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Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids

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A special issue of Fluids (ISSN 2311-5521).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 August 2016) | Viewed by 40718

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Phuoc X. Tran

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Material Science, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA
Interests: combustion studies; granular materials studies; laser ablation in liquid; laser-induced spark ignition; nanofluid studies; nanoparticles/nanomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Mehrdad Massoudi

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, USA
2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890, USA
Interests: multi-component flows; non-newtonian fluids; granular materials; heat transfer; mathematical modelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cooling and lubricating are important in many industries, especially in transportation and energy production, where due high-speed, high-power, and high-efficiency engines and turbines, and higher thermal loads require more advanced applications in cooling and lubrication. To control the heat dissipation nanofluids are often used where nanosized particles in low volumetric fractions are added to a fluid in order to improve the rheological, mechanical, optical, and thermal properties. Since the ability to manage transport properties leads to greater energy efficiency, smaller and lighter thermal systems, lower operating costs, and a cleaner environment, nanofluid research could lead to a major breakthrough in numerous engineering applications, such as coolants for automobiles, supercomputers, energy productions, and deep oil and gas recovery. This Special Issue addresses the recent advances in fundamental understanding of the physics of nanofluids, especially the flow and heat transfer in industrial applications. Both experimental and theoretical studies are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Phuoc X. Tran
Prof. Dr. Mehrdad Massoudi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fluids is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Convection heat transfer
Conduction
Nanofluid thermal and transport properties
Synthesis
Mathematical modeling
Stability
Nanofluids as fuel
Nano coal water slurry
Rheology of nanofluids
Ignition and combustion of nanofluid fuel

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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2343 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laser-Induced Motion of a Nanofluid in a Micro-Channel

by Tran X. Phuoc, Mehrdad Massoudi and Ping Wang

Fluids 2016, 1(4), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids1040035 - 26 Oct 2016

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3958

Abstract

Since a photon carries both energy and momentum, when it interacts with a particle, photon-particle energy and momentum transfer occur, resulting in mechanical forces acting on the particle. In this paper we report our theoretical study on the use of a laser beam to manipulate and control the flow of nanofluids in a micro-channel. We calculate the velocity induced by a laser beam for TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, Al₂O₃ MgO, and SiO₂ nanoparticles with water as the base fluid. The particle diameter is 50 nm and the laser beam is a 4 W continuous beam of 6 mm diameter and 532 nm wavelength. The results indicate that, as the particle moves, a significant volume of the surrounding water (up to about 8 particle diameters away from the particle surface) is disturbed and dragged along with the moving particle. The results also show the effect of the particle refractive index on the particle velocity and the induced volume flow rate. The velocity and the volume flowrate induced by the TiO₂ nanoparticle (refractive index n = 2.82) are about 0.552 mm/s and 9.86 fL, respectively, while those induced by SiO₂ (n = 1.46) are only about 7.569 μm/s and 0.135, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids)

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2385 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Boundary Layer Flow and Heat Transfer of FMWCNT/Water Nanofluids over a Flat Plate

by Mohammad Reza Safaei, Goodarz Ahmadi, Mohammad Shahab Goodarzi, Amin Kamyar and S. N. Kazi

Fluids 2016, 1(4), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids1040031 - 26 Sep 2016

Cited by 55 | Viewed by 7019

Abstract

In the present study, the heat transfer and flow of water/FMWCNT (functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube) nanofluids over a flat plate was investigated using a finite volume method. Simulations were performed for velocity ranging from 0.17 mm/s to 1.7 mm/s under laminar regime and nanotube concentrations up to 0.2%. The 2-D governing equations were solved using an in-house FORTRAN code. For a specific free stream velocity, the presented results showed that increasing the weight percentage of nanotubes increased the Nusselt number. However, an increase in the solid weight percentage had a negligible effect on the wall shear stress. The results also indicated that increasing the free stream velocity for all cases leads to thinner boundary layer thickness, while increasing the FMWCNT concentration causes an increase in the boundary layer thickness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids)

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3319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in Fully Developed Turbulent Flows of Graphene Nanoplatelets–Silver/Water Nanofluids

by Mohammad Reza Safaei, Goodarz Ahmadi, Mohammad Shahab Goodarzi, Mostafa Safdari Shadloo, Hamid Reza Goshayeshi and Mahidzal Dahari

Fluids 2016, 1(3), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids1030020 - 29 Jun 2016

