Title: Laminar convective heat transfer of nanofluids in a circular tube under constant heat flux

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

Addresses: Centre for Energy Studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering, J.N.T.U College of Engineering, Kukatpally, Hyderabad 500085, India. ' Centre for Energy Studies, Department of Mechanical Engineering, J.N.T.U College of Engineering, Kukatpally, Hyderabad 500085, India. ' Nizam Institute of Engineering & Technology, Deshmukhi, Nalgonda (Dt.), India. ' Nizam Institute of Engineering & Technology, Deshmukhi, Nalgonda (Dt.), India

Abstract: The main aim of the present investigation is to study the heat transfer behaviour of nanofluids in a circular tube under laminar flow condition by using commercially available FLUENT 6.0 software. In this analysis Al2 O2, CuO and TiO2 nanofluids are considered. Thermo-physical properties of the nanofluids (thermal conductivity, density, viscosity and specific heat) are obtained from the literature. Constant heat flux boundary condition is applied for the estimation of heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids inside a tube. All the investigations of nanofluids are carried out in the volume concentrations ranging from 0.3-2.0% and at the same Reynolds number. The values obtained from CFD analysis of nanofluids are compared with the values of water.

Keywords: nanofluids; base fluid; heat transfer coefficient; nanofluid properties; laminar convection; circular tubes; heat flux; nanotechnology; CFD; computational fluid dynamics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNP.2009.028765

International Journal of Nanoparticles, 2009 Vol.2 No.1/2/3/4/5/6, pp.314-320

Published online: 30 Sep 2009 *

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