Heat Transfer Enhancement in Laminar Pipe Flow Using Al2O3–Water Nanofluid and Twisted Tape Inserts

Abstract

Abstract In this study, an attempt has been made to carry out a numerical investigation using water-based Al2O3 nanofluid, flowing through a circular tube under constant inlet temperature and constant heat flux conditions in the laminar flow regime. The water-based Al2O3 nanofluid is used in a circular plain tube first, and then, this process is repeated for the same tube fitted with twisted tape inserts of twist ratio 1.85 at Reynolds numbers ranging from 680 to 2030. For the numerical analysis, ANSYS FLUENT is used to solve three-dimensional conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy. The simulated results indicate that when twisted tape is used, heat transfer rates increase significantly with the use of nanofluid. In the case of nanofluid with the plain tube, only 10–24% enhancement in heat transfer rate is noted. On the other hand, almost 27–45% increase in heat transfer is observed compared to that with only water when twisted tape is inserted into it. Also, the friction factor increases as the nanoparticle volume fraction increases. However, the effect on the heat transfer rate is more significant than that on the friction factor. The best thermohydraulic performance factor achieved is 2.1 using nanofluids with a 5% volume fraction of the nanoparticles at a high Reynolds number when twisted tape is also inserted.