Heat Transfer Enhancement of Different Channel Geometries Using Nanofluids and Porous Media

In this study, natural convection of heat transfer in various channel geometries with a constant surface area under laminar flow condition has been investigated numerically. Various hot surface temperatures (Th = 35-95 degrees C) have been applied on the surfaces of the channels to investigate four different geometries of annular channels (Circular (C), Square (S), Elliptic (E) and Airfoil (F)) on the heat transfer rate. Once the optimum geometry was exhibited, the effect of three nanofluids (Al2O3/water, CuO/water and SiO2/water) is investigated in the analysis and compared to pure water to enhance the convective heat transfer of the base fluid. Moreover, with these nanofluids, analysis has been performed for three different volume concentrations of nanoparticles of circle divide = 2%, 4% and 6% along with 0% (pure water). Porous foams (epsilon = 0.9 to 0.99) were used in addition to nanofluids to see if heat transfer could be improved. Results indicate that the heat transfer rate was greatly increased when the airfoil geometry was used, with a maximum and minimum increase in heat transfer coefficient of 60% and 46%, respectively. Also, higher nanoparticle of Al2O3 dispersion to the base fluid enhances the heat transfer rate by 15% compared to other nanofluids.