Convective heat transfer of aqueous alumina nanosuspensions in a horizontal mini-channel

This work reports an experimental study of convective heat transfer of aqueous alumina nanofluids in a horizontal mini-channel under laminar flow condition 40 < Re < 1,000. The variation of local heat transfer coefficients, in both entrance and developed flow regimes, was obtained as a function of axial distance. The heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids was found to be dependent on not only nanoparticle concentration but also mass flow rate. Different to the behavior in conventional-sized channels, the major heat transfer coefficient enhancement is shown in the fully developed regime in the minichannel where up to 40% increase is observed. Discussions of the results suggest that apart from the need of a careful assessment of different thermo-physical properties of nanofluids, i.e., viscosity, specific heat and thermal conductivity, the heterogeneous nature of nanoparticle flow should be considered especially under high flow rate conditions.