ABSTRACT

Enhancing the thermal conductivity of the fluid by making a colloidal solution of nano metallic
particle has gained a lot of attention. Metallic particles are suspended in the liquid phase and has
a great impact on fluid properties such as enhancing of heat transfer, improvement in thermal
conductivity, increase in surface volume ratio, thermophoresis etc. Various parameters like base
fluid, nano particles material and it’s size, volume fraction, base fluid temperature, flow condition
are varied to get optimum heat transfer. Two approach has been taken to investigate the effects.
The first approach is the two-phase model, which enables a better understanding of both the fluid
and the solid phases role in the heat transfer process. The second approach is the single phase
model in which both the fluid phase and the particles are in thermal equilibrium state and flow
with the same local velocity. The present study is focused on the analysis of several important
parameters on the heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids within the enclosure along with
dispersion effect taken into account. Thermo-physical properties of the nanofluid are assumed to
be constant except for the density variation in the buoyancy force, which is based on the
Boussinesq approximation. The governing equations are solved using finite volume method with
alternating direct implicit approach.
It was found that the heat transfer enhancement, using nanofluids, is more dominated at low aspect
ratio. Results indicate that elongated particles provide better enhancement of the thermal
conductivity. The smaller in particle size higher will be the enhancement. Among all tested
nanoparticles cu nanoparticles gives highest heat transfer. By increasing Rayleigh number heat
transfer can also be increased. Heat transfer correlation of the average Nusselt number for various
Grashof numbers and volume fractions is also presented.
The application of nanofluid can be extended to heat pipes and micro-channels for higher heat
removal from smaller areas such as electronic circuits, MEMS applications.

REFERENCES
1. Buoyancy-driven heat transfer enhancement in a two-dimensional enclosure utilizing
nanofluids, Khalil Khanafer, Kambiz Vafai, Marilyn Lightstone, International Journal of
Heat and Mass Transfer 46 (2003) 3639–3653.
2. Review of convective heat transfer enhancement with nanofluids, Sadik Kakaç, Anchasa
Pramuanjaroenkij, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer (2009)
3. Enhancement of heat transfer using nanofluids—An overview, Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews (2009)
4. Numerical study of natural convection in partially heated rectangular enclosures filled with
nanofluids, Hakan F. Oztop, Eiyad Abu-Nada, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow
(2008).
DURGESH RANJAN
111ME09