Free convection heat transfer in nanofluids from vertical flat plates at uniform temperature is investigated theoretically. The main idea upon which the present work is based is that nanofluids behave more like single-phase fluids rather than like conventional solid–liquid mixtures. This assumption implies that all the convective heat transfer correlations available in the literature for single-phase flows can be extended to nanoparticle suspensions, provided that the thermophysical properties appearing in them are the nanofluid effective properties calculated at the reference temperature. In this connection, two empirical equations, based on a wide variety of experimental data reported in the literature, are used for the evaluation of the nanofluid effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity. Conversely, the other effective properties are computed by the traditional mixing theory. The heat transfer enhancement that derives from the dispersion of nanosized solid particles into the base liquid is calculated for different operating conditions, nanoparticle diameters, and combinations of solid and liquid phases. The fundamental result obtained is the existence of an optimal particle loading for maximum heat transfer. In particular, for any assigned combination of suspended nanoparticles and base liquid, it is found that the optimal volume fraction increases as the nanofluid average temperature increases, the nanoparticle size decreases, and the Rayleigh number of the base fluid decreases.
Skip Nav Destination
e-mail: massimo.corcione@uniroma1.it
Article navigation
Research Papers
Optimization of Free Convection Heat Transfer From Vertical Plates Using Nanofluids
Massimo Corcione,
e-mail: massimo.corcione@uniroma1.it
Massimo Corcione
Mem. ASME
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Marta Cianfrini,
Marta Cianfrini
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Emanuele Habib,
Emanuele Habib
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Alessandro Quintino
Alessandro Quintino
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Search for other works by this author on:
Massimo Corcione
Mem. ASME
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
e-mail: massimo.corcione@uniroma1.it
Marta Cianfrini
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Emanuele Habib
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
Alessandro Quintino
DIAEE Sezione Fisica Tecnica—Sapienza Università di Roma
, via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
J. Heat Transfer. Apr 2012, 134(4): 042501 (8 pages)
Published Online: February 15, 2012
Article history
Received:
January 12, 2011
Revised:
August 22, 2011
Online:
February 15, 2012
Published:
February 15, 2012
Citation
Corcione, M., Cianfrini, M., Habib, E., and Quintino, A. (February 15, 2012). "Optimization of Free Convection Heat Transfer From Vertical Plates Using Nanofluids." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. April 2012; 134(4): 042501. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4005108
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
Entropic Analysis of the Maximum Output Power of Thermoradiative Cells
J. Heat Mass Transfer
Molecular Dynamics Simulations in Nanoscale Heat Transfer: A Mini Review
J. Heat Mass Transfer
Related Articles
Effects of Variable Viscosity and Thermal Conductivity of CuO-Water Nanofluid on Heat Transfer Enhancement in Natural Convection: Mathematical Model and Simulation
J. Heat Transfer (May,2010)
Nanofluid Properties and Their Effects on Convective Heat Transfer in an Electronics Cooling Application
J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl (September,2009)
Commentary
J. Heat Transfer (August,2010)
Heat Transfer Augmentation of Aqueous Suspensions of Nanodiamonds in Turbulent Pipe Flow
J. Heat Transfer (April,2009)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Finite Element Solution of Natural Convection Flow of a Nanofluid along a Vertical Flat Plate with Streamwise Sinusoidal Surface Temperature
International Conference on Computer and Electrical Engineering 4th (ICCEE 2011)
Applications
Introduction to Finite Element, Boundary Element, and Meshless Methods: With Applications to Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow