Numerical Study of Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Performance of Nanofluids in Flat Tube Heat Exchanger

This paper comprises a survey of heat transfer performance of flat tube heat exchanger by using nanofluids namely alumina and copper nanofluids. In this research Numerical studied the heat transfer rate and fluid flow performance of nanofluid inlet temperature (40–70°C), Reynolds number (12000–30000), particle concentration (0.4–0.8 vol.%) and mass flow rate (0.15–0.55 kg/s) and flow characteristics of water-based alumina and copper nanofluids in a flat tube heat exchanger. The specific heat capacity, viscosity, density, and thermal conductivity were measured experimentally. The rate of heat transfer of fluids increased with increasing the particle volume concentration with increase in fluid inlet temperature, particle volume concentration, and Reynolds number. The heat transfer coefficient also enhanced (up to 16%). The pressure drop increased with increasing the particle volume concentration and Reynolds number, while it decreased slightly with increasing the fluid inlet temperature.