Recovery of drop in heat transfer rate for a rotating system by nanofluids

This paper simulates Al2O3-water nanofluid flow and forced convection around a rotating circular cylinder. The governing parameters are Reynolds number (1 <= Re <= 100), solid volume fraction of nanoparticles (0 <=phi <= 0.05) and non-dimensional rotation rate (0 <=alpha <= 3). The simulations are performed to study the effects of mentioned parameters on the heat transfer rate and fluid flow characteristics. The governing equations including the continuity, momentum, and energy equations are solved with a finite volume method. It is observed that the reduction of heat transfer with increase in rotation rate is in the vicinity of 6.9% and 32% for Re = 5 and 100, respectively at phi = 0.05. Furthermore, the augmentation of the heat transfer rate by adding the nanoparticles to the base fluid, water, is in the vicinity of 10.3% at Re = 100, phi = 0.05 and alpha = 3. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.