A two-phase theoretical study of Al2O3–water nanofluid flow inside a concentric pipe

What is it about?

Convective heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of Al2O3–water nanofluid inside a concentric pipe with constant heat flux boundary conditions at the both walls is investigated theoretically. The employed model for nanofluid includes the two-phase modified Buongiorno model that fully accounts for the effects of nanoparticle volume fraction distribution.

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Why is it important?

Due to the nanoparticles migration in the fluid, the no-slip condition of the fluid–solid interface at the pipe walls is abandoned in favor of a slip condition which appropriately represents the non-equilibrium region near the interface. The results obtained indicated that the nanoparticles move from the wall with higher heating energy towards the wall with lower heating energy (along the temperature gradient) due to the thermophoretic force.