Experimental investigation and simulation of flow boiling of nanofluids in different flow directions

In this work, the flow boiling of TiO2/water and Al2O3/water nanofluids was investigated experimentally and simulated with two phases. Experimental results were obtained in two directions and compared together. The volume fraction and heat transfer coefficient obtained from the vertical tube were compared with those obtained from the horizontal tube. The results showed that the contours of vapor volume fraction in horizontal tube are completely different from the vertical tube, which is due to the buoyancy effect. Moreover, the effect of nanoparticles on both flow directions was almost the same, while heat transfer coefficient was not the same in these flow directions. Based on the experimental result, presence of nanoparticles in the base fluid cannot increase the heat transfer coefficient.