Experimental investigation of hydronic air coil performance with nanofluids

The objective of this study is to experimentally characterize and compare the performance of a nanofluid comprised of Al2O3 nanoparticles with 1% volumetric concentration in a 60% ethylene glycol/40% water (60% EG) solution to that of 60%EG in a liquid to air heat exchanger. The test bed used in the experiment was built to simulate a small air handling system typical of that used in HVAC applications. Previously established empirical correlations for thermophysical properties of fluids were used to determine the values of various parameters (e.g. Nusselt number, Reynolds number, and Prandtl number). The testing shows that the 1% Al2O3 nanofluid generates a marginally higher rate of heat transfer than the 60% EG under certain conditions. At Re = 3000, the nanofluid produced a rate of heat transfer that was 2% higher than that of the 60% EG. The empirically determined Nusselt number associated with the convection in the coil tubing for the nanofluid follows the behavior predicted by the Dittus-Boelter correlation (R2 = 0.97), while the empirically determined Nusselt number for the 60% EG follows the Petukhov correlation similarly (R2 = 0.97). Pressure loss and hydraulic power for the nanofluid were higher than for the base fluid over the range of conditions tested. The exergy destroyed in the heat exchange and fluid flow processes were between 9% and 12% lower for the nanofluid than the base fluid over the tested range of Reynolds numbers.