INTRODUCTION

Thermal conductivity of Fe 3O4 nanofluids is explained by many researchers most of the

experimental work is undertaken for the estimation of heat transfer coefficient of Al2O3 and Cu

nanofluids in plain tube and some researchers have concentrated for the estimation of heat
transfer of coefficient of Al2O3 nanofluid in plain tube with twisted and wire coiled inserts.

Thermal conductivity of magnetic Fe3O4 nanofluids literature is available, experimental

turbulent convective heat transfer and friction factor of Fe3O4 magnetic nanofluid for tube flow

and with twisted tape inserts data is not available. The advantage with this fluid is separation of
magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) from the base fluid is possible, which is not possible with non

magnetic (Al2O3, Cu and Ti O2) type nano particles. The present investigation is carried out to

estimate turbulent forced convective heat transfer and friction factor at different volume
concentrations of Fe3O4 nanofluid in a plain tube under turbulent flow conditions. Based on the

experimental data generalized regression equations are developed for Nusselt number and
friction factor.The Au- Fe3O4 can be readily converted into Au- Fe2O3 (Fe2O3- or R-

Fe2O3), making it possible for systematic studies of nanoscale interactions and their effects on

physical and chemical properties of the Au-iron oxide nano composites.

Conventional heat transfer fluids such as water or ethylene glycol, used in cooling or
heating applications are characterized by poor thermal properties. In the past years, many
different techniques were utilized to improve the heat transfer rate in order to reach a satisfactory
level of thermal efficiency. The heat transfer rate can passively been enhanced by changing flow
geometry, boundary conditions or by improving thermo physical properties for example,
increasing fluid thermal conductivity.
The heat transfer properties of thermo fluid play an important role in the development of
energy-efficient heat transfer equipment. Passive enhancement methods are commonly utilized in
the electronics and transportation devices. But the working fluids such as ethylene glycol, water

1
and engine oil have poor heat transfer properties. In that regard, the development of advanced
heat transfer fluids with higher heat transfer properties is in a strong demand.

One way to enhance fluid thermal conductivity is to add small solid particles in the fluid.
Addition of milli or micro sized solid particles is one of thievery old techniques of heat transfer
enhancement. Industrially, this technique is not attractive because of the inherent problems such
as sedimentation, increased pressure drop, fouling and erosion of the flow channel. These
problems can be overcome with nanofluids, which is a dispersion of nano-sized particles in a
base fluid. The nano-sized particles increase the thermal conductivity of the base fluid which in
turn increases the heat transfer rate. This property has attracted the attention of researchers in the
past decade, though the mechanism is not fully understood yet.

Nanofluid is a fluid containing nanometer-sized particles, called nano particles. These fluids are
engineered colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in a base fluid have been explained by
Buongiorno. The nanoparticles used in nanofluids are typically made of metals, oxides, carbides
or carbon nanotube and the common base fluids include water and ethylene glycol. Nanofluids
have novel properties that make them potentially useful in many applications in heat transfer,
including microelectronics, fuel cells, pharmaceutical processes and hybrid-powered engines that
have been explained by Das et al. Nanofluids exhibit enhanced thermal conductivity and the
convective heat transfer coefficient compared to the base fluid by Kaka and Pramuanjaroenkij.

1.1 PREPARATION OF NANOFLUIDS

There are two primary methods to prepare nanofluids: A two-step process in which nanoparticles
or nanotubes are first produced as a dry powder. The resulting nanoparticles are then dispersed
into a fluid in a second step. Single-step nanofluid processing methods have also been developed.

I. Two-Step Methods
Several studies, including the earliest investigations of nanofluids, used a two-step process in
which nanoparticles are first produced as a dry powder. This method is more extensively used to
produce nanofluids because nano powders are commercially available nowadays. A variety of
physical, chemical, and laser-based methods are available for the production of the nanoparticles
to be used for nanofluids.
II. One-Step Methods

2
The nanoparticles may agglomerate during the drying, storage, and transportation process,
leading to difficulties in the following dispersion stage of two-step method. Consequently, the
stability and thermal conductivity of nanofluid are not ideal. In addition, the production cost is
high.

III. Physics of Nanofluids

In the nanofluidic properties of the carbon Nanotubes. The driving force for this study were
interesting properties like astonishingly high conductivity, low density and high aspect ratio
other factors. As their study did not produce expected results, significance of intervening factors
was critically investigated [7]. They found out that alignment of the nanotubes, volume loading,
adhesion between the fibers and the matrix, and particle was responsible for deviation of results.
According to D.Wen 2004, particle coating plays a negative role in performance of nanoparticles
towards increasing the thermal conductivity of the base fluid at only 3% weight loading of the
Nanotubes.
As another example Choi et al. [2] in 2009 observed a 300 % increase of thermal conductivity of
the Nanofluid compared to the based fluid. Alignment factor was proved important by Choi at al.
in 2009 after an additional 10% thermal conductivity to the already increased thermal
conductivity (300%) was observed with tubes aligned with the fluid movement direction. As of
their conclusion Choi et al. considers the interaction between matrix and tubes as an important
factor as well as interfacial resistance, aspect ratio. Surprisingly they used molecular dynamic
and Atomistic simulation in their as a tools for better understanding and analysis of the
governing phenomena.
1.2 Dimensionless parameters
Reynolds number:
The Reynolds number (Re) is a dimensionless number which is defined as the ratio of inertial
forces to viscous force.

... (1.1)

Prandtl number:

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Prandtl number is the ratio of kinematic or momentum diffusivity ( ) to the thermal diffusivity

(1.2)
Grashoff number:
Grashoff number is the ratio of buoyancy force to the viscous force acting on the fluid. And is

given by . (1.3)

Rayleigh number:
Rayleigh number is the product of grashoff number and the prandtl number. In natural
convection Rayleigh number is used instead of grashoff number to correlate heat transfer.
Denoted by Ra.

.. (1.4)

Nusselt number:
The Nusselt number is defined as the ratio of convective to conductive heat transfer across the
boundary.

(1.5)
In natural convection, the transition from laminar to turbulent flow is determined by critical
value of grshoff number.

When , Forced Convection

, Natural Convection

, Natural and forced convection are of same order of

Magnitude.

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1.3 OBJECTIVES

Evaluating the heat transfer enhancement due to the use of nanofluids has recently become the
center of interest for many researchers. This newly introduced category of cooling fluids
containing ultrafine nanoparticles (1100 nm) has displayed fascinating behavior during
experiments including increased thermal conductivity and augmented heat transfer coefficient
compared to a pure fluid. This article reviews and summarizes the numerical studies performed
in this area
A theoretical study of single phase through a pipe will be carried out. The CFD
simulation of heat transfer characteristics of a nanofluid in a circular tube under constant heat
flux will be considered using CFX solver (version 13.0) in the turbulent flow.
Fe3O4 nanoparticles in water with concentrations of 0.02%, 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.6% will used in

this simulation. All of the thermo-physical properties of nanofluids are assumed to be

temperature independent. The average particle sizes of 36 nm will be used in this research. The
goal is to find out the change in heat transfer coefficient with changing the Reynolds number and
the concentration of nanoparticles. The maximum convective heat transfer coefficient will be
observed with the change in concentration of nano-particles in water. The computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) model equations will be solved to predict the hydrodynamic and thermal
behavior of the pipe. The geometry of the problem and meshing of it will be used in ANSYS
Workbench. The models will get solved by ANSYS CFX 13.0 solver.

5
 LITERTURE REVIEW

Heat transfer plays an important role in numerous applications. For example, in vehicles
heat generated by the prime mover needs to be removed for proper operation. Similarly,
electronic equipments dissipate heat, which requires a cooling system. Heating, ventilating, and
air conditioning systems also include various heat transfer processes. Heat transfer is the key
process in thermal power stations. In addition to these, many production processes include heat
transfer in various forms; it might be the cooling of a machine tool, pasteurization of food, or the
temperature adjustment for triggering a chemical process. In most of these applications, heat
transfer is realized through some heat transfer devices; such as, heat exchangers, evaporators,
condensers, and heat sinks. Increasing the heat transfer efficiency of these devices is desirable,
because by increasing efficiency, the space occupied by the device can be minimized, which is
important for applications with compactness requirements. Furthermore, in most of the heat
transfer systems, the working fluid is circulated by a pump, and improvements in heat transfer
efficiency can minimize the associated power consumption.
There are several methods to improve the heat transfer efficiency. Some methods are utilization
of extended surfaces, application of vibration to the heat transfer surfaces, and usage of pipes.
Heat transfer efficiency can also be improved by increasing the thermal conductivity of the
working fluid. Commonly used heat transfer fluids such as water, ethylene glycol, and engine oil
have relatively low thermal conductivities, when compared to the thermal conductivity of solids.
High thermal conductivity of solids can be used to increase the thermal conductivity of a fluid by
adding small solid particles to that fluid. The feasibility of the usage of such suspensions of solid
particles with sizes on the order of millimeters or micrometers was previously investigated by
several researchers and significant drawbacks were observed. These drawbacks are
sedimentation of particles, clogging of channels and erosion in channel walls, which prevented
the practical application of suspensions of solid particles in base fluids as advanced working
fluids in heat transfer applications [1, 2].

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2.1 NANOFLUIDS

Introduction

With the recent improvements in nanotechnology, the production of particles with sizes on the
order of nanometers (nanoparticles) can be achieved with relative ease. As a consequence, the
idea of suspending these nanoparticles in a base liquid for improving thermal conductivity has
been proposed recently [2,3]. Such suspension of nanoparticles in a base fluid is called a
nanofluid. Due to their small size, nanoparticles fluidize easily inside the base fluid, and as a
consequence, clogging of channels and erosion in channel walls are no longer a problem. It is
even possible to use nanofluids in pipes [9, 10]. When it comes to the stability of the suspension,
it was shown that sedimentation of particles can be prevented by utilizing proper dispersants.

One of the chief motivations in the initial development of nanofluids is the pressing need,
in many industrial technologies, for better cooling systems. Inherently low thermal conductivity
of the liquid cooling media results in equipment limitations, process inefficiencies, and reduced
thermal limits. Heat rejection requirements are continually increasing for technological devices
due to scaling down of their sizes. It is now widely accepted that the thermal management in
nano-size devices plays a fundamentally critical role in controlling their performance and
stability. It was reported that, due to the scaling down phenomenon and increasing processing
speeds which cause the power density to double every three years, device temperatures are
reaching levels that will prevent their reliable operation [Borkar 1999]. At the macro-scale, the
problem is also acute for internal combustion engines. With extended-surface thermal control
technologies (such as use of fins and pipes) stretched to their limits, new technologies with
potential to improve the thermal properties of cooling fluids are of great interest. Nanofluids
offer a promising way forward to meet these cooling needs. For example, 10 to 25% increase in
the thermal conductivity of water could have significant impact on components that utilize water
as a cooling medium. Smaller and therefore lighter heat exchangers could be designed, high flow
velocities could be reduced leading to reduced pumping power requirements and less erosion of
piping components, and lubrication and cooling during machining operations could be improved.
At the other end of the design spectrum, higher margins to thermal limits could be achieved
while keeping original component size and capacity. Over the past decade, research institutes
worldwide have established research groups or interdisciplinary nanofluids centers.

