Research on the characteristics of fluid flow and heat transfer of Al2O3-water nanofluid in an L-shaped chaotic channel
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
ISSN: 0961-5539
Article publication date: 26 January 2022
Issue publication date: 20 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effects of different volume fractions of Al2O3-water nanofluid on flow and heat transfer under chaotic convection conditions in an L-shaped channel, comparing the difference of numerical simulation results between single-phase and Eulerian–Lagrangian models.
Design/methodology/approach
The correctness and accuracy of the two calculation models were verified by comparing with the experimental values in literature. An experimental model of the L-shaped channel was processed, and the laser Doppler velocimeter was used to measure the velocities of special positions in the channel. The simulated values were compared with the experimental results, and the correctness and accuracy of the simulation method were verified.
Findings
The calculated results using the two models are basically consistent. Under the condition of Reynolds number is 500, when the volume fractions of nanofluid range from 1% to 4%, the heat transfer coefficients simulated by single-phase model are 1.49%–25.80% higher than that of pure water, and simulated by Eulerian–Lagrangian model are 3.19%–27.48% higher than that of pure water. Meanwhile, the friction coefficients are barely affected. Besides, there are obvious secondary flow caused by lateral oscillations on the cross sections, and the appearance of secondary flow makes the temperature distributions uniform on the cross section and takes more heat away, thus the heat transfer performance is enhanced.
Originality/value
The originality of this work is to reveal the differences between single-phase and two-phase numerical simulations under different flow states. The combination of chaotic convection and nanofluid indicates the direction for further improving the heat transfer threshold.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51776190), the Key Science and Technology Research Project of Henan Province (No. 212102310577), the College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Henan Province (No. 202110459169).
Conflict of interest: No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, and manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. The authors would like to declare that the work described was original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed.
Citation
Wang, D., Wei, Y., Pan, K., Li, J. and Jiao, M. (2022), "Research on the characteristics of fluid flow and heat transfer of Al2O3-water nanofluid in an L-shaped chaotic channel", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 32 No. 9, pp. 3083-3103. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-10-2021-0651
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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