IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol.

3 Issue 8, August 2016

ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2015) - 4.332
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Computer Simulations of Natural Convection of Single Phase

Nanofluids in Simple Enclosures
RajKumar Bodakuntla1, Raju Rao Perala 2 and Srinivasulu P3
M.TECH (TE) Asst Professor Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vaagdevi College of Engineering, Bollikunta, Warangal, T.S.-506005, India.

Abstract with the classi- cal equations (Yamada and Ota, 1980;
Recently, employing nanofluids as heat transfer agent becomes an Hamilton and Crosser, 1962). Many attempts have been
upward trend and a considerable alternative to markedly enhance made to formulate efficient theoretical models for the
the heat transfer process. Effective heat transfer during heating prediction of the effective thermal conductivity, but this
and cooling streams is an urgent demand in chemicals,
topic is still seriously incomplete (Chon et al., 2005; Xue,
petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals industries. Obviously,
industry relies on computer simulation as a quick and effective
2003; Xuan et al. 2004; Li et al., 2003). Several
tool to test, monitor, analyze, and modify the individual units (e.g. investigations revealed that the nanofluid heat transfer
heat exchangers) and the entire process performance as well. In coefficient could also be increased by more than 20% in the
this thesis, the natural convection heat transfer of two nanofluids case of very low nanoparticles concentrations (Kang et al.,
with different concentrations (0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 vol % of 2006; Xuan and Li, 2000). Relatively, few theoretical and
TiO 2 and Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles in water) in different enclosure is experimental inves- tigations have been reported on
examined using CFD analysis. Computer simulations are convective heat transfer in confined flows, as also
performed to find the Nusselt number and the heat transfer reviewed in the literature (Buongiorno, 2006; Das et
coefficient for natural convection of nanofluids in horizontal,
al., 2006; Daungthongsuk and Wongwises, 2007; Wang
tilted square, annulus and triangular enclosure. 3D modeling is
done in Pro/Engineer and analysis is done in Ansys. and Mujumdar, 2007). However, only limited experimen-
tal studies on the convective heat transfer of nano-
Keywords: Nanofluid, Heat transfer coefficient, Single-phase fluids as modified heat transfer media have been
model, Two-phase model. performed, compared with many results for thermal
conductivity enhancement (Chen et al., 2008; Ding et al.,
2006; He et al., 2007; Pak and Cho, 1998; Wen and
1. Introduction Ding, 2004; Li et al., 2003; Yang et al., 2005). Numerical
investigations on nanofluids are car- ried out using two
Convective heat transfer is very important for many approaches. The first approach assumes that the
industrial heating or cooling equipments. The heat continuum assumption is still valid for fluids with
convection can be enhanced passively by chang- ing the suspended nanosize particles (Moraveji et al., 2011),
flow geometry or the boundary conditions or by enhancing while the other approach considers a two-phase model
the fluid thermo physical properties. An innovative way of for describing both the fluid and the solid phases
improving the thermal conductivities of fluids is to suspend (Kalteh et al., 2011). Another approach is to adopt the
small solid particles in the fluid. Maxwell (1873, 1881) Boltzmann theory. The single-phase model with physical
showed the possibility of increasing thermal and thermal properties, all assumed to be constant with
conductivity of a mixture by adding a volume fraction tempera- ture, was employed in several studies (Roy et
of solid particles. These fluids containing suspended al., 2004; Maiga et al., 2004; Maiga et al., 2006; Maiga et
colloidal nanoparticles have been called nanofluids. al., 2005). The hydrodynamic and thermal charac- teristics
Heoretical and experimental investigations have been of nanofluids, flowing through a uniformly heated tube,
conducted to estimate the effective thermal conductivity in both laminar and turbulent regimes with adjusted
of nanofluids. Some experimental stud- ies (Yoo et al., properties, have been investigated (Maiga et al., 2004).
2007; Choi et al., 2001) show that the measured thermal The advantages of nanofluids with respect to heat
conductivity of nanofluids is much larger than the transfer were discussed (Maiga et al., 2005), but it was
classical theoretical predictions (Hamilton and Crosser, also found that the inclusion of nanoparticles introduced
1962). Other experimental investigations (Putman et al., drastic effects on the wall shear stress. A new
2006; Zhang et al., 2007) revealed that the thermal correlation was proposed (Maiga et al., 2006) to describe
conductivity did not show any anomalous enhancement the thermal perform- ance of Al2O3/water nanofluids
and, for lower volume fractions, the results agree well under the turbulent regime and a numerical study of