7
Small businesses and large multinational companies are working on nanofluids for their specific
applications. Nanofluidis a new field of scientific research which has grown enormously in the
past decade. Despite an exponential increase in the nanofluids research, many of the questions on
heat transfer mechanism of nanofluids remain unanswered necessitating further study in this
field.

Particle Material and Base Fluid

Many different particle materials are used for nanofluid preparation. Al 2O3, CuO, TiO2 Sic, TiC,

Ag, Au, Cu, and Fe nanoparticles are frequently used in nanofluid research. Carbon nanotubes
are also utilized due to their extremely high thermal conductivity in the longitudinal (axial)
direction.
Base fluids mostly used in the preparation of nanofluids are the common working fluids
of heat transfer applications; such as, water, ethylene glycol and engine oil. In order to improve
the stability of nanoparticles inside the base fluid, some additives are added to the mixture in
small amounts.

Particle Size

Nanoparticles used in nanofluid preparation usually have diameters below 100 nm. Particles as
small as 10nm have been used in nanofluid research [10]. When particles are not spherical but
rod or tube-shaped, the diameter is still below 100 nm, but the length of the particles may be on
the order of micrometers. It should also be noted that due to the clustering phenomenon, particles
may form clusters with sizes on the order of micrometers.

Particle Shape

Spherical particles are mostly used in nanofluids. However, rod-shaped, tube-shaped and disk-
shaped nanoparticles are also used. On the other hand, the clusters formed by nanoparticles may
have fractal-like shapes.

8
2.2 PRODUCTION METHODS

Production of Nanoparticles

Production of nanoparticles can be divided into two main categories, namely, physical synthesis
and chemical synthesis. Yu, T.pradeep, [2] listed the common production techniques of
nanofluids as follows.
Physical Synthesis: Mechanical grinding, inert-gas-condensation technique.
Chemical Synthesis: Chemical precipitation, chemical vapor deposition, micro-emulsions, spray
pyrolysis, thermal spraying.

Production of Nanofluids

There are mainly two methods of nanofluid production, namely, two-step technique and one-step
technique. In the two-step technique, the first step is the production of nanoparticles and the
second step is the dispersion of the nanoparticles in a base fluid. Two-step technique is
advantageous when mass production of nanofluids is considered, because at present,
nanoparticles can be produced in large quantities by utilizing the technique of inert gas
condensation [9]. The main disadvantage of the two-step technique is that the nanoparticles form
clusters during the preparation of the nanofluid which prevents the proper dispersion of
nanoparticles inside the base fluid [8].
One-step technique combines the production of nanoparticles and dispersion of nanoparticles in
the base fluid into a single step. There are some variations of this technique. In one of the
common methods, named direct evaporation one-step method, the nanofluid is produced by the
solidification of the nanoparticles, which are initially gas phase, inside the base fluid [7]. The
dispersion characteristics of nanofluids produced with one-step techniques are better than those
produced with two-step technique [8]. The main drawback of one-step techniques is that they are
not proper for mass production, which limits their commercialization.

9
2.3. THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF NANAOFLUIDS

Studies regarding the thermal conductivity of nanofluids showed that high enhancements
of thermal conductivity can be achieved by using nanofluids. It is possible to obtain thermal
conductivity enhancements larger than 20% at a particle volume fraction smaller than 5% [5-7].
Such enhancement values exceed the predictions of theoretical models developed for
suspensions with larger particles. This is considered as an indication of the presence of additional
thermal transport enhancement mechanisms of nanofluids. There are many experimental and
theoretical studies in the literature regarding the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. In this Chapter ,
a detailed review of these studies is presented.

2.4. HEAT TRANSFER ENHANCEMENT WITH NANOFLUIDS

Increase in the thermal conductivity of the working fluid improves the efficiency of the
associated heat transfer process. When forced convection in tubes is considered, it is expected
that heat transfer coefficient enhancement obtained by using a nanofluid is equal to the
enhancement in thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, due to the definition of Nusselt number.
However, research about the convective heat transfer of nanofluids indicated that the
enhancement of heat transfer coefficient exceeds the thermal conductivity enhancement of
nanofluids [3-7]. In order to explain this extra enhancement, several models were proposed by
researchers.
To obtain higher heat transfer properties, numerous theoretical and experimental studies of the
effective thermal conductivity of solid-particle suspensions have been conducted dated back to
the classic work of Maxwell (1873). The key idea was to exploit the very high thermal
conductivity of solid particles (Table 1.1), which can be hundreds and even thousand times
greater than that of the conventional heat-transfer fluids such as ethylene glycol and water. But
most of these studies were confined to suspensions of millimeter and micrometer sized particles
[Ahuja 1975, Liu et al. 1988]. Although such suspensions show higher heat transfer properties,
they suffer from stability problems. In particular, particles tend to settle down very quickly and
thereby causing severe clogging. Choi, in 1991, developed a pipe heat exchanger where micro-
sized particles suspended in liquids were used for cooling. It showed excellent heat transfer
behavior but at a high cost of pumping power. Masuda et al.(1993) for the first time

10
demonstrated that the thermal conductivity of ultra fine suspensions of alumina, silica and other
oxides in water increased by up to 30% for a volume fraction of 4.3%. In 1995, Choi [Choi
1995] reported a possibility of doubling convection heat transfer coefficients by using
nanoparticles suspended in liquids, a result that would otherwise require a tenfold increase in
pumping power. This new class of nanotechnology based heat transfer fluids that exhibit thermal
properties superior to those of their host fluids were termed as nanofluids. Thus, nanofluids are
engineered by suspending nanoparticles with average sizes below 100nm in traditional heat
transfer fluids such as water, ethylene glycol and oil.

Table 2.1 Thermal conductivities of various materials

2.5 EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

Thermal Conductivity Measurement Methods

In thermal conductivity measurements of nanofluids, the transient hot-wire technique is the most
commonly used method [4-7]. A modified transient hot-wire method is required in the
measurements, since nanofluids conduct electricity. The modification is made by insulating the
wire.

11
Effects of Some Parameters on Thermal Conductivity of Nanofluids

Experimental studies show that thermal conductivity of nanofluids depends on many factors such
as particle volume fraction, particle material, particle size, particle shape, base fluid material, and
temperature. Amount and types of additives and the acidity of the nanofluid were also shown to
be effective in the thermal conductivity enhancement [7]. In the following sections, experimental
studies about the thermal conductivity of nanofluids are summarized. In each section, a specific parameter
that is effective on thermal conductivity is discussed.

Particle Volume Fraction

There are many studies in the literature about the effect of particle volume fraction, which is the
volumetric concentration of the nanoparticles in the nanofluid, on the thermal conductivity of
nanofluids. L.S.Sudar et al. [19] measured the thermal conductivity of nanofluids containing
Al2O3 (13 nm), SiO2 (12 nm), and TiO2 (27nm) nanoparticles (values in parentheses indicate

the average particle diameter). This is the first experimental study regarding the thermal
conductivity of nanofluids. Water was used as the base fluid and a two-step method was utilized
for the preparation of nanofluids. An enhancement as high as 32.4% was observed for the
effective thermal conductivity of 4.3 vol% Al 2O3/water nanofluid at 31.85C (all percentage

enhancement values are indicated according to the expression 100(knf - kf)/kf throughout the

discussion). It was found that thermal conductivity enhancement increases linearly with particle
volume fraction. Sundhar al. [19] studied the room temperature thermal conductivity of
nanofluids by dispersing Al2O3 (38.5 nm) and CuO (23.6nm) nanoparticles, which were

produced by gas condensation method, in water and ethylene glycol. Similar to the study of
Sundhar et al. [19], a linear relationship was observed between thermal conductivity and particle
volume fraction (thermal conductivity increases with particle volume fraction). Highest
enhancement was 20%, which was observed for 4 vol% CuO/ethylene glycol nanofluid. A
similar study was performed by Wang et al. [21], who examined the thermal conductivity
performance of nanofluids with Al2O3 (28nm) and CuO (23 nm) nanoparticles. For the case of 8

vol% Al2O3/water nanofluid, thermal conductivity enhancement as high as 40% was achieved.

For water- and ethylene glycol-based

12
nanofluids, thermal conductivity ratio showed a linear relationship with particle volume fraction
and the lines representing this relation were found to be coincident.
Particle volume fraction is a parameter that is investigated in almost all of the experimental
studies and the results are usually in agreement qualitatively. Most of the researchers report
increasing thermal conductivity with increasing particle volume fraction and the relation found is
usually linear [18]. However, there are also some studies which indicate nonlinear behavior. An
example is the study made by Sundhr et al. [19]. They measured the thermal conductivity of TiO
TiO2/deionized water nanofluids at room temperature by using transient hot-wire method.
Volume fraction of nanoparticles was varied between 0.5 and 5%. A nonlinear relationship was
observed between thermal conductivity ratio and particle volume fraction, especially at low
volume fractions. The authors noted that the nonlinear behavior might be due to the
cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant, application of sonication for a long time,
or hydrophobic surface forces involved. Choi et al. [2] investigated the thermal conductivity of
nanofluids prepared by dispersing multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in oil. They also found
a nonlinear relation between thermal conductivity ratio and particle volume fraction. According
to the authors, such a nonlinear relation is an indication of interactions between particles. It was
concluded that despite the fact that particle volume fraction is very small, nanotubes interact with
each other due to the very high particle concentration (1011 particles/cm3)

Particle Material

Most of the studies show that particle material is an important parameter that affects the thermal
conductivity of nanofluids. At first glance, it might be thought that the difference in the thermal
conductivities of particle materials is the main reason of this effect. However, studies show that
particle type may affect the thermal conductivity of nanofluids in other ways. For example, Lee
et al. [4] considered the thermal conductivity of nanofluids with Al 2O3 and CuO nanoparticles as

mentioned in the previous section and they found that nanofluids with CuO nanoparticles
showed better enhancement when compared to the nanofluids prepared using Al 2O3

nanoparticles. It should be noted that Al2O3, as a material, has higher thermal conductivity than

CuO. Therefore, thermal conductivity of particle material may not be the dominant parameter
that determines the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. According to the authors, the key

13
factor is the fact that Al2O3 nanoparticles formed relatively larger clusters when compared to

CuO nanoparticles. That might be an explanation if the main mechanism of thermal conductivity
enhancement is accepted to be the Brownian motion of nanoparticles, since the effect of
Brownian motion diminishes with increasing particle size. However, it should also be noted that
there are some studies that consider the clustering of nanoparticles as a thermal conductivity
enhancement mechanism. Another study that considers the effect of nanoparticle type was made
by Chadrashekar et al. [20]. They dispersed Al
Effect of particle material is much more pronounced when carbon nanotubes are used for
the preparation of nanofluids. Choi et al. [2] studied the thermal conductivity enhancement of oil
based nanofluids containing MWCNT with a mean diameter of around 25 nm and length around
50 m. The base fluid used was synthetic poly (-olefin) oil. Measurements were conducted at
room temperature. 160% enhancement (a thermal conductivity ratio of 2.6) was observed for 1
vol.% MWCNT/oil nanofluid. The authors noted that such an anomalous enhancement might be
due to the liquid nanolayers forming around the nanotubes. On the other hand, the fact that heat
is transported ballistically inside the nanotubes improves the conduction of heat in the tubes, but
the effect of this factor is not dominant according to the authors. It should also be noted that the
shape of nanotubes might also be effective in the anomalous enhancement values. The length of
the nanotubes is on the order of micrometers, and this enables rapid heat conduction across
relatively large distances, which is not possible for spherical nanoparticles as long as there is no
clustering. Another study about nanofluids with carbon nanotubes was made by Shima et al. [6].
They compared the nanofluids containing double-walled CNT (DWCNT) and MWCNT. For
DWCNT, average outer diameter was 5 nm and average inner diameter was larger than 2.5 nm. It
was noted that MWCNT also exist in the samples with DWCNT. 2Cu and Ag2Al nanoparticles
into water and ethylene glycol. 1 vol% oleic acid was added as the surfactant. Measurements
were made at room temperature. It was found that Ag2Al nanoparticles enhanced thermal
conductivity slightly more when compared to Al2Cu nanoparticles. According to the authors, this
is due to the fact that the thermal conductivity of Ag2Al is higher when compared to Al2Cu.
For MWCNT, length was larger than 10 m and average outer diameter was 130 nm.
Thickness of the walls was determined to be around 90 graphitic layers (about 30 nm) with
interlayer distance around 0.34 nm. CTAB and Nanosperse AQ were added to the nanofluids and
ultrasonic vibration was applied in order to obtain proper dispersion. Transient hot-wire method
was used in the measurements. A thermal conductivity enhancement as high as 34% was

14
achieved for the 0.6 vol% MWCNT/water nanofluid, whereas the 0.75 vol% DWCNT/water
nanofluid showed only 3% enhancement. The authors noted that the reason of such low
enhancement was that the size of the DWCNT reached the order of micrometers due to clustering
effects.

