Heat transfer enhancement and pumping power in confined radial flows using nanoparticle suspensions (nanofluids)

This paper presents a numerical investigation of heat transfer enhancement capabilities of coolants with suspended nanoparticles (Al2O3 dispersed in water) inside a confined impinging jet cooling device. Steady, laminar radial flow of a nanofluid in a axis-symmetric configuration with axial coolant injection has been considered. A single phase fluid approach was adopted to numerically investigate the behavior of nanofluids in the present application. Good agreement was found between numerical results and available experimental data. Results indicate that heat transfer enhancement is possible in this application using nanofluids. In general, it was noticed that the mean Nusselt number increases with particle volume fraction and Reynolds number and decreases with an increase in disk spacing. On the other hand, the important increase in associated pumping power may impose some limitations on the efficient use of this type of nanofluid in a radial flow configuration.