Numerical investigation of Al2O3/water nanofluid laminar convective heat transfer through triangular ducts

Abstract

Abstract In this article, laminar flow-forced convective heat transfer of Al2O3/water nanofluid in a triangular duct under constant wall temperature condition is investigated numerically. In this investigation, the effects of parameters, such as nanoparticles diameter, concentration, and Reynolds number on the enhancement of nanofluids heat transfer is studied. Besides, the comparison between nanofluid and pure fluid heat transfer is achieved in this article. Sometimes, because of pressure drop limitations, the need for non-circular ducts arises in many heat transfer applications. The low heat transfer rate of non-circular ducts is one the limitations of these systems, and utilization of nanofluid instead of pure fluid because of its potential to increase heat transfer of system can compensate this problem. In this article, for considering the presence of nanoparticl: es, the dispersion model is used. Numerical results represent an enhancement of heat transfer of fluid associated with changing to the suspension of nanometer-sized particles in the triangular duct. The results of the present model indicate that the nanofluid Nusselt number increases with increasing concentration of nanoparticles and decreasing diameter. Also, the enhancement of the fluid heat transfer becomes better at high Re in laminar flow with the addition of nanoparticles.