Thermal conductivity of Fe3O4 nanofluid is explained by many researchers H.S.Lee [4] have

observed 30% enhancements in thermal conductivity with 4.7% volume concentration in the
temperature range of 25-65 _C with Fe 3O4 nanofluid of 9.9 nmparticle size. Fertman et al. [5]

have investigated the temperature range of 2080 0C and volume concentration range of 0.01
0.2%of thermal conductivity of hydrocarbon-based magnetic fluids containing colloidal
Fe3O4particles coated with oleic acid. Philip et al.[6] have been observed thermal conductivity

enhancement of Fe3O4 nanofluid up to 300% with volume concentration of 6.3%and particle

size of 6.7 nm under the influence of an applied magnetic field. W.Yu et al. [7] have found 34.0%
enhancement in thermal conductivity for 1.0% volume fraction with an average particle size of
155 nm in the temperature range from 10 to 60 0C using the kerosene based Fe3O4 nanofluids

and oleic acid.

Convective heat transfer enhancement with different kinds of nanofluid in a plain tube is
explained by many researchers. Wenand Y.Ding [8] have conducted the experiments in the
Reynolds number range of 700 and 2050 in plain tube with Al2O3 nanoparticles and found

significant heat transfer enhancement.S.Z Heris et al. [9] under isothermal wall boundary
condition and observed that enhancement of heat transfer takes place with increase of Peclet
number and volume concentration. Xuan and Li [10] have preformed the Cu nanofluid in circular
tube under turbulent flow conditions and regression equation is presented.B.c. Pak and Cho [11]
conducted the experiments with Al2O3 and TiO2 nanofluids in plain tube in turbulent region and

also developed the regression equation.Convective heat transfer enhancement of single phase
fluidwith twisted tape inserts in a plain tube is explained by many researchers. Smithberg and
Landis [12], Lopina and Bergles [13],Manglik and Bergles [14], Sarma et al. [15], Kishore [16]
and Lecjaks et al. [17] have found the significant heat transfer enhancement of single phase fluid
with twisted tape inserts in a plain tube.

15
Convective heat transfer enhancement of Al2O3 nanofluid in aplain tube with inserts is

explained by many researchers. Sharma et al. [18], Sundar and Sharma [19] for the first time
presented the empirical correlation for the estimation of Nusselt number and friction factor in
transition and turbulent flow condition using water and different volume concentration of Al2O3
nanofluid in plain tube and with twisted tape inserts. Chandrasekar et al. [20]have observed the
15.91% convective heat transfer enhancement with Al2O3/water nanofluid in plain tube with

wire coiled inserts under laminar flow. Chandrasekar et al. [21] have conducted the experiments
of Al2O3/water nanofluid in plain with wire coiled inserts under Reynolds number range of 2500

to 5000. S.z.Heris,Etemad [9] numerically investigated the convective heat transfer of

Al2O3/water nanofluid in a tube with twisted tape inserts of H/D = 2.93 and found 31.29%

enhancement at Re = 2039with 1.5% volume concentration.

Most of the experimental work is undertaken for the estimation of heat transfer coefficient of
Al2O3and Cu nanofluids in plain tube and some researchers have concentrated for the estimation

of heat transfer of coefficient of Al2O3 nanofluid in plain tube with twisted and wire coiled

inserts.
Thermal conductivity of magnetic Fe3O4 nanofluid literature is available, experimental turbulent

convective heat transfer and friction factor of Fe 3O4 magnetic nanofluid for tube flow and with

twisted tape inserts data is not available. The advantage with this fluid is separation of magnetic
nanoparticles (Fe3O4) from the base fluid is possible, which is not possible with non magnetic

(Al2O3, Cu and TiO2) type nanoparticles. The present investigation is carried out to estimate

turbulent forced convective heat transfer and friction factor at different volume concentrations of
Fe3O4nanofluid in a plain tube under turbulent flow conditions. Based on the experimental data
generalized regression equations are developed for Nusselt number and friction factor.

Base Fluid

According to the conventional thermal conductivity models such as the Maxwell model [7], as
the base fluid thermal conductivity of a mixture decreases, the thermal conductivity ratio

16
(thermal conductivity of nanofluid (knf) divided by the thermal conductivity of base fluid (kf))

increases.
When it comes to nanofluids, the situation is more complicated due to the fact that the viscosity
of the base fluid affects the Brownian motion of nanoparticles and that in turn affects the thermal
conductivity of the nanofluid. Parekh, Lee [4] examined the effect of electric double layer
forming around nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids and showed that the
thermal conductivity and thickness of the layer depends on the base fluid. It is difficult to
determine the quantitative effects of these factors completely. Therefore, systematic experiments
are required that will show the effect of base fluid on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids.
Some experimental studies made in this area are summarized below.
In the previously mentioned study of Wen et al. [8], Al2O3 and CuO nanoparticles were

used to prepare nanofluids with several base fluids; water, ethylene glycol, vacuum pump fluid,
and engine oil. With Al2O3 nanoparticles, the highest thermal conductivity ratio was observed

when ethylene glycol was used as the base fluid. Engine oil showed somewhat lower thermal
conductivity ratios than ethylene glycol. Water and pump fluid showed even smaller ratios,
respectively. With CuO nanoparticles, only ethylene glycol- and water-based nanofluids were
prepared and it is interesting to note that they showed exactly the same thermal conductivity
ratios for the same particle volume fraction. The effect of the base fluid on the thermal
conductivity of nanofluids was also analyzed by Lee et al. [4]. Nanofluids with Al 2O3

nanoparticles were prepared by using different base fluids; deionized water, glycerol, ethylene
glycol, and pump oil. In addition, ethylene glycol-water and glycerol-water mixtures with
different volume fractions were also used as base fluids and the variation of the thermal
conductivity ratio with thermal conductivity of the base fluid mixture was examined. It was seen
that, thermal conductivity ratio decreased with increasing thermal conductivity of the base fluid.
Theoretical results were found to be nearly independent of the thermal conductivity of the base
fluid, being contrary to the experimental data. However, it should be noted that these
experimental results are in agreement with the Machanc model [17] qualitatively.
Chandhrashekar et al. [21] also analyzed the effect of base fluid by comparing water and
ethylene glycol. Al2Cu and Ag2Al nanoparticles were used in the study and it was found that

water-based nanofluids showed a higher thermal conductivity ratio. It should be noted that more
than 100% enhancement was obtained for the 2.0 vol% Ag2Al (30 nm)/water nanofluid.

17
In the previously mentioned study of Wen et al. [8], Al 2O3 and CuO nanoparticles were used to

prepare nanofluids with several base fluids; water, ethylene glycol, vacuum pump fluid, and
engine oil. With Al2O3 nanoparticles, the highest thermal conductivity ratio was observed when

ethylene glycol was used as the base fluid. Engine oil showed somewhat lower thermal
conductivity ratios than ethylene glycol. Water and pump fluid showed even smaller ratios,
respectively. With CuO nanoparticles, only ethylene glycol- and water-based nanofluids were
prepared and it is interesting to note that they showed exactly the same thermal conductivity
ratios for the same particle volume fraction. The effect of the base fluid on the thermal
conductivity of nanofluids was also analyzed by A.E.Bergles et al. [14]. Nanofluids with Al 2O3

nanoparticles were prepared by using different base fluids; deionized water, glycerol, ethylene
glycol, and pump oil. In addition, ethylene glycol-water and glycerol-water mixtures with
different volume fractions were also used as base fluids and the variation of the thermal
conductivity ratio with thermal conductivity of the base fluid mixture was examined. It was seen
that, thermal conductivity ratio decreased with increasing thermal conductivity of the base fluid.
Results were compared with a theoretical analysis made by H.S. Lee [4]. Theoretical results were
found to be nearly independent of the thermal conductivity of the base fluid, being contrary to
the experimental data. However, it should be noted that these experimental results are in
agreement with the Machac model [17] qualitatively. Kishore et al. [15] also analyzed the effect
of base fluid by comparing water and ethylene glycol. Al 2Cu and Ag2Al nanoparticles were used

in the study and it was found that water-based nanofluids showed a higher thermal conductivity
ratio. It should be noted that more than 100% enhancement was obtained for the 2.0 vol.
%Ag2Al (30 nm)/water nanofluid.

Particle Size

Particle size is another important parameter of thermal conductivity of nanofluids. It is possible

to produce nanoparticles of various sizes, generally ranging between 5 and 100 nm. Eastman et
al. [3] studied Cu nanoparticles, with ethylene glycol as the base fluid. By using a one-step
production method, suspensions with Cu nanoparticles smaller than 10 nm were obtained.
Thioglycolic acid less than 1 vol. % was added to some of the samples for stabilizing purposes
and those samples showed much better enhancement when compared to samples without

18
Thioglycolic acid. A 40% increase in thermal conductivity was observed at a particle volume
fraction of 0.3% (with Thioglycolic acid). To make a comparison, it should be noted that in the
study of F.Landis et al. [12], the researchers obtained 20% enhancement with 4 vol.%
CuO(23.6 nm)/ethylene glycol nanofluid. As a result of the anomalous enhancements obtained,
Lopina et al. [13] concluded that the size of the nanoparticles is an important factor that affects
the thermal conductivity enhancement, which is contrary to the predictions of conventional
models such as R.M and A.E model [14], which does not take the effect of particle size on
thermal conductivity into account. P.S et al. [15] prepared nanofluids by dispersing Al 70Cu30

nanoparticles into ethylene glycol. Nanoparticles were obtained by mechanical alloying. By

transmission electron microscopy, they illustrated the fact that there is no significant clustering in
the samples. They varied the particle size between 9 and 83 nm and they showed that thermal
conductivity enhancement decreases with increasing particle size. For 0.5 vol. % nanofluid,
thermal conductivity enhancement decreased from 38 to 3% by increasing the particle size from
9 to 83 nm. In another study, P.k.sarama et al. [15] investigated the effect of particle size on the
thermal conductivity of water- and ethylene glycol-based nanofluids with Al
Another systematic particle size dependence study for the thermal conductivity of
nanofluids was made by Lecjaks et al. [17] for Al 2O3/water and Al2O3 /ethylene glycol

nanofluids. Particle size was varied between 8 and 282 nm. HCl was added to the nanofluids to
adjust the pH value to 4. Conductivity measurements were carried out by a transient hot-wire
method at room temperature. It was observed that for the same particle volume fraction, thermal
conductivity ratio decreases with decreasing particle size. This effect is more pronounced for
nanofluids with particles smaller than 50 nm. As a result of the experimental findings, it was
concluded that nanoparticle thermal conductivity decrease with decreasing particle size is
responsible for the observed size dependence of the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. It should
be noted that these
results are not in agreement with the aforementioned studies. The results also contradict with the
effect of Brownian motion, which decreases the associated thermal conductivity enhancement. Al
nanoparticles. Nanoparticles with sizes varying between 30 and 120 nm were used in the study.
For all four types of nanofluids, it was observed that thermal conductivity enhancement increases
with decreasing particle size.

