Experimental Study of Fully Developed Convection in a Copper Horizontal Tube With Uniform Heat Flux Using Nanofluids

The term of nanofluid refers to a solid-liquid mixture with a continuous phase which is a nanometer sized nanoparticle dispersed in conventional base fluids. Recent investigations on nanofluids indicate that the suspended nanoparticles markedly change the transport properties and heat transfer characteristics of the suspension. There are less published articles on deriving the forced convective heat transfer of nanofluids than articles on the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Fully developed turbulent flow and heat transfer of two different nanofluids (Al₂O₃ and TiO₂) in water flowing through a circular tube under constant heat flux condition have been experimentally studied. The results showed enhancement of convective heat transfer using the nanofluids. The Nusselt numbers of nanofluids were obtained for different nanoparticle concentrations as well as various Reynolds numbers. Experimental results emphasize the enhancement of heat transfer due to the nanoparticles presence in the fluid. Nusselt number increases by increasing the concentration of nanoparticles in nanofluid. And values of Nusselt number were calculated and these results have been introduced by experimental correlations for turbulent flow.