Experimental and CFD Heat Transfer Studies of Al2O3-Water Nanofluid in a Coiled Agitated Vessel Equipped with Propeller

This paper presents the heat transfer characteristics of Al2O3-water nanofluid in a coiled agitated vessel with propeller agitator. The experimental study was conducted using 0.10%, 0.20% and 0.30% volume concentration of Al2O3-water nanofluids. The results showed considerable enhancement of convective heat transfer using the nanofluids. The empirical correlations developed for Nusselt number in terms of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, viscosity ratio and volume concentration fit with the experimental data within ±10%. The heat transfer characteristics were also simulated using computational fluid dynamics using FLUENT software with the standard k-ɛ model and multiple reference frame were adopted. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predicted Nusselt number agrees well with the experimental value and the discrepancy is found to be less than ±8%.