19
Fertman et al. [5] measured the thermal conductivity of Al 2O3/water nanofluids. Two different

sizes of Al2O3 nanoparticles were used in the experiment (36 and 47 nm). Particle volume

fraction was varied between 0 and 18% and temperature was varied between 20 and 50C.
It was observed that the thermal conductivity enhancements were nearly the same for the two
different particle sizes of Al2O3 nanoparticles at room temperature. However, at higher

temperatures, Al2O3/water nanofluid with smaller particles showed higher enhancement. The

experimental results were compared with theoretical models and it was concluded that the model
proposed by Xuan et al. [10] predicted their experimental data well. On the contrary, when the
temperature dependent thermal conductivity data of Al 2O3/water nanofluid provided by Lecjaks

et al. [17], and Chon and sarma[18] is compared, it is seen that the thermal conductivity ratio is
not much different from each other for significantly different particle sizes (80, 38.4, and 47 nm,
respectively).
The general trend in the experimental data is that the thermal conductivity of nanofluids
increases with decreasing particle size. This trend is theoretically supported by two mechanisms
of thermal conductivity enhancement; Brownian motion of nanoparticles and liquid layering
around nanoparticles.

Particle Shape

There are mainly two particle shapes used in nanofluid research; spherical particles and
cylindrical particles. Cylindrical particles usually have a large length-to-diameter ratio. The
thermal conductivity of Sic/distilled water and Sic/ethylene glycol nanofluids were investigated
by B.c.Pak et al. [11]. Two types of nanoparticles were used for the preparation of nanofluids;
spherical particles with 26 nm average diameter and cylindrical particles with 600 nm average
diameter. It was found that 4.2 vol. % water-based nanofluid with spherical particles had a
thermal conductivity enhancement of 15.8%, whereas 4 vol.% nanofluid with cylindrical
particles had a thermal conductivity enhancement of 22.9%. The authors compared the results
with the Hamilton and Crosser model.

Temperature

20
In conventional suspensions of solid particles (with sizes on the order of millimeters or
micrometers) in liquids, thermal conductivity of the mixture depends on temperature only due to
the dependence of thermal conductivity of base liquid and solid particles on temperature.
However, in case of nanofluids, change of temperature affects the Brownian motion of Thermal
conductivity of nanofluids was measured show the effect of base fluid on the thermal
conductivity of nanofluids. Some experimental studies made in this area are summarized below
(38.4 nm)/water and CuO (28.6 nm)/water nanofluids was studied by Pak et al. [11]. Thermal
diffusivity was measured by using a temperature oscillation technique and then thermal
conductivity was calculated. Several measurements were made at different temperatures varying
between 21 and 51C. It was seen that for 1 vol. % Al2O3/water nanofluid, thermal conductivity
enhancement increased from 2% at 21C to 10.8% at 51C. Temperature dependence of 4 vol.
%Al2O3 nanofluid was much more significant. From 21 to 51C, enhancement increased from
9.4 to 24.3%. A linear relationship between thermal conductivity ratio and temperature was
observed at both 1 and 4 vol. % cases.

Clustering

Clustering is the formation of larger particles through aggregation of nanoparticles. Clustering

effect is always present in nanofluids and it is an effective parameter in thermal conductivity.
Sundar et al. [18] investigated this effect for Fe (10 nm)/ethylene glycol nanofluids. The thermal
conductivity of nanofluids were determined as a function of the duration of the application of the
ultrasonic vibration, which was varied between 0 min, that is, no vibration applied, and 70 min.
It was seen that thermal conductivity ratio increased with increasing vibration time and the rate
of this increase became smaller for longer vibration time. Furthermore, the variation of thermal
conductivity of nanofluid with time after the application of vibration was investigated and it was
found that thermal conductivity decreased as time progressed. Variation of average size of
clusters was also determined as a function of time after the application of vibration and it was
noted that cluster size increases with time. As a result of these observations, it was concluded
that the size of the clusters formed by the nanoparticles had a major influence on the thermal
conductivity. In addition, the variation of thermal conductivity ratio of the Fe/ethylene glycol
nanofluid with particle volume fraction was found to be nonlinear. It was stated that this behavior
is due to the fact that nanoparticles in the nanofluids with high volume fractions formed clusters

21
at a higher rate. The thermal conductivity of Fe 3O4water nanofluid and noted that clustering and

nanoparticle alignment were mainly responsible for the anomalous thermal conductivity
enhancement.

pH Value

The number of studies regarding the pH value of nanofluids is limited when compared to the
studies regarding the other parameters. The thermal conductivity of nanofluids, which are
prepared by dispersing Al2O3 nanoparticles into water, ethylene glycol, and pump oil. They

reported significant decrease in thermal conductivity ratio with increasing pH values. It was also
observed that the rate of change of thermal conductivity with particle volume fraction was
dependent on pH value. Thermal conductivity enhancement of 5 vol.% Al 2O3/water nanofluid

was 23% when pH is equal to 2.0 and it became 19% when pH is equal to 11.5. The authors
related the dependence of thermal conductivity on pH to the fact that as the difference between
the isoelectric point of Al2O3 nanoparticles and pH value of the solution increases, mobility of

nanoparticles increases, which improve the micro-convection effect. Wang et al. [6] also
investigated the effect of pH on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. They considered a
Cu/water and Al2O3/water nanofluid, as the dispersant, sodium dodecylbenzene suffocate, was

added to the samples. They obtained optimum values of pH (approximately 8.0 for Al2O3 /water

and 9.5 for Cu/water nanofluids) for maximum thermal conductivity enhancement. It should also
be noted that the thermal conductivity of base fluid does not change significantly with pH. The
authors related the observed phenomenon to the fact that at the optimum value of pH, surface
charge of nanoparticles increases, which creates repulsive forces between nanoparticles. As a
result of this effect, severe clustering of nanoparticles is prevented (excessive clustering may
result in sedimentation, which decreases thermal conductivity enhancement). Another study
regarding the pH of nanofluids was presented by E.Smithberg et al. [12]. They investigated the
thermal conductivity of TiO2 /water nanofluid and observed a decrease in the thermal
conductivity with increasing pH value. However, this decrease is not significant, only 2% change
was observed when pH value was increased from 3.4 to 9.

22
2.6 ENHANCEMENT MECHANISMS

In the following five sections, some mechanisms proposed to explain the anomalous thermal
conductivity enhancement of nanofluids are discussed.

Brownian Motion of Nanoparticles

Brownian motion is the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid. When nanofluids are
considered, this random motion transports energy directly by nanoparticles. In addition, a micro-
convection effect, which is due to the fluid mixing around nanoparticles, is also proposed to be
important. There are many studies in the literature regarding the effect of Brownian motion on
the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. J.Philip et al. [6] used Brownian dynamics simulation to
determine the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids, by considering the Brownian motion
of the nanoparticles. Effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid was defined as:

.. (2.1)
where kp is not simply the bulk thermal conductivity of the nanoparticles, but it also includes the

effect of the Brownian motion of the nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity. A method called
the Brownian dynamics simulation was developed, the expressions were provided to calculate
kp, then the effective thermal conductivity of Cu/ethylene glycol and Al 2O3/ethylene glycol

nanofluids were calculated for different particle volume fractions. The results were compared
with previous experimental data [4, 6] and they were found to be in agreement. The prediction of
model (Eq. 2, 3) for these two nanofluids was also included in the comparison. It was found that
conduction-based Hamilton and Crosser model under predicted
the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, since it does not take into account the
Brownian motion of the particles within the base fluid.

23
Another study was made by B.Raj [6] who investigated the effect of mixing due to the Brownian
motion of nanoparticles on the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids numerically.
Velocity, pressure, and temperature distribution around the nanoparticles were investigated for a
single nanoparticle, for two nanoparticles, and for numerous nanoparticles.
It was seen that improvement in thermal conduction capability of the nanofluid induced by two
nanoparticles that were close to each other was more than twice the improvement observed for a
single nanoparticle. A similar behavior was also observed for the simulation of several
nanoparticles. As a result, it was concluded that the mixing effect created by the Brownian
motion of the nanoparticles is an important reason for the large thermal conductivity
enhancement of nanofluids. It should be noted that in this study, the flow around the
nanoparticles was solved as if the nanoparticles are macro scale objects. Slip boundary condition
and wet ability of particles were not considered.

Clustering of Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles are known to form clusters [9, 8]. These clusters can be handled by using fractal
theory [1]. Heris et al. [9] proposed that clustering can result in fast transport of heat along
relatively large distances since heat can be conducted much faster by solid particles when
compared to liquid matrix. This phenomenon is illustrated schematically in Fig.

24
 Figure 2.1: Schematic illustration representing the clustering phenomenon. High conductivity
path results in fast transport of heat along large distances.

Evans et al. also investigated the dependence of thermal conductivity of nanofluids on clustering
and interfacial thermal resistance. Effect of clusters was analyzed in three steps by using
Bruggeman model, the model by Nan et al. [70], and MaxwellGarnett (MG) model. The
resulting thermal conductivity ratio expression is

. (2.2)
Where kcl is the thermal conductivity of the clusters and cl is the particle volume fraction of the

clusters, which are defined in the study and the related expressions are also given therein to
calculate effective thermal conductivity theoretically. In addition to the theoretical work, Evans
et al. [9] also determined the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid by utilizing a Monte
Carlo simulation. The results of the theoretical approach and the computer simulation were
compared and they were found to be in good agreement. It was shown that the effective thermal
conductivity increased with increasing cluster size. However, as particle volume fraction
increased, the nanofluid with clusters showed relatively smaller thermal conductivity

25
enhancement. When it comes to interfacial resistance, it was found that interfacial resistance
decreases the enhancement in thermal conductivity, but this decrease diminishes for nanofluids
with large clusters. Another conclusion was that fiber shaped nanoparticles are more effective in
thermal conductivity enhancement when compared to spherical particles. However, it was also
noted that such fiber shaped particles or clusters increase the viscosity of the nanofluids
significantly. At this point, it should be noted that excessive clustering of nanoparticles may
result in sedimentation, which adversely affects the thermal conductivity. Therefore, there should
be an optimum level of clustering for maximum thermal conductivity enhancement [4].
Another study that proposes the clustering effect as the main reason of thermal conductivity
enhancement was made by Kakac et al. They analyzed the experimental data for thermal
conductivity of nanofluids and examined the potential mechanisms of anomalous enhancement.
Enhancement mechanisms such as micro convection created by Brownian motion of
nanoparticles, nanolayer formation around particles, and near field radiation were concluded not
to be the major cause of the enhancement. It was noted that effective medium theories can
predict the experimental data well when the effect of clustering is taken into account. Lee et al.
modeled the effect of clustering by taking the effect of particle size into account.

