Experimental Investigation of Oscillation Controlled Thermal Transport in Water-Based Nanofluids

The oscillatory flows are often in order to augment heat transfer rates in various processes. It is also well known fact that nanofluids provide significant enhancement in heat transfer at certain conditions. In this research, heat transfer in an oscillatory pipe flow of both water and water-alumina nanofluid were studied experimentally under low frequency regime flow conditions. The aim of the conducted research is parametric experimental investigation of the convective heat transfer in the oscillatory pipe flow. Firstly, the nanofluids were prepared and thermophysical properties weare measured. The experimental apparatus consist of a capillary pipe bundle connecting two reservoirs which are placed at the top and bottom side of the capillary pipe bundle. Upper reservoir contains the hot fluid while lower reservoir and capillary pipe bundle filled with cold fluid. The oscillatory flow in the pipe bundle is driven by the periodic vibrations of a surface mounted on the bottom end of the cold reservoir. The effects of the maximum displacement amplitude of the vibrations and volumetric concentration of nanoparticles on heat transfer were evaluated based on the measured temperature and acceleration data. It is found that heat transfer rate increases with increasing vibration displacement in the fluid.