bulk temperature. The use of square section helical fins also shows a higher heat transfer enhancement rate than that of the circular one. Thermal performance factor is an increasing function of the open area ratio.

Experimental study on heat transfer improvement structures with staggered transverse elongated pedestal array

Experiments have been conducted to investigate the overall thermal performance of a rectangular channel implemented with an elongated pedestal array. The staggered pedestals were elongated transversely (perpendicular to flow direction) in order that the jet flow from between the pedestals impinges at the center of the pedestals in downstream row. The average heat transfer of the pedestal and endwall surfaces were measured by the lumped capacitance method and transient liquid crystal method, respectively. The pressure drop across the pedestal arrays was measured. The heat transfer coefficients were measured over the Reynolds number range from 6000 to 25,000. Four test sections were designed to evaluate the effect of geometric parameters, i.e. major axis to minor axis ratio D/d=5.0 and 8.0, X/d=0.8–1.2, S/d=1.175–1.5. Conclusions were drawn as the elongated pedestal array provided considerably high heat transfer enhancement. However, the overall thermal performance was compromised by a very high pressure drop across the pedestal array.

Heat transfer enhancement of an impinging synthetic air jet using diffusion-shaped orifice

Impingement heat transfer from a synthetic air jet through a diffusion-shaped orifice was investigated in this study. The effect of the opening angle (60° and 90°), orifice thickness (1–3 mm), and driven frequencies (400–800 Hz) were examined. Hot-wire anemometry was used to measure the instantaneous and average flow velocities ejected from the jet holes. At a small jet-to-surface spacing, synthetic jets from a diffusion-shaped orifice produced higher heat transfer than that from a round orifice. The highest heat transfer enhancement from using a diffusion-shaped orifice was approximately 30% compared with the round orifice at an opening angle of 60°. The diffusion-shaped orifice achieved the highest area-averaged heat transfer coefficient and Nusslet number of 80 W/m2⋅K and 8.9, respectively. When the opening angle increased to 90°, heat transfer enhancement was degraded because of increased flow circulation and reduced ejection flow velocity. The effect of orifice configuration on the heat transfer diminished as the jet-to-surface spacing increased.

KARAKTERISTIK TERMAL HIDRODINAMIK UNTUK ALIRAN LAMINAR DAN TURBULEN DI DALAM PIPA DENGAN BERBAGAI BENTUK SISIPAN PLAT BERGALUR

The purpose of this study is to investigate the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of air flowing in tubes with various inserts of grooved plate. Inserts of grooved plate with a variety of attack angles (a = 0°, 45° and 90°) has been studied in laminar and turbulent flow. Plate inserts are installed inside the tube intended to improve the heat transfer due to the mixing of the fluid. Numerical simulation of three-dimensional flow set as a model in the direction of fluid flow. The working fluid in the tube is cold, whereas hot wall temperature is kept constant. The results showed that the grooved plate inserts increases the heat transfer in the tube. For laminar flow, the highest heat transfer enhancement is obtained at the grooved plate inserts α = 45° i.e. from 4.46 to 20.34% with an increase in friction factor of 172.19 to 204.36%. As for the turbulent flow, the highest heat transfer improvement is found in a grooved plate inserts with α = 45° i.e. from 38.67 to 56.1% with an increase in friction factor of 183.5 to 262.29%.

Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics in Channels With Groove–Protrusions and Combination Effect With Ribs

Passive flow control and heat transfer enhancement technique has become an attractive method for device internal cooling with low resistance penalty. In the present paper, the flow and heat transfer characteristics in the small scale rectangular channel with different groove–protrusions are investigated numerically. Furthermore, the combination effect with ribs is studied. The numerical results show that on the groove side, the flow separation mainly occurs at the leading edge, and the reattachment mainly occurs at the trailing edge in accordance with the local Nusselt number distribution. On the protrusion side, the separation mainly occurs at the protrusion back porch and enhances the heat transfer at the leading edge of the downstream adjacent groove. The rectangle case provides the highest dimensionless heat transfer enhancement coefficient Nu/Nu0, dimensionless resistance coefficient f/f0, and thermal performance (TP) with the highest sensitivity of Re. When ribs are employed, the separation bubble sizes prominently decrease, especially inside the second and third grooves. The Nu/Nu0 values significantly increase when ribs are arranged, and the one-row case provides the highest heat transfer enhancement by ribs. Besides, the two-row case provides the highest Nu/Nu0 value without ribs, and the three-row case shows the lowest Nu/Nu0 value whether ribs are arranged or not.

Numerical and experimental investigations on the heat transfer enhancement in corrugated channels using SiO2–water nanofluid

In this paper, convective heat transfer of SiO2–water nanofluid flow in channels with different shapes is numerically and experimentally studied over Reynolds number ranges of 400–4000. Three different channels such as trapezoidal, sinusoidal and straight were fabricated and tested. The SiO2–water nanofluid with different volume fractions of 0%, 0.5% and 1.0% were prepared and examined. All physical properties of nanofluid which are required to evaluate the flow and thermal characteristics have been measured. In the numerical aspect of the current work, the governing equations are discretized by using the collocated finite volume method and solved iteratively by using the SIMPLE algorithm. In addition, the low Reynolds number k–ε model of Launder and Sharma is employed to compute the turbulent non-isothermal flow in the present study. The results showed that the average Nusselt number and the heat transfer enhancement increase as the nanoparticles volume fraction increases, however, at the expense of increasing pressure drop. Furthermore, the trapezoidal-corrugated channel has the highest heat transfer enhancement followed by the sinusoidal-corrugated channel and straight channel. The numerical results are compared with the corresponding experimental data, and the results are in a good agreement.