Liquid Layering around Nanoparticles

A recent study showed that liquid molecules form layered structures around solid surfaces and it
is expected that those nanolayers have a larger effective thermal conductivity than the liquid
matrix. As a result of this observation, the layered structures that form around nanoparticles are
proposed to be responsible for the thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids.. This
phenomenon is illustrated schematically in Fig.

26
 Figure 2.2: Schematic illustration representing the liquid layering around nanoparticles. kl, kf,

and kpare the thermal conductivity of nano layer, base fluid, and nanoparticle, respectively.

The fact that there is no experimental data regarding the thickness and thermal conductivity of
these nanolayers is an important drawback of the proposed mechanism [18]. Some researchers
develop a theoretical model by considering liquid layering around nanoparticles and illustrate the
predictions of their model by just assuming some values for the thermal conductivity and
thickness of the nanolayer. Some others model the thermal conductivity of the nanolayer so that
it linearly varies across the radial direction and there are also some researchers that take the
temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of these layers into account. By choosing
the parameters of the nanolayer accordingly, it is possible to produce results which are consistent
with experimental data but this does not prove the validity of the proposed mechanism. Recently,
Lee proposed a way of calculating the thickness and thermal conductivity of the nanolayer by considering
the formation of electric double layer around the nanoparticles. According to the study, thickness of
nanolayer depends on the dielectric constant, ionic strength, and temperature of the nanofluid. When it
comes to the thermal conductivity of the nanolayer, the parameters are total charged surface density, ion
density in the electric double layer, pH value of the nanofluid, and thermal conductivities of base fluid
and nanoparticles. Another theoretical way to calculate the thickness and thermal conductivity of the
nanolayer is proposed by Tillman and Hill. They used the classical heat conduction equation together with
proper boundary conditions to obtain a relation between the radial distributions of thermal conductivity in
the nanolayer and nanolayer thickness. The relation requires an initial guess about the function that
defines radial variation of thermal conductivity inside the nanolayer. According to the guess, it is possible
to determine the thickness of the nanolayer and check the validity of the associated assumption. There are
also some investigations which show that nanolayers are not the main cause of thermal conductivity
enhancement with nanofluids. Among those studies, Xue et al. examined the effect of nanolayer by
molecular dynamics simulations and showed that nanolayers have no effect on the thermal transport. In
the simulations, a simple monatomic liquid was considered and the authors noted that in case of water,
results might be different.

Ballistic Phonon Transport in Nanoparticles

27
In solids, diffusive heat transport is valid if the mean-free path of phonons is smaller than the
characteristic size of the particle in consideration. Kakac et al. [3] estimated the phonon mean-
free path of Al2O3nanoparticles at room temperature according to the theory developed by

Debye (Geiger and Poirier) as 35 nm. In a particle with a diameter smaller than 35 nm, the heat
transport is not diffusive, but heat is transported ballistically. Although this fact prevents the
application of conventional theories for the modeling of thermal conductivity of nanofluids,
Keblinski et al. noted that ballistic heat transport still cannot explain the anomalous thermal
conductivity enhancements, because the temperature inside the nanoparticles is nearly constant
and this fact does not depend on whether heat is transported by diffusion or ballistically.
Therefore, the boundary conditions for the base fluid are the same in both cases, and these results
in identical thermal conductivity values for the nanofluid. On the other hand, Keblinski et al.
indicated that ballistic heat transport can create a significant effect on thermal conductivity of
nanofluids if it enables efficient heat transport between nanoparticles. This is only possible if the
nanoparticles are very close to each other (a few nanometers separated) and they note that this is
the case for nanofluids with very small nanoparticles. Furthermore, the authors stress on the fact
that the particles may become closer to each other due to the Brownian motion.
Another study regarding this subject was made by Net al. They investigated the possibility of a
change in the phonon mean-free path of the liquid phase of nanofluids due to the presence of
nanoparticles theoretically. The authors found that the layering structure, in which there is
significant change in phonon mean-free path, is confined to a distance around 1 nm. As a result,
it was concluded that such a highly localized effect cannot be responsible for the anomalous
thermal conductivity enhancement with nanofluids. Furthermore, change of phonon transport
speed in the liquid phase due to the presence of nanoparticles was also investigated and the
associated effect was found to be negligible.

Near Field Radiation

The effect of near field radiation on the heat transport between two nanoparticles. They analyzed
the problem by utilizing molecular dynamics simulation and found that when the distance
between the nanoparticles is smaller than the diameter of the particles, the heat conductance is
two to three orders of magnitudes higher than the heat conductance between two particles that
are in contact. This finding can be considered as a heat transfer enhancement mechanism for

28
nanofluids since the separation between nanoparticles can be very small in nanofluids with
nanoparticles smaller than 10 nm. Furthermore, Brownian motion of nanoparticles can also
improve that mechanism since the distance between nanoparticles changes rapidly due to the
random motion. An important study regarding this subject was made by Ben-Abdallah. In that
study, near field interactions between nanoparticles were analyzed numerically for the case of
Cu/ethylene glycol nanofluid, and it was shown that the near field interactions between
nanoparticles do not significantly affect the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. It was noted
that the results are valid also for other nanoparticle types; metals, metal oxides, and polar
particles.

2.7 MODELS OF NANOFLUIDS THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

In the following three sections, some theoretical models based on the aforementioned thermal
conductivity enhancement mechanisms are discussed.

Models Based on Brownian Motion

Many models were developed for the determination of thermal conductivity of nanofluids based
on the Brownian motion of nanoparticles. Three of these models are explained below.
Additionally, an empirical model, which provides information about the effect of Brownian
motion on thermal conductivity of nanofluids, is also discussed.
Das and Choi modeled the thermal conductivity of nanofluids by considering the effect of
Brownian motion of nanoparticles. The proposed model is a function of not only thermal
conductivities of the base fluid and nanoparticles, but it also depends on the temperature and size
of the nanoparticles. Energy transport in nanofluids was considered to consist of four modes;
heat conduction in the base fluid, heat conduction in nanoparticles, collisions between

29
nanoparticles (due to Brownian motion), and micro-convection caused by the random motion of
the nanoparticles. Among these, the collisions between nanoparticles were found to be negligible
when compared to other modes.

2.8 IMPORTANCE OF NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS

Numerical simulations of fluids, often known as CFD (computational fluid dynamics), has
become one of the three basic approaches that can be employed to solve problems in fluid
dynamics and heat transfer, the other two approaches being experimental and analytical methods.
CFD not only employs disciplines of fluid mechanics with mathematics, but it also uses the
knowledge of computer science. With the rapid advancement of digital computers, the numerical
aspect has emerged as another viable approach in studying fluid and heat transfer problems.

There are many advantages in considering CFD. One of the main advantages of using
CFD is that it presents a perfect opportunity to study specific terms in the governing equations in
a more detailed approach, which would not have been possible to understand by using analytical
approach by itself.

CFD reduces the time and costs when compared to experiments because it does not have to
change the physical models as in experiments. The cost and time needed to change the physical
model increases exponentially with the size of the system. It can also provide rather detailed,
visualized and comprehensive information when compared to analytical and experimental fluid
dynamics. Nevertheless, getting accurate solution using CFD is still a challenge. Experiments
remain the primary source of information when complex flow situations such as multiphase
flows, boiling or condensation are involved. The information provided by experiments should be
used to improve the CFD models. Thus CFD should be taken as a viable alternative, which can
complement the experimental and analytical studies and provide detailed analysis of flow
behavior. All three approaches used to solve fluid flow phenomenon are strongly interlinked to
each other.

Numerical Studies

30
Maga et al. investigated laminar and turbulent nanofluid flow inside circular tubes. Al 2O3/water

and Al2O3/ethylene glycol nanofluids were considered under the constant wall heat flux

boundary condition. In the analysis, they assumed nanofluids as single phase fluids and the effect
of nanoparticles was taken into account only through the substitution of the thermophysical
properties of the nanofluids into the governing equations. As a result of the analysis, it was
concluded that Al2O3/ethylene glycol nanofluid provides higher enhancement when compared to

Al2O3/water nanofluid.

Another single phase analysis of nanofluid heat transfer was made by Heris et al. They
performed a numerical analysis that simulates their experimental study by utilizing the thermal
dispersion model proposed by Xuan and Roetzel. In the analysis, they did not take the variation
of thermal conductivity with temperature into account. Furthermore, they assumed uniform
thermal dispersion throughout the domain. The researchers considered the effect of particle
volume fraction and particle size on heat transfer and concluded that increasing particle volume
fraction and decreasing particle size increase the heat transfer enhancement.
There are also numerical studies that consider two-phase approach in the literature. Smithberg et
al. investigated the flow of a nanofluid in a circular tube at turbulent regime. A numerical
solution was made for the constant wall heat flux boundary condition and the difference between
the velocities of the nanoparticles and fluid molecules was taken into account.
The results of the numerical solution were compared with a previous experimental study of
Cu/water nanofluids and good agreement was observed. The researchers also compared the
results of single phase assumption with experimental data and it was seen that single phase
approach failed to predict the associated Nusselt number values.
Chandra et al. considered the laminar flow of Al 2O3/water nanofluid. Under constant

wall heat flux boundary condition, they analyzed the problem by using both single phase and
two-phase approaches. They indicated that taking the variation of thermophysical properties with
temperature into account results in higher enhancement values. Furthermore, they noted that the
difference between the results of single phase and two-phase approaches is small, especially
when temperature dependence of thermophysical properties is taken into account. This is an
important result which can be considered as an indication of the fact that the single phase
assumption provides acceptable results.

31
 Thermophysical Properties of Nanofluids

In the analysis of convective heat transfer of nanofluids, accurate determination of the thermo
physical properties is a key issue. Calculations of density and specific heat of nanofluids are
relatively straightforward, but when it comes to viscosity and thermal conductivity, there is
significant discrepancy in both experimental results and theoretical models available in the
literature.

Density

Density of nanofluids can be determined by using the following expression

(2.3)

Here, is particle volume fraction and subscripts nf, p, and f correspond to nanofluid, particle,
and base fluid, respectively. Smithberg [12] experimentally showed that Eq. (1) is an accurate
expression for determining the density of nanofluids.

Specific Heat

There are two expressions for determining the specific heat of nanofluids

. (2.4)

. (2.5)

It is thought that above Eq is theoretically more consistent since specific heat is a mass specific
quantity whose effect depends on the density of the components of a mixture.
Viscosity

32
Nanofluid viscosity is an important parameter for practical applications since it directly affects
the pressure drop in forced convection. Therefore, for enabling the usage of nanofluids in
practical applications, the extent of viscosity increase of nanofluids with respect to pure fluids
should be thoroughly investigated. Brickman presented viscosity correlation as it applies to
concentrated particle suspension

(2.6)

Wasp [15] model is considered for the estimation of thermal conductivity

(2.7)

The volume concentration is evaluated from the following relation in percentage

(2.8)

Where (Fe3O4) is density of Fe3O4, (water) is density of water and is the volume concentration.
The density and specific heat of nanofluids is measured with the conventional mixture laws
given by Pak
And Cho [7]

33
Heat Transfer Coefficient Enhancement

The theoretical study of heat transfer coefficient enhancement obtained with nanofluids is
presented in two parts, according to the type of the boundary condition, namely; constant wall
heat flux boundary condition and constant wall temperature boundary condition.

