Prediction of nanofluid convective heat transfer using the dispersion model

The laminar convective heat transfer behavior of nanofluids through a straight tube is numerically investigated in this paper. A new mechanism which is proposed to explain considerable enhancement of nanofluids heat transfer is dispersion that intends to consider the irregular movements of the nanoparticles. Applying this additional mechanism leads to promising results in comparison with the predictions by traditional homogenous model with effective properties. To validate the dispersion model results, the experimental results for three kinds of nanofluids are used. Also the effect of nanoparticle size on nanofluid heat transfer is examined. The obtained results show good agreement between the theoretical and experimental results. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. Ail rights reserved.