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 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 3 Issue 8, August 2016
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2015) - 4.332
www.ijiset.com

heat transfer for water/Al2O3 nanofluids in a radial 2. Experimental Work

cooling system was carried out by Roy et al. (2004). They
found that the addition of nanoparticles in the base fluid Materials and Nanofluid Preparation
increased the heat transfer rates considerably. The single- In order to investigate the effects of nanoparticles on heat
phase model with physical and thermal properties, all transfer, alumina nanofluids were prepared without any
assumed to be constant with tempera- ture, was employed surfactant using deionized water as the base fluid and
in several studies (Roy et al., 2004; Maiga et al., 2004; the two-step method with a stirrer and a sonicator. Before
Maiga et al., 2006; Maiga et al., 2005). The hydrodynamic conducting the main heat transfer experiments, stability
and thermal charac- teristics of nanofluids, flowing analysis of 0.5 vol.% alumina nanofluids at different pH
through a uniformly heated tube, in both laminar and were performed to investi- gate the period of the
turbulent regimes with adjusted properties, have been nanoparticles stability in the fluid. Figure 1 show the
investigated (Maiga et al., 2004). The advantages of stability results after 26 days. The results clearly show that
nanofluids with respect to heat transfer were discussed the stability period for the same concentration of alumina
(Maiga et al., 2005), but it was also found that the inclusion nanofluids varies with the pH value and the period of
of nanoparticles introduced drastic effects on the wall stability at low pH is greater than at high pH. Thus, in all
shear stress. A new correlation was proposed (Maiga et the nanofluid experiments pH value was controlled at
al., 2006) to describe the thermal perform- ance of about 3.
Al2O3/water nanofluids under the turbulent regime and
a numerical study of heat transfer for water/Al2O3 Table 1: TITANIUM OXIDE NANO FLUID PROPERTIES
nanofluids in a radial cooling system was carried out by Thermal
Specific
Volume Conductivit Density Viscosity
Roy et al. (2004). They found that the addition of Heat
fraction y (kg/m3) (kg/m-s)
nanoparticles in the base fluid increased the heat transfer (J/kg-k)
(W/m-k)
rates considerably. Recently, numerous other theoretical 1282.3
investiga- tions by different researchers (Bianco et al., 0.1 0.75 3142.33 0.00125
8
2009; Ebrahimnia-Bajestan et al., 2011; Farsad et al., 1566.5
2011; Fazeli et al., 2012; Haghshenas Fard et al., 0.2 1.134 881.02 0.0015
6
2010; Kalteh et al., 2012; Kamali and Binesh, 2010; 0.00213
0.5 3.01 1426.33 2419.1
Kamyar et al., 2012; Mahmoodi and Hashemi, 2012; 1
Manca et al., 2012; Rana and Bhargava, 2011;
Rostamani et al., 2010; Singh et al., 2012; Tahery et al., Table 2 ALUMINUM OXIDE NANO FLUID PROPERTIES
2011; Yang and Lai, 2011; Yu et al., 2011) on Thermal Specific
nanofluid convective heat transfer were carried out, but Volume Density Viscosity
Conductivity Heat
all of them did not consider the van der Walls fraction (kg/m3) (kg/m-s)
(W/m-k) (J/kg-k)
interaction and agglomeration phenomena of the
nanoparticles. This study aims to investigate the effect 0.1 0.78 3130.18 1295.38 0.00125
of particle agglomeration and cluster size distribution on
0.2 1 898.17 1592.56 0.0015
the convective heat transfer performance of
Al2O3/water nanofluids. Moreover, experiments were 0.5 2.126 1439.5 2484.1 0.002131
performed using Al2O3 nanofluids inside a straight
circular tube under uniform heat flux and in the
laminar flow regime. The cluster size distribution due to 3.2 MATHEMATICAL MODELING
particle agglomeration was analyzed and used for the
numerical modeling. The single-phase and the two-phase Figure shows the geometrical configuration used
models for the prediction of nanofluid heat transfer
in this study. The fluid enters with uniform
coefficients were developed. The single- phase model
temperature and velocity at the inlet section. The
with constant and variable physical properties and also
the discrete particle two-phase model with particle condition of axially and at the outer boundary
agglomeration and clustering were considered. A uniform wall heat flux was considered in this
commercial CFD code (Fluent, 2006) was employed to study. The single-phase and two-phase models were
solve the governing equa- tions. The numerical also implemented to their predictions
simulation results were also compared with the
experimental data and some interesting results were
obtained.

