Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of a plate heat exchanger using water based Al2O3 nanofluid for 30° and 60° chevron angles

Abstract

Nanofluid is a new class of engineering fluid that has good heat transfer characteristics which is essential to increase the heat transfer performance in various engineering applications such as heat exchangers and cooling of electronics. In this study experiments were conducted to compare the heat transfer performance and pressure drop characteristics in a plate heat exchanger (PHE) for 30 degrees and 60 degrees chevron angles using water based Al2O3 nanofluid at the concentrations from 0 to 0.5vol.% for different Reynolds numbers. The thermo-physical properties has been determined and presented in this paper. At 0.5vol% concentration the maximum heat transfer coefficient the overall heat transfer coefficient and the heat transfer rate for 60 degrees chevron angle have attained a higher percentage of 15.14% 7.8% and 15.4% respectively in comparison with the base fluid. Consequently when the volume concentration or Reynolds number increases the heat transfer coefficient and the overall heat transfer coefficient as well as the heat transfer rate of the PHE (Plate Heat Exchangers) increases respectively. Similarly the pressure drop increases with the volume concentration. 60 degrees chevron angle showed better performance in comparison with 30 degrees chevron angle.