Heat Transfer Enhancement by Sinusoidal Motion of a Water-Based Nanofluid

Abstract

The oscillatory flows are often utilized in order to augment heat transfer rates in various industrial processes. It is also a well-known fact that nanofluids provide significant enhancement in heat transfer at certain conditions. In this research, heat transfer in an oscillatory pipe flow of both water and water–alumina nanofluid was studied experimentally under low frequency regime laminar flow conditions. The experimental apparatus consists of a capillary tube bundle connecting two reservoirs, which are placed at the top and the bottom ends of the capillary tube bundle. The upper reservoir is filled with the hot fluid while the lower reservoir and the capillary tube bundle are filled with the cold fluid. The oscillatory flow in the tube bundle is driven by the periodic vibrations of a surface mounted on the bottom end of the cold reservoir. The effects of the frequency and the maximum displacement amplitude of the vibrations on thermal convection were quantified based on the measured temperature and acceleration data. It is found that the instantaneous heat transfer rate between de-ionized (DI) water (or the nanofluid)-filled reservoirs is proportional to the exciter displacement. Significantly reduced maximum heat transfer rates and effective thermal diffusivities are obtained for larger capillary tubes. The nanofluid utilized oscillation control heat transport tubes achieve high heat transfer rates. However, heat transfer effectiveness of such systems is relatively lower compared to DI water filled tubes.