Experimental and numerical investigation of flow and thermal characteristics of aluminum block exchanger using surface-modified and recycled nanofluids
International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow
ISSN: 0961-5539
Article publication date: 20 April 2023
Issue publication date: 22 June 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to numerically and experimentally survey the thermal efficiency of a block-type heat exchanger operated in different working conditions by using pure water and two nanofluids as heat transfer fluids.
Design/methodology/approach
An aluminum block-type heat exchanger integrated with Peltier thermoelectric element was designed and installed to operate in a cycle, and the thermal performance of the heat exchanger, heat transfer rate, Nusselt and heat transfer coefficient variations were examined at different bath water temperatures by using recycled nanofluids. New generation surface-modified Fe3O4@SiO2-mix-(CH2)3Cl@Imidazol/water nanofluid was used as heat transfer fluid in the cycle. In addition, CFD simulation was performed using ANSYS/Fluent to investigate the temperature distribution and fluid flow structure in the used heat exchanger.
Findings
Experiments were carried out by using numerical and experimental methods. In the experiments, the operating conditions such as flow rate, volume fraction of the nanofluid and water bath temperature were changed to find the effect of each parameter on the thermal efficiency. The Reynolds number varied depending on the test conditions, which was calculated in the range of approximately 100 < Re < 350. In addition, Nusselt number and heat transfer coefficient of test fluids were very close to each other. For 0.4% nanofluid, the maximum h value was obtained as 3837.1, when the Reynolds number was measured as 314.4.
Originality/value
In the scientific articles published in the field of heat exchangers operated by nanofluids, little attention has been paid to the stability of the nanofluids and sedimentation of particles in the base fluids. In addition, in most cases, experiments were implemented using an electrical resistance as a heat source. In this research, stable surface-modified nanofluids were used as heat transfer fluids, and it was found that the Peltier thermoelectric can be used as heat sources with acceptable efficiency in flat-type heat exchangers and even non-circular channels.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study has been supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK, Project No. 119N727) and University of Tabriz and Iran Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT, Project No. 99–24-800). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of this study.
Conflicts of Interest Statement: The authors of this manuscript have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements) or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.
Erratum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article “Experimental and numerical investigation of flow and thermal characteristics of aluminum block exchanger using surface-modified and recycled nanofluids” by Berrak Gülmüş, Burak Muratçobanoğlu, Emre Mandev and Faraz Afshari, published in International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-12-2022-0721, contained an error in figure 2 which meant the figure was not completely visible. This error was introduced during the production process and has now been corrected online. The publisher sincerely apologises for this error and for any confusion caused.
Citation
Gülmüş, B., Muratçobanoğlu, B., Mandev, E. and Afshari, F. (2023), "Experimental and numerical investigation of flow and thermal characteristics of aluminum block exchanger using surface-modified and recycled nanofluids", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 33 No. 8, pp. 2685-2709. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-12-2022-0721
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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