Performance Evaluation of AI2O3/Water Nanofluid as Coolant in a Double-Tube Heat Exchanger Flowing under a Turbulent Flow Regime

Nanofluids are expected to be a promising coolant candidate in chemical processes for water waste remediation and heat transfer system size reduction. This paper focuses on the potential mass flowrate reduction in exchanger with a given heat exchange capacity using nanofluids. Al2O3 nanoparticles with diameters of 7 nm dispersed in water with volume concentrations up to 2% are selected as a coolant, and their performance in a horizontal double-tube counterflow heat exchanger under turbulent flow conditions is numerically studied. The results show that the flowrate of nanofluid coolant decreases with the increase of concentration of nanoparticles in the exchanger with a given heat exchange capacity. The mass flowrate of the nanofluid at a volume concentration of 2 vol.% is approximately 24.5% lower than that of pure water (base fluid) for given conditions. For the pressure drop, the results show that the pressure drop of nanofluid is slightly higher than water and increases with increase of volume concentrations. In addition, the reduction of wall temperature and heat transfer area is estimated.