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Experimental Studies of f-CNT Nanofluids in a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger

  • Research Article-Chemical Engineering
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Abstract

Hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of long-term stable nanofluids are very crucial for their industrial applications. Also utilization of coils is beneficial for industries as it provides a high rate of heat transfer and is compact in size too. So, the main focus of this study is to investigate the hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of long-term stable f-CNT nanofluids when flowing inside a coil-based heat exchanger. f-CNT nanofluids were prepared by utilizing modified two-step method. To analyze the effect of different parameters on hydrodynamic and convective heat transfer characteristics, f-CNT concentration, \( {\varvec{D}}_{{\mathbf{c}}}\), and Re were varied from 0 to 0.048 vol%, 95 to 175 mm, and 2300 to 9500, respectively. According to results, f-CNT concentration, \( {\varvec{D}}_{{\mathbf{c}}}\), and Re substantially influenced the hydrodynamic and heat transfer characteristics of f-CNT nanofluids. It was found that improvement in h (152%) was much higher than the enhancement in friction factor (49%) when f-CNT nanofluid at 0.048 vol% was flowing through the coil of 95 mm diameter. Based on the heat transfer and hydrodynamic data, performance index was evaluated. The maximum performance index was calculated ⁓ 2.5, suggesting that the utilization of helical coils and f-CNT nanofluids is an excellent choice in industrial applications. Based on the experimental data, empirical correlations have been proposed to calculate the friction factor and Nusselt number for f-CNT nanofluids when flowing inside coils of different diameters and at different f-CNT concentrations. The proposed correlations explain the present experimental data within ± 15% and ± 20%, for friction factor and Nu, respectively.

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Abbreviations

A, A i :

Inside heat transfer area, m2

A o :

Outside heat transfer area, m2

CNT:

Carbon nanotubes

\(C_{{p,\;{\text{f - CNT}}\;{\text{nanofluid}}}}\) :

Specific heat of f-CNT nanofluid, J/g.°C

\(C_{{p,\;{\text{Water}}}}\) :

Specific heat of water, J/g.°C

\(C_{{p,\;{\text{f - CNT}}}}\) :

Specific heat of f-CNT, J/g.°C

C :

Constant

\(D_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Diameter of helical coil, mm

\(d_{{\text{t}}}\) :

Inside diameter of the tube, mm

\(d_{{\text{t}}} /D_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Curvature ratio, dimensionless

\(d_{{\text{o}}}\) :

Outside diameter of the tube, mm

f-CNT:

–COOH functionalized carbon nanotubes

\(f_{{\text{s}}}\), \(f_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Friction factor of straight tube and helical coil, dimensionless

\(f_{{{\text{c }}\left( {{\text{cal}}} \right)}}\) :

Calculated friction factor of helical coil, dimensionless

\(f_{{{\text{c}} \left( {{\text{exp}}} \right)}}\) :

Experimental friction factor of helical coil, dimensionless

h :

Convective heat transfer coefficient of water or CNT nanofluids, W/m2.K

\(h_{{\text{i}}}\) :

Tube side convective heat transfer coefficient, W/m2.K

\(h_{{\text{o}}}\) :

Bath or shell side convective heat transfer coefficient, W/m2.K

hr:

Hour

ID:

Inside diameter of CNT, nm

k w :

Thermal conductivity of copper tube, W/mK

K :

Thermal conductivity of water or CNT nanofluids, W/mK

\(k_{{{\text{CNT}}\;{\text{nanofluid}}}}\) :

Thermal conductivity, W/m.K

\(k_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Thermal conductivity of fluid (water), W/m.K

\(L_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Length of the helical coil, m

L :

Length of CNT, µm

\(\dot{m}_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Mass flow rate of coolant, kg/s

n :

Exponent

N :

Number of turns in helical coil

Nu :

Nusselt number

Pr :

Prandtl number

P :

Helical coil pitch, m

ΔP :

Pressure drop, N/m2 or Pa

\({\text{d}}P/L_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Pressure drop per unit length, Pa/m

\(\dot{Q}_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Heat flow of coolant, W

Re :

Reynolds number

\( {Re}_{{\text{c}}}\) :

Critical Reynolds number, dimensionless

\(\Delta T_{{{\text{lmtd}}}}\) :

Logarithmic mean temperature difference, °C

\(T_{{{\text{bath}}}}\) :

Hot water bath temperature, °C

\(T_{{{\text{out}}}}\) :

Outlet temperature, °C

\(T_{{{\text{in}}}}\) :

Inlet temperature, °C

\(T_{{\text{b, in}}}\) :

Bulk fluid temperature at inlet, °C

\(T_{{\text{b, in}}}\) :

Bulk fluid temperature at outlet, °C

\(U_{i}\) :

Overall heat transfer coefficient, W/m2.K

\(\dot{V}\) :

Volumetric flow rate, m3/sec

\(v,v_{i}\) :

Velocity of water or CNT nanofluids, m/s

\(\rho_{{{\text{water}}}}\) :

Density of water

\(\rho_{{\text{f - CNT}}}\) :

Density of f-CNT

\(\rho_{{{\text{f - CNT}}\;{\text{nanofluid}}}}\) :

Density of f-CNT nanofluid

\(\varphi\) :

Volumetric fraction, vol%

µ :

Viscosity of water or CNT nanofluids, kg/m.s

\(\mu_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Viscosity of base fluid (water), kg/m.s

\(\mu_{{{\text{nf}}}}\) :

Viscosity of nanofluid, kg/m.s

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Acknowledgements

This study is financially supported by GGSIP University, New Delhi, India, under FRGS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USCT, GGSIPU, Dwarka, India

    Babita Sharma & S. K. Sharma

  2. USBAS, GGSIPU, Dwarka, India

    Shipra Mital Gupta

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Sharma, B., Sharma, S.K. & Gupta, S.M. Experimental Studies of f-CNT Nanofluids in a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger. Arab J Sci Eng 47, 5821–5840 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-021-05573-z

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