Cited by 83 | Viewed by 8162

Abstract

This study examined the heat transfer coefficient, friction loss, pressure drop and pumping power needed for the use of nanofluid coolants made of a mixture of suspension of graphene nanoplatelets–silver in water in a rectangular duct. A series of calculations were performed for the coolant volume flow rate in the range of 5000 ≤ Re ≤ 15,000 under a fully developed turbulent flow regime and different nanosheet concentrations up to 0.1 weight percent. The thermo-physical properties of the nanofluids were extracted from the recent experimental work of Yarmand et al. (Graphene nanoplatelets-silver hybrid nanofluids for enhanced heat transfer. Energy Convers. Manag. 2015, 100, 419–428). The presented results indicated that the heat transfer characteristics of the nanofluid coolants improved with the increase in nanosheet concentration as well as the increase in the coolant Reynolds number. However, there was a penalty in the duct pressure drop and an increase in the required pumping power. In summary, the closed conduit heat transfer performance can be improved with the use of appropriate nanofluids based on graphene nanoplatelets–silver/water as a working fluid. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids)

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4434 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling the Viscosity of Concentrated Nanoemulsions and Nanosuspensions

by Rajinder Pal

Fluids 2016, 1(2), 11; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids1020011 - 12 Apr 2016

Cited by 43 | Viewed by 7126

Abstract

The modeling of the viscous behavior of nanoemulsions and nanosuspensions is discussed. The influences of the viscosity ratio, solvation and aggregation of nanodroplets and nanoparticles on the relative viscosity of nanofluids are considered. The relative viscosity of a nanofluid is strongly affected by solvation of nanoparticles. The scaling of the relative viscosity of nanoemulsions is successfully carried out using the volume fraction of the solvated nanodroplets. Four sets of experimental relative viscosity data of nanoemulsions consisting of different diameter nanodroplets (27.5 nm–205 nm) all collapse on a single unique curve when the data are scaled on the basis of the volume fraction of the solvated nanodroplets. A similar scaling is achieved using six sets of experimental relative viscosity data on nanosuspensions consisting of different diameter nanoparticles (29 nm–146 nm). A new modified version of the Oldroyd model is proposed to describe and predict the viscosity of nanofluids. The model takes into consideration the influences of the viscosity ratio, solvation and aggregation of nanoparticles/nanodroplets. The same model is applicable to both nanoemulsions and nanosuspensions as it includes the effect of the viscosity ratio (ratio of droplet viscosity to matrix viscosity) on the relative viscosity of nanofluids. More experimental work is needed on nanoemulsions to explore the effect of the viscosity ratio, especially at low values of the viscosity ratio. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids)

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10858 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Volume Averaging Theory for Convective Flow in a Nanofluid Saturated Metal Foam

by Wenhao Zhang, Wenhao Li, Chen Yang and Akira Nakayama

Fluids 2016, 1(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids1010008 - 08 Mar 2016

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4658

Abstract

A rigorous derivation of the macroscopic governing equations for convective flow in a nanofluid saturated metal foam has been conducted using the volume averaging theory originally developed for analyzing heat and fluid flow in porous media. The nanoparticle conservation equation at a pore scale based on the Buongiorno model has been integrated over a local control volume together with the equations of continuity, Navier–Stokes and energy conservation. The unknown terms resulting from the volume averaging procedure were modeled mathematically to obtain a closed set of volume averaged versions of the governing equations. This set of the volume averaged governing equations was analytically solved to find the velocity, temperature and nanoparticle distributions and heat transfer characteristics resulting from both thermal and nanoparticle mechanical dispersions in a nanofluid saturated metal foam. Eventually, the analysis revealed that an unconventionally high level of the heat transfer rate (about 80 times as high as the case of base fluid convection without a metal foam) can be attained by combination of metal foam and nanofluid. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids)

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Review

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4277 KiB

Open AccessReview

Mathematical Modeling and Computer Simulations of Nanofluid Flow with Applications to Cooling and Lubrication

by Clement Kleinstreuer and Zelin Xu

Fluids 2016, 1(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids1020016 - 27 May 2016

Cited by 43 | Viewed by 8654

Abstract

There is a growing range of applications of nanoparticle-suspension flows with or without heat transfer. Examples include enhanced cooling of microsystems with low volume-fractions of nanoparticles in liquids, improved tribological performance with lubricants seeded with nanoparticles, optimal nanodrug delivery in the pulmonary as well as the vascular systems to combat cancer, and spray-coating using plasma-jets with seeded nanoparticles. In order to implement theories that explain experimental evidence of nanoparticle-fluid dynamics and predict numerically optimum system performance, a description of the basic math modeling and computer simulation aspects is necessary. Thus, in this review article, the focus is on the fundamental understanding of the physics of nanofluid flow and heat transfer with summaries of microchannel-flow applications related to cooling and lubrication. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fundamental Studies in Flow and Heat Transfer in Nanofluids)

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