An experimental study on the performance of water-based CuO nanofluids in a plate heat exchanger

The fluids added nanoparticle known as nanofluids, are used in various heat transfer systems due to some ad-vantages they provide. The most prominent features are improvement in heat conduction and classical fluid is being replaced with working fluid in micro-channels, heating installations and various other areas where heat transfer is important. In the present study, the hydrodynamic and thermal performance of a plate heat exchanger in a modeled heating system with CuO nanofluid have been analyzed experimentally. The system consists of two basic parts as cooling water circuit and heating main circuit in which CuO nanofluid circulates. The experiments have been conducted at three different flow rate for the nanofluids with volume fractions of 0.27, 0.56, 0.81 and 1.1. The hydrodynamic parameters considered in the study are pumping power and pressure drop, while the thermal parameters are effectiveness of the heat exchanger, heat conduction coefficient and Nu number. The results of the study show that the plate heat exchanger takes the highest value of effectiveness 96% at phi = 0.81 in the plate heat exchanger. It has also been determined that the heat convection coefficient increased with the increase in nanopowder mixture ratio in accordance with the data in the literature. In addition, a new correlation for Nusselt number of Nu =11.3453 * Re0.199194 * Pr0.305504 * phi 0.00965827 has been proposed for CuO nanofluid including volume fraction (phi) as well as Reynolds and Prandtl numbers.

Automated summary

This study experimentally analyzed the hydrodynamic and thermal performance of a plate heat exchanger using CuO nanofluid in a modeled heating system, finding that nanofluids can effectively improve heat conduction and heat exchanger effectiveness. A new correlation equation for CuO nanofluid's thermal performance was proposed, considering volume fraction as well as Reynolds and Prandtl numbers.