Performance comparison of the plate heat exchanger using different nanofluids

An effort has been made to compare experimentally the heat transfer performances of various nanofluids. The heat transfer performance of the plate heat exchanger have been investigated using different nanofluids (CeO2, Al2O3, TiO2 and SiO2) for various volume flow rates and wide range of concentrations. Optimum concentrations for different nanofluids have been determined as well, which yields maximum heat transfer improvement over base fluid. Prior to the experiments, the required thermophysical properties of the nanofluids were measured. The performance has been discussed in terms of overall heat transfer coefficient ratio, heat transfer coefficient ratio, pressure drop ratio, pumping power ratio, effectiveness ratio and performance index ratio. Study showed that CeO2/water yields best performance (maximum performance index enhancement of 16%) with comparatively lower optimum concentration (0.75 vol.%) within studied nanofluids. (c) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.