Performance of Nanofluids in Minichannel Heat Exchangers: Experimental and Computational Evaluations of Nanofluids

The first part of the book describes the thermal and fluid dynamic performance of aluminum oxide, copper oxide and silicon dioxide nanofluids in an automobile radiator via numerical scheme using the Effectiveness - Number of Transfer Unit method. The analyses show that a 1% volumetric concentration of nanoparticles can yield appreciable savings in the pumping power and a modest reduction in the surface area of the heat exchanger, on the basis of equal heat transfer, when compared with the base fluid. The second part of the book describes experimental and computational studies with nanofluids circulating in a minichannel plate heat exchanger (PHE). From the experimental data on the PHE, new correlations have been derived for the Nusselt number and friction factor. The computational analyses prove that for a dilute particle volumetric concentration of 1%, three different nanofluids exhibit improvements in performance over the base fluid by reducing the pumping power and surface area of the PHE.

Mr. DUSTIN R. RAY and Dr. DEBENDRA K. DAS:Mr. Ray is a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Prof. Das is the advisor of Mr. Ray and the past chairman of mechanical engineering department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.