Constant Wall Heat Flux Boundary Condition

One of the most commonly used empirical correlations for the determination of convective heat
transfer in laminar flow regime inside circular tubes is the Shah correlation. The associated
expression for the calculation of local Nusselt number is as follows.

The following correlations give the single phase fluid Nusselt number Gnielinskis correlation
for single phase fluid

. (2.9)

TURBULENT FLOW OF HEAT CONVECTION WITH

FLUID DYNAMICS
The forced convection of fluids has been investigated by numerous researchers, both
experimentally and numerically. A good understanding of characteristics of nanofluid flow has
thoroughly been investigated in these studies. Since the nanoparticles behave more like a single-
phase fluid than a solidliquid mixture, it is assumed that nanofluids are ideally suited in the
applications as their usage causes little or no penalty in pressure drop. In recent years, many

34
researchers have tried to fill the gaps on this subject in the literature. To meet the demand for
improving the performance of heat transfer equipment, re-examination of the individual
components is considered to be essential. The addition of the nanoparticles to the base fluid is
one of the significant issues for the optimal performance of heat transfer systems.

3.1 Introduction

Nanotechnology has opened new challenges in various streams of fundamental science and
applications. Nanofluid, one of the products of nanotechnology is colloidal mixtures of
nanometric metallic or ceramic particles in a base fluid, such as water, ethylene glycol or oil.
Nanofluids are engineered by suspending nanoparticles with average diameter size below 100
nm in traditional heat transfer fluid such as water, oil, and ethylene glycol. Recently, magnetic
nanofluids have been the subject of much interest due to their unusual optical, electronic and
magnetic properties, which can be changed by applying an external magnetic field Fe3O4
nanofluid and observed 30% enhancements in thermal conductivity at 4.7% volume
concentration in the temperature range of 2565C with the application of transverse magnetic
field with 9.9 nm particle size. Water based Fe3O4 nanofluid and observed thermal conductivity
enhancement of 300% at a particle loading of 6.3% volume fraction with a particle size of 6.7
nm under the influence of an applied magnetic field. Particle volume concentration is also one of
the parameters that affect the thermal conductivity and heat transfer rate as a result.The relative
viscosity of water and ethylene glycol nanofluids. The purpose of this study is to investigate the
forced convection heat transfer phenomenon of magnetic nanofluid in a fully developed turbulent
flow inside a circular tube. The standard k- model is used to predict the kinetic energy and its
dissipation rate in the turbulent flow.
3.2 DISCRETIZATION APPROACHES

3.2.1 FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD:

This is the oldest method for numerical solution of PDEs, believed to have been introduced
by Euler in the 18th century. It is also the easiest method to use for simple geometries. The
starting point is the conservation equation in differential form. The solution domain is covered by
a grid. The solution domain is covered by a grid. At each grid point, the differential equation is
approximated by replacing the partial derivatives by approximations in terms of the nodal values

35
of the functions. The result is one algebraic equation per grid node, in which the variable value at
that and a certain number of neighbor nodes appear as unknowns. In principle, the FD method
can be applied to any grid type. However, in all application of the FD method knows to the
authors, it has been applied to structured grids. The grid lines serve as local coordinate lines.
Taylor series expansion or polynomial fitting is used to obtained approximation to the first
and second derivatives of the variables with respect to the coordinates. When necessary, these
methods are also used to obtain variable values at location other than grid nodes (interpolation).
The most widely used methods of approximating derivatives by finite differences. On structured
grids, the FD method is very simple and effective. It is especially easy to obtain higher-order
schemes on regular grids. The disadvantage of FD methods is that the conservation is not
enforced unless special care is taken. Also, the restriction to simple geometries is a significant
disadvantage in complex flows.

3.2.2 FINITE VOLUME METHOD:

The FV method uses the integral form of the conservation equation as its starting point. The
solution domain is subdivided into a finite number of contiguous control volumes (CVs), and the
conservation equations are applied to each CV. At the centroid of each CV lays a computational
node at which the variable values are to be calculated. Interpolation is used to express variable
values at the CV surface in terms of the nodal (CV-center) values. Surface and volumes integrals
are approximated using suitable quadrative formulae. As a result, one obtains an algebraic
equation for each CV, in which a number of neighbor nodal values appear. The FV method can
accommodate any type of grid, so it is suitable for complex geometries.
The grid defines only the control volume boundaries and not be related to a coordinate system.
The method is conservative by construction, so long as integrals (which represent convective and
diffusive fluxes) are the same for the CVs sharing the boundaries. The FV approach is perhaps
the simplest to understand and to program. The disadvantage of FV method compared to FD
schemes is that methods of order higher than second are more difficult to develop in 3D. This is
due to the fact that FV approaches require three levels of approximation: inter potation,
differentiation and integration.

3.2.3 FINITE ELEMENT METHOD:

36
 The FE method is similar to the FV method in many ways. The domain is broken into a set
discrete volumes or finite elements that are generally unstructured; in 2D, they are usually
triangles or quadrilaterals, while in 3D tetrahedral or hexahedra are most often used. The
distinguishing feature of FE method is that the equations are multiplied by a weight function
before they are integrated over the entire domain. In the simplest FE methods, the solution is
approximated by a linear shape function within each element in a way that guarantees continuity
of the solution across element boundaries. Such a function can be constructed from its values at
the corners of the elements. The weight function is usually of the same form .This approximation
is then substituted into the weighted integral of the conservation law and the equations to be
solved are derived by requiring the derivative of the integral with respect to each nodal value to
be zero; this corresponds to selecting the best solution within the set of allowed functions (the
one with minimum residual). The result is a set of non-linear algebraic equation.
An important advantage of finite element method is ability to deal with arbitrary geometries;
there is an extensive literature devoted to the construction of grids for finite element methods.
The grids are easily refined; each element is simply subdivided. Finite element methods are
relatively easy to analyze mathematically and can be shown to have optimality properties for
certain type of equations, The principal drawback, which is shared by any methods that uses
unstructured grids, is that the matrices of the liberalized equation are not as well structured as for
regular grids makings it more difficult to find efficient solution methods.

3.3 PROPERTIES OF NUMERICAL SOLUTION METHOD

The solution method should have certain properties. In most cases, it is not possible to
analyze the complete solution method. One analyzes the components of the method; if the
components do not possess the desired properties, neither will the complete method but the
reverse is not necessarily true .The most important properties are summarized below.
1. CONSISTENCY: The discretization should become exact as the grid spacing tends to zero.
2. STABILITY: A numerical solution method is to be stable if it does not magnify the errors that
appear in the course of numerical solution process.

37
3. CONVERGENCE: A numerical method is said to be convergent if the solution of the
discredited equation tends to the exact solution of the differential equation as the grid spacing
tends to zero.
4. BOUNDEDNESS: Numerical solution should lie within proper bounds.
5. REALIZABILITY: Models of phenomena which are too complex to treat directly (for
example, turbulence, combustion, or multiphase flow) should be designed to guarantee
physically realistic solution.
6. ACCURACY: Numerical solution of fluid flow and heat transfer problems are only
approximate solutions.
A. modeling errors, which are defined as the difference between the actual flow and the exact
solution of the mathematical model
B. discretization errors, defined as the difference between the exact solution of the conservation
equation and the exact solution of the algebraic system of equation obtained by discretizing these
equation, and
C. iteration errors, defined as the difference between the iterative and exact solution of the
algebraic equation system.

3.4 SINGLE PHASE MODELING EQUATIONS

The single phase model equations include the equation of continuity, momentum equation
and energy equation (ANSYS CFX 13.0). The continuity and momentum equations are used to
calculate velocity vector. The energy equation is used to calculate temperature distribution and
wall heat transfer coefficient. The equation for conservation of mass, or continuity equation, can
be written as follows.

38
 Mass Conservation Equation

The equation for conservation of mass, or continuity equation, can be written as follows:

Equation (3.1) is the general form of the mass conservation equation, and is valid for both
incompressible compressible flows. The source S m is the mass added to the continuous phase
from the dispersed second phase (e.g., due to vaporization of liquid droplets) and any user-
defined sources.

Momentum Conservation Equation

Conservation of momentum in an inertial (non-accelerating) reference frame is described by

Where p is the static pressure, is the stress tensor (described below), and and are the
gravitational body force and external body forces (e.g., that arise from interaction with the

dispersed phase), respectively. Also contains other model dependent source terms such as
porous-media and user-defined sources.

The stress tensor is given by

Where is the molecular viscosity, I is the unit tensor, and the second term on the right hand side
is the effect of volume dilation.

39
 Energy equation

ANSYS CFX solves the energy equation in the following form:

Where Keff is the effective conductivity , where is the turbulent thermal

conductivity, defined according to the turbulence model being used), and j is the diffusion
flux of species J. The first three terms on the right-hand side of Equation represent energy
transfer due to conduction, species diffusion, and viscous dissipation, respectively. S h includes
the heat of chemical reaction, and any other volumetric heat sources. In Eq. (3.4)

Where sensible enthalpy h is defined for ideal gases as

Y is the mass fraction of species j.

40
T is used as 298.15 K.

3.5 TWO PHASE MODELING EQUATIONS

A large number of flows encountered in nature and technology are a mixture of

phases. Physical phases of matter are gas, liquid, and solid, but the concept of phase in amulti
phase flow system is applied in a broader sense. In multiphase flow, a phase can be defined as an
identifiable class of material that has a particular inertial response to and interaction with the
flow and the potential field in which it is immersed. Currently there are two approaches for the
numerical calculation of multiphase flows: the Euler-Lagrange
Approach and the Euler-Euler approach.

Euler-Lagrange approach:
The Lagrangian discrete phase model in ANSYS FLUENT follows the Euler-Lagran
geapproach. The fluid phase is treated as a continuum by solving the Navier-Stokese equations,
while the dispersed phase is solved by tracking a large number of particles, bubbles, or droplets
through the calculated flow field. The dispersed phase can exchange momentum, mass, and
energy with the fluid phase.
Euler-Euler approach:
In the Euler-Euler approach, the different phases are treated mathematically as
interpenetrating continua. Since the volume of a phase cannot be occupied by the other phases,
the concept of phase volume fraction is introduced. These volume fractions are assumed to be
continuous functions of space and time and their sum is equal to one.
In ANSYS FLUENT, three different Euler-Euler multiphase models are available: the volume of
fluid (VOF) model, the mixture model, and the Eulerian model.
The VOF model is a surface-tracking technique applied to a fixed Eulerian mesh. It is used for
two or more immiscible fluids where the position of the interface between the fluids is of
interest. In the VOF model, a single set of momentum equations is shared by the fluids, and the
volume fraction of each of the fluids in each computational cell is tracked throughout the
domain.

41
The mixture model is designed for two or more phases (fluid or particulate). As in the Eulerian
model, the phases are treated as interpenetrating continua. The mixture model solves for the
mixture momentum equation and prescribes relative velocities to describe the dispersed phases.

