Title: Heat transfer and friction factor analysis in a circular tube with Al₂O₃ nanofluid by using computational fluid dynamics

Authors: L. Syam Sundar, K.V. Sharma, Shabana Parveen

Addresses: JNTU College of Engineering, Kukatpally, Hyderabad 500085, India. ' JNTU College of Engineering, Kukatpally, Hyderabad 500085, India. ' Nizam Institute of Engineering and Technology, Deshmukhi, Nalgonda (Dt), India

Abstract: Turbulent fully developed flow heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles are dispersed in water and ethylene glycol in circular tube is discussed in this paper. In order to validate the heat transfer coefficient and friction factor of nanofluid in circular tube commercially available CFD software FLUENT 6.0 is used. To achieve the fully developed flow condition, the aspect ratio (L/D) of the test section is equal to 94. The thermo-physical properties of the Al₂O₃ nanofluid are estimated by using the equations available in literature. Thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid are considered for heat transfer coefficient and friction factor by assuming nanofluid is a single-phase fluid. Constant Wall Heat Flux (CWHF) boundary condition is incorporated for heat transfer analysis and adiabatic boundary condition is incorporated for friction factor analysis. The analysis is conducted in the volume concentration range from 0.1% to 4%. A maximum of 2.25 times heat transfer enhancement and 1.42 times of friction is obtained by using nanofluid as working medium.

Keywords: nanoparticles; nanofluids; heat transfer enhancement; friction factor; nanotechnology; circular tubes; computational fluid dynamics; CFD; aluminium oxide.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNP.2009.028752

International Journal of Nanoparticles, 2009 Vol.2 No.1/2/3/4/5/6, pp.191 -199

Published online: 30 Sep 2009 *

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