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 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 3 Issue 8, August 2016
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2015) - 4.332
www.ijiset.com

Fig 3.1 3D & 2D HORIZONTAL SQUARE ENCLOSURE

3.3 FORMULAS

DENSITY OF NANO FLUID Volume Fraction 0.2

ρ nf = ϕ×ρ s + [(1-ϕ) × ρ w ] Fig 3.2.3 Heat Transfer Coefficient
SPECIFIC HEAT OF NANO FLUID

C p nf =

VISCOSITY OF NANO FLUID

µ nf =µ w (1+2.5ϕ)

THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF NANO FLUID

Volume Fraction 0.5

K nf = × kw
Fig 3.2.4 Pressure

3.3. CFD analysis of annulus enclosure with

Titanium Oxide Volume Fraction 0.1

Fig 3.2.1 Pressure

Fig 3.2.4 Heat Transfer Coefficient

Fig 3.2.2 Heat Transfer Coefficient

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 IJISET - International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, Vol. 3 Issue 8, August 2016
ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2015) - 4.332
www.ijiset.com

CFD analysis of annulus enclosure with Aluminum

Oxide Volume Fraction 0.1 Fig 3.2.10 Heat Transfer Coefficient
Fig 3.2.7 Pressure

TWISTED SQUARE TITANIUM OXIDE Volume

Fraction 0.5
Fig 3.2.11 Pressure

Fig 3.2.8 Heat Transfer Coefficient

TWISTED SQUARE ALUMINUM OXIDE

Fig 3.2.12 Heat Transfer Coefficient

Volume Fraction 0.2

Fig 3.2.9 Pressure

3.3 RESULT TABLES

Table 3.3.1 ANNULUS ENCLOSURE

Heat transfer
Pressure
Material Volume fraction coefficient
(Pa)
(W/m2-k)
0.1 11.908 923.382
TiO 2 0.2 14.467 883.727
0.5 21.8348 2375.6760
0.1 11.99178 956.42792
Al 2 O 3 0.2 14.63219 829.66
0.5 22.24 1942.812

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ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2015) - 4.332
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COMPARISON OF HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT VALUES

Table 3.3.2 ANNULUS ENCLOSURE FOR TWO FLUIDS
Mass flow 2500
Nusselt Heat transfer

Heat transfer coefficient (w/m -

2
Material rate(kg/s) 2000
number rate(W)
1500
1271.176 10.410156 0.0006895

k)
TiO2
1000
TiO 2 779.3007 3.5878 0.00082159 Al2O3
500
789.2611 9.69921 0.00136566
0
1226.189 10.87109 0.0006999 0.1 0.2 0.5

829.66 3.65429 0.00083123 Volume fractions

Al 2 O 3
913.8344 9.9921 0.0014095

Table 3.3.3 TWISTED SQUARE ANNULUS ENCLOSURE

Heat transfer
Volume Pressure
Material coefficient
fraction (Pa)
(W/m2-k)
0.1 59.58 1882.54
TiO 2 0.2 72.48 1857.93
0.5 107.5646 5017.0420
0.1 60.0395 1951.1440
0.2 73.394 1736.7971
Al 2 O 3
0.5 110.0846 4059.5864

Table 3.3.4 TWISTED SQUARE ANNULUS ENCLOSURE

Mass flow
Heat transfer
Material Nusselt number
rate(W)
rate(kg/s)

2510.0533 65.25 0.0043005

TiO 2 1638.3862 23.2988 0.005444
1666.791 96.281 0.013877
2501.466 67.398 0.004435

Al 2 O 3 1736.7971 24.888 0.005720

1909.495 78.2734 0.01115

3.4 COMPARISON OF NANOFLUIDS

COMPARISON OF PRESSURE VALUES FOR TWO FLUIDS
25

20
Pressure(Pa)

15

TiO2
10
Al2O3

0
0.1 0.2 0.5

Volume fractions

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ISSN (Online) 2348 – 7968 | Impact Factor (2015) - 4.332
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4. Conclusions [8] Duangthongsuk, W. and Wongwises, S. (2010).

"Comparison of the effects of measured and computed
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natural convection of nanofluids in horizontal, tilted square, and Fluid Science, 34(6), 616-624.
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considered for comparison are pressure, heat transfer FLUENT." Europe, ANSYS lnc.
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heat transfer of Al2O3/water nanofluid in circular tube."
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enclosures, the heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt Flow, 28, 203–210.
number and heat transfer rate are more when [10] Incropera, F. P., DeWitt, D. P., Bergman, T. L. and
twisted square enclosure is taken. Lavine, A. S. (2007). Fundamentals of Heat and
2. By comparing the results between fluids, the Mass Transfer. Hoboken, Wiley.
values are better for Al 2 O 3 than TiO 2 . [11] Kumar, P. (2011). "A CFD Study of Heat Transfer
So it can be concluded that using twisted square enclosure Enhancement in Pipe Flow with Al2O3
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