The evaluation of the performance of the heat exchanger of a triple concentric tube configuration with ionic liquid (imidazolium) and MWCNT ionanofluid

Abstract

In this study, a triple concentric tube heat exchanger (TCTHE) was designed. It had three copper concentric tubes. Their thicknesses were 0.762 mm, 1.143 mm, and 1.27 mm. The diameters were 9.525 mm, 22.25 mm, and 34.925 mm, respectively. The tube’s length was 670 mm. The cooling medium used was the ionic-liquid (IL) 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumtetra-flouraborate [EMIM][BF4] and the ionanofluid (INF) prepared of 0.5% Multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in [EMIM][BF4], while oil forty stock was the hot fluid, to investigate TCTHE performance. The volumetric flow rate (VFR) of the cooling medium was 20-55 l/hr, with a 25-27 °C temperature (temp). VFR of the hot fluid was constant and equal 20 l/hr. The inlet oil temp was 50, 60, and 70 oC, respectively. The type of flow was countercurrent. The heat transfer was investigated by calculating different parameters for the cooling medium. There was an improvement in the Nusselt number (NU) of INF of 5% compared to the IL. A 75% increase in the friction factor of INF was found compared to that of IL. A 95% increase in the pressure drop was calculated in the inner tube using INF compared with that of IL. The overall heat transfer coefficient (U) was enhanced by 3% using INF in comparison with IL. Fi-nally, U showed some improvement, resulting in increased heat transfer. In conclusion, using the prepared INF lead to improve the heat transfer in the TCTHE.