Volume of Fluid (VOF) Model:

The VOF formulation in ANSYS FLUENT is generally used to compute a time
dependent solution, but for problems in which concerned are only with a steady-state solution; it
is possible to perform a steady-state calculation.

Volume Fraction Equation:

The tracking of the interface(s) between the phases is accomplished by the solution of
acontinuity equation for the volume fraction of one (or more) of the phases. For the th q (fluids
volume fraction) phase, this equation has the following form:

Where mqp is the mass transfer from phase q to phase p and mpq is the mass transfer from phase
p to phase q. By default, the source term on the right-hand side of Eq. 3.8,Sq is zero, but we can
specify a constant or user-defined mass source for each phase. The volume fraction equation will
not be solved for the primary phase; the primary-phase volume fraction will be computed based
on the following constraint:

Material Properties:

The properties appearing in the transport equations are determined by the presence of the
component phases in each control volume. In a two-phase system, for example, if thephases are
represented by the subscripts 1 and 2, and the mixture density in each cell isgiven by

42
In general, for n phase system, the volume-fraction-averaged density takes on the
Following form:

All other properties (e.g., viscosity) are also computed in this manner.

Momentum Equation

A single momentum equation is solved throughout the domain, and the resulting velocity
field is shared among the phases. The momentum equation, shown below, is dependent on the
volume fractions of all phases through the properties and .

One limitation of the shared-fields approximation is that in cases where large velocity differences
exist between the phases, the accuracy of the velocities computed near the interface can be
adversely affected.

Energy Equation
The energy equation, also shared among the phases, is shown below

The VOF model treats energy, E, and temperature, T, as mass-averaged variables:

43
Where E q for each phase is based on the specific heat of that phase and the shared temperature.
The properties and k eff (effective thermal conductivity) are shared by the phases. The source
term, S h, contains contributions from radiation, as well as any other volumetric heat sources.

Mixture Model

The mixture model is a simplified multiphase model that can be used in different ways.
The mixture model allows us to select granular phases and calculates all properties of the
granular phases. This is applicable for liquid-solid flows.

Continuity Equation

Where is the mass-averaged velocity?

And mis the mixture density:

44
k is the volume fraction of phase k

Momentum Equation

The momentum equation for the mixture can be obtained by summing the individual momentum
equations for all phases. It can be expressed as:

Where n is the number of phases, is a body force, and m is the viscosity of the mixture and
defined as

is the drift velocity for secondary phase k :

Energy Equation
The energy equation for the mixture takes the following form:

45
Where k eff is the effective conductivity where k t is the turbulent thermal
conductivity, defined according to the turbulence model being used). The first term on the right-
hand side of Eq. 3.21 represents energy transfer due to conduction. S E includes any other
volumetric heat sources. In Eq. 3.21

For a compressible phase, and E k = hk for an incompressible phase, where hk is the sensible
enthalpy for phase k.

Volume Fraction Equation for the Secondary Phases

From the continuity equation for secondary phase p, the volume fraction equation for secondary
phase p can be obtained:

SIMULATION OF SINGLE PHASE FLUID FLOW

It is well known that nanoparticles have very high thermal conductivity compared
to commonly used coolant. Thus, the thermal conductivity and other fluid properties are changed
by mixing the particle in fluid. The changed properties of the nanofluids determine the heat

46
transfer performance of the straight pipe with nanofluids. This point is illustrated in this chapter
by doing the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the hydrodynamics and thermal
behavior of the single phase flow through a circular Pipe.

4.1 SPECIFICATION OF PROBLEM

Consider a steady state fluid flowing through a circular pipe of constant cross section as shown
in Fig. 4.1 The diameter and length of circular channel are 0.014 m and 1.7 m respectively. The
inlet velocity is u (m/s), which is constant over the inlet cross-section. The fluid exhausts into
theambient atmosphere which is at a pressure of 1 atm.

Fig. 4.1: circular pipe geometry

As fluid flows through in a pipe at both hydraulic and thermally fully developed condition, the
Nusselt number is constant for laminar flow and it follows the Dittius-Boelter equation for
turbulent flow.
4.2 MESHING OF GEOMETRY

Structured meshing method done in ANSYS Workbench was used for meshing the
geometry. Nodes were created. The 2D geometry of circular channel with structured mesh is
shown in Fig.

47
Fig. 4.2: Meshed model of pipe with zoomed view

48
 Fig. 4.3: Mesh summary

4.3 PHYSICAL MODELS

Based on the Reynolds number, either viscous laminar model or

standardk- model is used for laminar and turbulent flow respectively. The choice of the models
shown in Table.Where D is the diameter of the channel, and are the density and viscosity of
the fluid.

Table No.4.1

49
4.4 MATERIAL PROPERTIES
Pure water is used as base working fluid and magnetic Fe 3O4 nanofluid is taken as
nanoparticles. The density, heat capacity and thermal conductivity of
Fe3O4are5180kg/m3,670000J/kgK and 80.4W/mK respectively. The properties of nanofluids (nf)
are given in Table, at 30oC temperature and 100 kPa pressure.

Water base fluid properties with different concentration of Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Volume fraction Density Specific heat Thermal conductivity Viscosity

(%) (kg/m3) (J/kg-k) (w/m-k) (kg/m-sec)

0.02 996.53 4312.16 0.609357 0.0008038

0.1 999.88 4844.82 0.610788 0.0008292

0.3 1008.25 6176.46 0.614374 0.0008949

0.6 1020.806 8173.92 0.61978 0.0009064

Table No.4.2

50
4.5 GOVERNING EQUATIONS

For 3D pipe geometries, the continuity equation is given by (ANSYS CFX 13.0).

Where x represents axial coordinate in the direction of flow, r is the radial coordinative.
Transverse direction, x is the axial velocity, and r is the radial velocity components.
For the axial and radial momentum conservation equations are given by (ANSYS CFX 13.0)

Since the pipe with small radial thickness is horizontally placed, the external body force F is
taken as zero.
Turbulent flows are characterized by fluctuating velocity fields. These fluctuations mix
transported quantities such as momentum, energy, and species concentration, and cause the
transported quantities to fluctuate as well. Since these fluctuations can be of small-scale and high

51
frequency, they are too computationally expensive to simulate directly impractical engineering
calculations. Instead, the instantaneous (exact) governing equations can be time-averaged,
ensemble-averaged, resulting in a modified set of equations that are computationally less
expensive to solve. However, the modified equations contain additional unknown variables, and
turbulence models are needed to determine these, Variables in terms of known quantities.
The standard k model (ANSYS CFX 13.0) is used to model single phase turbulent flow in
circular pipe channel. The turbulence kinetic energy, k, and its rate of dissipation, , are obtained
solving the following transport equations:

In these equations, Gk represents the generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to the mean
velocity gradients. Gb is the generation of turbulence kinetic energy due to buoyancy. Y M
represents the contribution of the fluctuating dilatation in compressible turbulence to the overall
dissipation rate. C1. C2, andC3 are constants. k and are the turbulent Prandtl numbers for k
and respectively. S k and S are user-defined source terms.

Modeling the Turbulent Viscosity

The turbulent (or eddy) viscosity t is computed by combining k and as follows:

52
Model Constants
The model constant C1. C2, C3,k and have the following default values C1 =1.44,C2 =
1.92, C2 = 0.09, k =1.0 and =1.3 the governing equation for energy is same as represented
in Eq. 3.4.
The bulk mean temperature, T m x, and wall temperature, T w x, with distance x from the pipe
entrance can be obtained by doing the thermal energy balance around the pipe. The equations are
Eq. 4.12 and Eq.4.13. .

Where, T in (303.15 K) is the specified inlet temperature. q and h are the heat flux and heat
transfer coefficient respectively.
To characterize the effect of fluid flow on the thermal behavior of the pipe heat exchange Peclet
number, Pe is defined as

53
4.6 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
A no slip boundary condition was assigned for the non porous wall surfaces, where
both velocity components were set to zero at that boundary. A constant heat flux (13369 W/m2)
is applied on the channel wall. A uniform mass flow inlet and a constant inlet temperature were
assigned at the channel inlet. At the exit, pressure was specified.

Fig 4.4: Boundary conditions

4.7 METHOD OF SOLUTIONS

There are two ways to solve the problem stated above: (i) analytical method and (ii)
CFD method. Lee and Matusevich, 2007 have used analytical method. The method consists of
calculation of heat transfer coefficient (h) from either of Eq. 4.5 or Eq. 4.6 depending on whether

54
flow is laminar or turbulent, calculation of bulk mean temperature of fluid using Eq. 4.12
followed by the calculation of wall temperature using eq. 4.13.

The results given by Lee and Mudwar, 2007 are having errors in wall temperature and mean
temperature calculation at the given inlet mass flow rate.
Hence, in the present study, the analytical values of heat transfer coefficients are calculated
using Eq. 4.5 / Eq. 4.6. The heat transfer coefficients are also obtained using CFD methods and
then both the values are compared.

The CFD method follows the use of commercial software ANSYS CFX 13.0 to solve the
problem.
The specified solver uses a pressure correction based iterative SIMPLE algorithm with 1st order
upwind scheme for discrediting the convective transport terms. The convergence criteria for all
the dependent variables are specified as0.001. The default values of under-relaxation factor as
shown in Table are used in the simulation work.

Table 4.3
Using the CFD computed wall temperatures and mean temperature from Eq. 4.12; heat transfer
coefficients can be calculated by Eq. 4.13.

55
 ANALYSIS OF Fe3O4 NANOPARTICLES IN WATER

5.1 ANALYSIS OF Fe3O4 NANOFLUIDS IN WATER WITH REYNOLDS NUMBER:

The below contour plot shows, with the change in volume concentration of nanofluids
the Reynolds num gets increased progressively. The increase in volume concentration also
increases the Reynolds number. The focal point of investigation was to evaluate the effect of
particle volume concentration on convective heat transfer characteristics in the developed region
of the tube flow containing water-Fe3O4 nanofluid. It was observed that 0.6% of nanofluids
showed highest heat transfer characteristics than that of the base fluid (water).

Fig 5.1: Pure Water Fig 5.2: (0.02%) nanofluids

56
The above figures are average heat transfer coefficient and Reynolds number increased by
increasing the particle size (0 - 0.02%) concentration and flow rate. The average temperature of
nanofluid decreased by increasing the particles size(0.02%). The circular tube flow containing
water-Fe3O4 nanofluid to increasing particle size to develop by heat transfer coefficient.

0.1% Nanoparticle:

Fig 5.3: (0.1%) nanaofluids

The effect of heat transfer volume concentrations and Reynolds number,to increases nanoparticls
size (0.1%) with the rise of the Reynolds number as well as the volume concentration heat
transfer characteristics of 3.012e+003 nanoparticles.

0.3%Nanoparticl:

Fig 5.4: (0.3%) nanaofluids

57
The above figures are average heat transfer coefficient and Reynolds number increased by
increasing the particle size (0.1 - 0.3%) concentration and flow rate. The average temperature of
nanofluid decreased by increasing the particles size(0.3%). The circular tube flow containing
water-Fe3O4 nanofluid to increasing particle size to developed by heat transfer coefficient.

