Simulation and experimental analysis of heat transfer characteristics in the plate type heat exchangers using TiO₂/water nanofluid

Abstract

Purpose The plate heat exchangers (PHE) with small size but large efficiency are compact types of heat exchangers formed by corrugated thin pressed plates, operating at higher pressures when compared to most other traditional exchangers. This paper aims to analyze heat transfer characteristics in the PHE experimentally and numerically. Design/methodology/approach Computational fluid dynamics analysis has been used to simulate the problem by using the ANSYS fluent 16 software. Also, the effect of using TiO2/water nanofluid as working fluid was investigated. TiO2/water nanofluid had 2% (Wt/Wt) nanoparticle content. To improve solubility of the TiO2 nanoparticles, Triton X-100 was added to the mixture. The results have been achieved in different working condition with changes in fluid flow rate and its temperature. Findings The obtained results showed that using TiO2/water nanofluid improved the overall heat transfer coefficient averagely as 6%, whereas maximum improvement in overall heat transfer coefficient was 10%. Also, theoretical and experimental results are in line with each other. Originality/value The most important feature which separates the present study from the literature is that nanofluid is prepared by using TiO2 nanoparticles in optimum size and mixing ratio with surfactant usage to prevent sedimentation and flocculation problems. This process also prevents particle accumulation that may occur inside the PHE. The main aim of the present study is to predict heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids in a plate heat exchanger. Therefore, it will be possible to analyze thermal performance of the nanofluids without any experiment.

Thermal Performance Improvement of the Heat Pipe by Employing Dolomite/Ethylene Glycol Nanofluid

“…), a base fluid in which nanoparticles are doped and a surface-active agent (surfactant) to prevent agglomeration of nanoparticles. It was observed in latest studies that nanofluids have been successfully employed as working fluid in various systems (Chen et al 2013, Ghanbarpour et al 2015, Kim and Bang 2015, Sözen et al 2016, Khanlari et al 2019, Baïri and Laraqi 2019, Ozdemir and Ergun 2019, Dagdevir et al 2019, Sözen et al 2019a, Sözen et al 2019b) more in particular in heat pipes (Huminic and Huminic 2013, Venkatachalapathy et al 2015, Tharayil et al 2015, Sözen et al 2018, Gürü et al 2019. To illustrate; Hassan et al (2015) analysed influence of accumulation on the heat pipe wick porosity following the alumina (Al2O3) nano fluid usage as the working medium.…”

Analyzing the Environmental Effects of Conventional and Condensing Combi Boilers Using Natural Gas

“…In the literature different methods were used to enhance the thermal performance of energy systems like combi boilers. Some researcher used nanofluid to improve thermal efficiency of energy systems like combi boilers and heat pipes [5][6][7][8]. Also, some researchers used turbulator in the heat exchanger with the aim of increasing thermal efficiency [9].…”

Heat transfer enhancement using hybrid nanofluids in spiral plate heat exchangers

“…With the advent of nanofluids in heat transfer applications, many researchers analyzed SPHE both numerically and experimentally using nanofluids as working medium and found improved thermal performance . The reason for the enhancement in the thermal performance can be attributed to nanoparticles thermal conductivity and volume fractions.…”

“…[14][15][16][17] With the advent of nanofluids in heat transfer applications, many researchers analyzed SPHE both numerically and experimentally using nanofluids as working medium and found improved thermal performance. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] The reason for the enhancement in the thermal performance can be attributed to nanoparticles thermal conductivity and volume fractions. This implies that under constant volume fraction and flow rates, enhanced thermal performance purely depends on the conductivity of nano constituents.…”