Experimental investigations on the flow of nanofluids through circular pipes

A fluid formed by suspending nanoscaled metallic or nonmetallic particles in base fluids is called a nanofluid. In this study an experimental system was designed and constructed to investigate the heat transfer properties of nanofluids when they flow through pipes. Experiments were performed for various flow features of the water-aluminum oxide nanofluid flow in a circular pipe. A correlation for Nusselt number in terms of Reynolds number and Prandtl number was developed. Results show that Nanofluids have better heat transfer properties than normal heat transfer fluids. The heat transfer capacity of the nanofluid increases with volume fraction. The Nusselt number correlation developed from this research was compared with others in the literature. It best represented the heat transfer properties of the nanofluid. Thus the Nusselt number correlation developed from this study can be used to find the heat transfer properties of a nanofluid flowing through a pipe in a turbulent flow.