Particle and thermohydraulic maldistribution of nanofluids in parallel microchannel systems
A deep understanding of fluidic maldistribution in microscale multichannel devices is necessary to achieve optimized flow and heat transfer characteristics. A detailed computational study has been performed using an Eulerian–Lagrangian twin-phase model to determine the concentration and thermohydraulic maldistributions of nanofluids in parallel microchannel systems. The study reveals that nanofluids cannot be treated as homogeneous single-phase fluids in such complex flow situations, and effective property models drastically fail to predict the performance parameters. To comprehend the distribution of the particulate phase, a novel concentration maldistribution factor has been proposed. It has been observed that the distribution of particles does not entirely follow the fluid flow pattern, leading to thermal performance that deviates from those predicted by homogeneous models. Particle maldistribution has been conclusively shown to be due to various migration and diffusive phenomena such as Stokesian drag, Brownian motion and thermophoretic drift. The implications of particle distribution on the cooling performance have been illustrated, and smart fluid effects (reduced magnitude of maximum temperature in critical zones) have been observed for nanofluids. A comprehensive mathematical model to predict the enhanced cooling performance in such flow geometries has been proposed. The article clearly highlights the effectiveness of discrete phase approach in modeling nanofluid thermohydraulics and sheds insight on the specialized behavior of nanofluids in complex flow domains.
Experimental study of two phase flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop of water in a minitube
The present work focuses on two phase heat transfer and flow boiling pressure drop in a horizontal circular minitube with deionized water as a working fluid. The experiments were conducted in a 316 stainless steel tube with 1.21 mm inside diameter and a heated length of 276 mm. The present study analyzed the two phase heat transfer and two phase pressure drop at various values of mass flux and heat flux. The operating parameters used were mass flux from 1077 kg/m2s to 1915 kg/m2s and degree of inlet subcooling of 30 °C, 35 °C, 40 °C with heat flux from 20 to 200 kW/m2. The experimental results of two phase heat transfer coefficient were compared with micro-scale and conventional correlations from the literature. It was found that the heat transfer is distinctly different from those predicted by conventional correlations and is closer to minichannel correlations available in the literature.
Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity enhancement for nanofluids
Usual heat transfer fluids with suspended ultra fine particles of nanometer size are named as nanofluids, which have opened a new dimension in heat transfer processes. The recent investigations confirm the potential of nanofluids in enhancing heat transfer required for present age technology. The present investigation goes detailed into investigating the increase of thermal conductivity with temperature for nano fluids with water as base fluid and particles of Al2O3 or CuO as suspension material. A temperature oscillation technique is utilized for the measurement of thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity is calculated from it. The results indicate an increase of enhancement characteristics with temperature, which makes the nanofluids even more attractive for applications with high energy density than usual room temperature measurements reported earlier.
Thermal analysis of plate condensers in presence of flow maldistribution
Flow maldistribution in plate heat exchangers causes deterioration of both thermal and hydraulic performance. The situation becomes more complicated for two-phase flows during condensation where uneven distribution of the liquid to the channels reduces heat transfer due to high liquid flooding. The present study evaluates the thermal performance of falling film plate condensers with flow maldistribution from port to channel considering the heat transfer coefficient inside the channels as a function of channel flow rate. A generalized mathematical model has been developed to investigate the effect of maldistribution on the thermal performance as well as the exit quality of vapor. A wide range of parametric study is presented, which shows the effects of the mass flow rate ratio of cold fluid and two-phase fluid, flow configuration, number of channels and correlation for the heat transfer coefficient. The analysis presented here also suggests an improved method for heat transfer data analysis for plate condensers. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A composite heat transfer model for pool boiling on a horizontal tube at moderate pressure
The present work is aimed at building a comprehensive heat transfer model for pool boiling on horizontal tubes combining sliding bubble mechanism with natural convection, microlayer evaporation and transient conduction during boundary layer reformation, to predict the boiling heat flux for a given wall superheat. The model has been compared to experimental results from literature for R134a and also to independent experiments conducted by the authors for water. Even with a number of simplified assumptions a reasonably good agreement has been observed between model and experiments in the low and medium heat flux region and moderate pressure.
Model for thermal conductivity of CNT-nanofluids
This work presents a simple model for predicting the thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube (CNT) nanofluids. Effects due to the high thermal conductivity of CNTs and the percolation of heat through it are considered to be the most important reasons for their anomalously high thermal conductivity enhancement. A new approach is taken for the modeling, the novelty of which lies in the prediction of the thermal behaviour of oil based as well as water based CNT nanofluids, which are quite different from each other in thermal characteristics. The model is found to correctly predict the trends observed in experimental data for different combinations of CNT nanofluids with varying concentrations. © Indian Academy of Sciences.
Pool boiling characteristics of nano-fluids
Common fluids with particles of the order of nanometers in size are termed as 'nano-fluids' which have created considerable interest in recent times for their improved heat transfer capabilities. With very small volume fraction of such particles the thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer capability of these suspensions are significantly enhanced without the problems encountered in common slurries such as clogging, erosion, sedimentation and increase in pressure drop. This naturally brings out the question whether such fluids can be used for two phase applications or in other words phase change in such suspensions will be assistant or detrimental to the process of heat transfer. The present paper investigates into this question through experimental study of pool boiling in water-Al2O3 nano-fluids. The results indicate that the nano-particles have pronounced and significant influence on the boiling process deteriorating the boiling characteristics of the fluid. It has been observed that with increasing particle concentration, the degradation in boiling performance takes place which increases the heating surface temperature. This indicates that the role of transient conduction in pool boiling is overshadowed by some other effect. Since the particles under consideration are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the surface roughness it was concluded that the change of surface characteristics during boiling due to trapped particles on the surface is the cause for the shift of the boiling characteristics in the negative direction. The results serve as a guidance for the design of cooling systems with nano-fluids where an overheating may occur if saturation temperature is attained. It also indicates the possibility of such engineered fluids to be used in material processing or heat treatment applications where a higher pre-assigned surface temperature is required to be maintained without changing the fluid temperature. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.