0.6%Nanoparticls:

Fig 5.5: (0.6%) nanaofluids

It was observed that 0.6% of nanofluids showed highest heat transfer(3.046e+003) characteristics
than that of the base fluid (water). The effect of heat transfer volume concentrations and
Reynolds number,to increases nanoparticls size (0.6%) with the rise of the Reynolds number as

58
well as the volume concentration heat transfer characteristics of nanoparticles. In the several of
nanofluids in inside circular tube in the flow of water in different application point.

5.2 ANALYSIS OF Fe3O4 NANOFLUIDS IN WATER WITH NUSSELT NUMBER:

The below figures shows the contours of Nusselt number along the length of the tube for
various volume fractions of nano fluids of 0.02%, 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.6%. From the analysis it has
been observed that the 0.6% of nanofluids showed highest heat transfer characteristics than that
of the base fluid (water). This increase in Nusselt number was due to the increase in particle size
of the fluid.

Fig 5.6: Pure water Fig 5.7: (0.02%) nanofluids

The above figures are contours of Nusselt number along the length of the tube for various
volume fractions of nano fluids of 0.02% and without nanofluids(only water) are average heat
transfer coefficient and Nusselt number increased by increasing the particle size (0 - 0.02%)

59
nanofluids concentration and flow rate. The average temperature of nanofluid decreased by
increasing the particles size(0.02%). The circular tube flow containing water-Fe 3O4 nanofluid to
increasing particle size to developed by heat transfer coefficient.

0.1% NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.8: (0.1%) Nanaofluids

The effect of heat transfer volume concentrations and Nusselt number,to increases nanoparticls
size (0.1%) with the rise of the Nusselt number as well as the volume concentration heat transfer
characteristics of 3.152e+001 and with 0.1% of nanoparticles.

0.3% NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.9: (0.3%) nanofluids

60
The above figure is average heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number increased by increasing
the particle size (0.1 - 0.3%) concentration and flow rate. The average temperature of nanofluid
decreased by increasing the particles size(0.3%). The circular tube flow containing water-Fe 3O4
nanofluid to increasing particle size to developed by heat transfer coefficient is 3.352e+001.

0.6% NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.10: (0.6%) nanofluids

From the analysis it has been observed that the 0.6% of nanofluids showed highest heat transfer
characteristics than that of the base fluid (water). This increase in Nusselt number was due to the
increase in particle size of the fluid. The maximum Nusselt number was found to be 39.04 for
0.6% Volume fraction of nano fluid and minimum of 33.18 for pure water and heat transfer

61
characteristics is 3.612e+001 in the circular tube flow of nanofluids with Fe 3o4 nanoparticls in the
fluid is gradually, which enhances the wall shear stress and wall heat transfer coefficient.

5.3 ANALYSIS OF Fe3O4 NANO FLUIDS IN WATER WITH FRICTION FACTOR:

The below figure shows the variation of frictional factor of the tube with nanofluids blend
of different composition, The frictional factor of the fluid was increased with the increase in
volume fration of nanofluids, various volume fractions of nano fluids of 0.02%, 0.1% ,0.3% and
0.6%.

Fig 5.11: Pure water Fig 5.12: (0.02%) nanofluids

The above figures are contours of frictional factor along the length of the tube for various
volume fractions of nano fluids of 0.02% and without nanofluids(only water) there is no any
change volume frictional factor, an average heat transfer coefficient and frictional factor

62
increased 1.304e-002 by increasing the particle size (0 - 0.02%) nanofluids concentration and flow
rate. The average temperature of nanofluid decreased by increasing the particles size(0.02%).
The circular tube flow containing water-Fe3O4 nanofluid to increasing particle size to developed
by the fluid is gradually, which enhances the wall shear stress and heat transfer coefficient of
friction factor.
0.1% NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.13: (0.1%) nanofluid

Above figure is the effect of volume concentrations friction factor and heat transfer to increases
nanoparticls size (0.1%) with the rise of the friction factor as well as the volume concentration
heat transfer characteristics is 1.347e-002 and wit 0.1% of nanoparticles.

0.3% NANOFLUIDS:

63
 Fig 5.14: (0.3 %) nanofluid
The above figure friction factor is increased by(0.1-0.3%) nanoparticles size concentration and
flow rate of heat transfer coefficient,the average temperature of nanofluids decreased by
increasing the particles size(0.3%). The circular tube flow containing water-Fe 3O4 nanofluid to
increasing particle size to developed by heat transfer coefficient is 1.388e-002.

0.6% NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.15: (0.6 %) nanofluids

The above figure shows maximum frictional factor was found to be142 for 0.3% and 147 for
0.6% Nanofluid with water, This increase in frictional factor is due to increase in particle size of
the fluid is gradually, which enhances the wall shear stress and thus the friction between surface
and the fluid ,is to increasing the volume of frictionfactor and heat enhacement of coefficient is
1.396e-002
64
5.4 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FRICTION FACTOR AND REYNOLDS
NUMBER WITH Fe3O4 NANOFLUIDS IN WATER:

PURE WATER:

Fig 5.1: Comparison of Reynolds number and Friction factor graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation results for
Reynolds Number (Re) and Frictional factor (f) along X and Y axis respectively, It was observed
that the frictional factor was decreasing with the increase in Reynolds number of the fluid,the

65
maching point of friction factor is 0.0315 at Reynolds number (Re)>11000 and friction factor is
0.04 at Reynoldsnumber (Re)<3000.

0.02% NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.2: Comparison of Reynolds number and Friction factor graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation results for
Reynolds Number (Re) and Frictional factor (f) along X and Y axis respectively for 0.02%
volume fraction of nano fluid, the frictional factor was decreasing with the increase in Reynolds
number of the fluid as it was observed for pure water, but the minimum frictional factor was
about 0.026 at Reynolds number (Re)> 20000 for 0.02% Nanofluid.

0.1% NANOFLUIDS:

66
 Fig 5.3: Comparison of Reynolds number and Friction factor graph
With the increase in volume fraction of the nanofluid the frictional factor was decreasing with
the increase in Reynolds number and this was the trend observed in experimental results of 0.1%
nanofluids with friction factor is 0.038 at Reynolds number (Re)>5000.
0.3%NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.4: Comparison of Reynolds number and Friction factor graph

67
The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation for frictional factor
with respect to Reynolds number for 0.3% of nanofluid by volume, the frictional factor was
observed to be decrease to 0.045value of 0.04 friction factor at (Re)<5000 between matching
point of experimental and CFD simulation for frictional factor with respect to Reynolds number,
for 0.3% of nanofluid by volume 0.027 at Reynolds number of 12000 is increasing the CFD
simulation values.

0.6% NANOFLUIDS:

68
 Fig 5.5: Comparison of Reynolds number and Friction factor graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental values slowly gradually decreased by
(up to 0.05 -0.03) and CFD simulation varying values matching points for frictional factor values
is 0.036 ,0.035 and 0.034 by volume decreases with respect to (0.6%) of nanofluid with the
Reynolds number (Re)<11000 to17000 values increased.

5.5 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE REYNOLDS NUMBER AND NUSSELT NUMBER

WITH Fe3O4 NANOFLUIDS IN WATER:

69
 In the graph, it is seen that the local Nusselt number is larger for nanofluids throughout the
tube. This is mainly due to the thermal dispersion in the flow. Thermal dispersion results in a higher
effective thermal conductivity at the center of the tube which Nusselt number becomes higher when
compared to the flow of pure water, also shows that increasing particle volume fraction increases
Nusselt number. This is due to the fact that the effect of thermal dispersion becomes more
pronounced with increasing particle volume fraction.
It should be noted that the fully developed Fe 3O4 nanofluid with water, Nusselt number values are
also higher than pure water case.

PURE WATER:

Fig 5.6: Comparison of Reynolds number and Nusselt number graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation for Nusselt Number
with respect to Reynolds number for pure water, the difference in the results was very much
negligible and hence CFD analysis can predict flow behavior accurately.

0.02% NANOFLUIDS:

70
 Fig 5.7: Comparison of Reynolds number and Nusselt number graph
The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation for Nusselt Number
with respect to Reynolds number on Y and X axis respectively increasing the particle volume
fraction for 0.02% Nanofluids.

0.1%NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.8: Comparison of Reynolds number and Nusselt number graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation for Nusselt Number
with respect to Reynolds number on Y and X axis gradually increasing the particle volume
fraction for 0.1% Nanofluids.

71
0.3%NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.9: Comparison of Reynolds number and Nusselt number graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation for Nusselt Number
with respect to Reynolds number on Y and X axis gradually increasing the particle volume
fraction values(Nu:25-180 and Re:2000-20000) for 0.3% Nanofluid. This is mainly due to the
thermal dispersion in the flow. Thermal dispersion results in a higher effective thermal
conductivity at the center of the tube which Nusselt number becomes higher when compared to
the flow of pure water and 0.3% nanofluids.

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0.6%NANOFLUIDS:

Fig 5.10: Comparison of Reynolds number and Nusselt number graph

The above graph shows the comparison of experimental and CFD simulation for Nusselt
Number with respect to Reynolds number on Y and X axis gradually increasing the particle
volume fraction values(Nu:25 - 200 and Re:2000 - 22000) for 0.6% Nanofluid. This is mainly
due to the thermal dispersion in the flow. Thermal dispersion results in a higher effective thermal
conductivity at the center of the tube which Nusselt number becomes higher when compared to
the flow of pure water and 0.6% nanofluids. Associated values for different particle volume
fractions of the Fe3O4-water nanofluid are presented in above figures. It is seen that increasing
particle volume fraction increases the fully developed Nusselt number.

CONCLUSIONS
73
 In this project, the heat transfer coefficient in the developed region of pipe flow
containing Fe3O4-water nanofluid during the constant heat flux was simulated using CFD. The
focal point of investigation was to evaluate the effect of particle volume concentration on
convective heattransfer characteristics in the developed region of the tube flow containing
water-Fe3O4nanofluid. It was observed that 0.6% of nanofluids showed highest heat transfer
characteristics than that of the base fluid (water).
The average heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number increased by increasing the particle
concentration and flow rate. The average temperature of nanofluid decreased by increasing the
particles size.
In this work the hydrodynamics and thermal behavior of circular pipe were studied. Pure water
and its nanofluids (Fe3O4) were considered in pipe channel. A steady state computational fluid
dynamics (CFD) models was simulated by ANSYS Fluent 13.0 here. The effect of Reynolds
number and Nusselt number on the flow behavior of the pipe was studied.

A numerical study of single phase fluid flow in a pipe was discussed. Water is used s a base fluid
and its nanofluids are used as fluid medium. Key conclusion of this chapter can be summarized
as follows.
The computational results successfully validated the analytical data for circular pipe
channel.
Heat transfer coefficient is constant throughout the circular channel due to its fully
developed conditions
As the concentration of nanoparticle increases heat transfer coefficient also increases,
with the increase in Nusselt number
Wall temperature increase within the flow direction of circular channel at very low Re
simulation of Single Phase Fluid Flow in a Circular channel
Wall temperature has negligible variation for higher Reynolds number.

SCOPE OF THE FUTURE WORK

74
 In the present thesis Fe3o4 is used with the base fluid, it can be assisted by using other
nanofluids such as Al2o3 or Cuo.
The analysis can be extended for flow through radiator tubes and heat exchanger
tubes instead considering single tube.
Sedimentation deposits of nanofluids should be studied
Analysis can be done for different volume fractions of nanofluids which are not
considered in the present thesis

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