Experimental study of Fe2O3/water and Fe2O3/ethylene glycol nanofluid heat transfer enhancement in a shell and tube heat exchanger

Heat transfer characteristics of Fe2O3/water and Fe2O3/EG nanofluids were measured in a shell and tube heat exchanger under laminar to turbulent flow condition. In the shell and tube heat exchanger, water and ethylene glycol-based Fe2O3 nanofluids with 0.02%, 0.04%, 0.06% and 0.08% volume fractions were used as working fluids for different flow rates of nanofluids. The effects of Reynold's number, volume concentration of suspended nanoparticles and different base fluids on the heat transfer characteristics were investigated. Based on the results, adding nanoparticles to the base fluid causes a significant enhancement of the heat transfer characteristics and thermal conductivity. This enhancement was investigated with regard to various factors; concentration of nanoparticles, types of base fluids, sonication time and temperature of fluids. In this paper, the effect of Fe2O3 nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity of base fluids like ethylene glycol and water was studied. The thermal conductivity measurement was made for different concentrations and temperatures. As the concentration of the nanoparticles increased, there was a significant enhancement in thermal conductivity and overall heat transfer due to more interaction between particles. It was also observed that there was an improvement in the thermal conductivity of the base fluid as the temperature increased. The measurements also showed that the pressure drop of nanofluid was higher than that of the base fluid in a turbulent flow regime. However, there was no significant increase in pressure drop at laminar flow.