CFD investigation of thermal performance of aluminum oxide nanofluid in channel

Abstract

This paper shows the CFD investigation of pressure drop and thermal performance of aluminum oxide nano fluid inside square channel inserted a cylinder with and without fin using two-phase method. The constant heat flux on outer wall and laminar flow regime are applied in the considered domain using finite volume method. The results depict that the enhance of nano-particles volume concentration and Reynolds number have dramatic effects on heat transfer coefficient enhancement. Moreover, the increase of nano-particle diameter has opposite impact on heat transfer efficiency. The passive way leads to higher pressure drops. For all fluids under consideration, pressure drop escalated with Reynolds number. Injecting nano-particles into the water causes to increase in pressure drop and this impact is more significant in high nano-particle volume fraction.