Experimental Investigation and Three-Dimensional Numerical Analysis of Ferroconvection Through Horizontal Tube Under Magnetic Field of Fixed Parallel Magnet Bars

Abstract

This study includes experimental and three-dimensional numerical analysis of conjugate steady-state laminar forced ferroconvection of Newtonian incompressible ferrofluid through a horizontal circular pipe under constant heat flux and in presence of transverse magnetic field. The magnetic field was applied by two fixed parallel magnet bars at the beginning of the tube. To validate the thermohydrodynamic characteristics obtained by numerical results, appropriate experimental setup with accurate instrumentations was conducted. Based on presence and absence of porous media and solid rod inside of pipe, six conditions were compared for quantifying the heat transfer enhancement and effectiveness. Governing equations were discretized by finite volume method (FVM) and solved using the semi-implicit method for pressure linked equations (SIMPLE) algorithm and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) techniques. It was found that magnetic field, porous media, and solid rod increase heat transfer and pressure loss in the pipe such that solid rod has the best effect on heat transfer and worst effect on effectiveness.