Effect of the wavy tank wall on the characteristics of mechanical agitation in the presence of a Al2O3-water nanofluid

Abstract

The enhancement of the heat transfer in the stirred tank is a much-desired objective for accelerating certain physical and chemical parameters in the industrial field. From this basis, an attempt is made in this paper to investigate the effect of the wavy wall of a stirred tank on the hydrodynamic, thermal, and energetic behavior of an Al2O3-Water nanofluid. The stirred tank has a flat bottom, and it is equipped with an anchor stirrer. A hot temperature has been imposed on the tank wall, and the agitator has been assumed adiabatic, where the nanofluid has a cold temperature at the initial instant. The laminar flow was governed by the equations that describe the forced convection, and it was solved by the finite element method. The numerical simulation results showed a considerable acceleration in the heat transfer inside the stirred tank by increasing the amplitude of the wavy wall and increasing the nanoparticle concentration. However, there has been a remarkable increase in the stirring power number. This contribution aims to increase thermal efficiency, especially in the chemical and petrochemical fields, to obtain a better yield of certain chemical reactions and mass transfer depending on the heat.