Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 62 (2015) 141150

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Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/etfs

Experimental study of heat transfer and friction factor of Al2O3 nanouid

in U-tube heat exchanger with helical tape inserts
P.V. Durga Prasad a,, A.V.S.S.K.S. Gupta b, M. Sreeramulu b, L. Syam Sundar c, M.K. Singh c,
Antonio C.M. Sousa c
a
b
c

Department of Mechanical Engineering, D. R. K. Institute of Science and Technology, Bowrampet, Hyderabad, India
Department of Mechanical Engineering, J. N. T. U. College of Engineering, Kukatpally, Hyderabad, India
Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA-UA), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 29 June 2014
Received in revised form 6 December 2014
Accepted 7 December 2014
Available online 16 December 2014
Keywords:
Heat transfer enhancement
Swirl ow devices
Helical tape insert
Nanouid

a b s t r a c t
Turbulent forced convection heat transfer and friction of Al2O3water nanouid owing through a concentric tube U-bend heat exchanger with and without helical tape inserts in the inner tube were studied
experimentally. The experiments were conducted in the Reynolds number range from 3000 to 30,000,
volume concentrations of 0.01%, 0.03% and helical tape inserts of p/d = 5, 10, 15 and 20. The results indicate that an increase in Reynolds number and Prandtl number yields to an increase in the average Nusselt
number, and augmentation of thermal conductivity in the nanouid contributes to heat transfer enhancement. The Nusselt number of entire pipes for 0.03% concentrations of nanouid with helical tape inserts
of p/d = 5 shows an enhancement of 32.91%, as compared to water. The friction factor for the entire inner
tube for 0.03% concentration of nanouid with helical tape inserts of p/d = 5 has increased by 1.38-times,
as compared to water; in general and consistent with theory, the pressure drop in the inner tube
increases with an increase in nanoparticle volume concentration and aspect ratio of the inserts. The
empirical correlations for the Nusselt number and friction factor are obtained as functions of the Reynolds number, Prandtl number, volume concentration and aspect ratio.
2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Heat transfer characteristics of conventional uids is a primary
obstacle in making effective and compact heat transfer equipments. Regularly used heat transfer uids such as water, ethylene
glycol, propylene glycol and engine oil have relatively low thermal
conductivities, when compared to the thermal conductivity of solids. Heat transfer of the working uid can be improved by increasing the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of the uids
can be enhanced by dispersing nanosize solid particles in the uids
for better heat transfer characteristics. The pioneering work of Choi
[1], who successfully dispersed nanometer sized particles in uids,
commonly known as nanouids observed higher thermal conductivity enhancement which led to a wide range of opportunity in
heat transfer design. In the thermal design of industries an important factor to be considered is the heat transfer coefcient-for a
xed heat rate, an increasing heat transfer coefcient yields
decreasing heat transfer areas and, consequently, a reduction in

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: pvdurgap@gmail.com (P.V. Durga Prasad).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermusci.2014.12.006
0894-1777/ 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

capital costs. Pak and Cho [2] performed experiments on convective heat transfer of two types of nanouids i.e. c-Al2O3 and TiO2
dispersed in water, under turbulent ow conditions. Heris et al.
[3] investigated the convective heat transfer of CuO and Al2O3/
water based nanouids under laminar ow conditions through
an annular copper tube. Fotukian and Esfahany [4] measured turbulent convective heat transfer and pressure drop of Al2O3/water
nanouid in a circular tube and noted that a small addition of
nanoparticles to the base uid yield a remarkable heat transfer
augmentation. Hwang et al. [5] measured convective heat transfer
coefcient and pressure drop of Al2O3/water nanouid owing in a
uniformly heated circular tube under fully developed laminar ow
conditions and obtained heat transfer enhancement of 8% at 0.3%
volume concentration. Yu et al. [6] obtained experimental heat
transfer data for 45% ethylene glycol and 55% water based Al2O3
nanouid and observed heat transfer enhancement of 57% and
106% for 1.0% and 2.0% volume concentrations, respectively, at a
Reynolds number of 2000. Hojjat et al. [7] conducted comprehensive heat transfer experiments for Al2O3, TiO2 and CuO nanouids
and observed heat transfer enhancements of 17.9%, 15.7%, and
17.6%, respectively, for 1.0% volume concentration, and 68%, 67%,
and 71%, respectively, for 1.5% volume concentration. Nguyen

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Nomenclature
Cp
d
f
h
havg
k
L
_
m
Nu
Pr
Q
Re
T
t
v

specic heat, J/kg K

inner diameter of the tube, m
friction factor
heat transfer coefcient, W/m2 K
average heat transfer coefcient, W/m2 K
thermal conductivity, W/m K
length of the tube, m
mass ow rate, kg/s
Nusselt number, hD/k
Prandtl number, lC/k
heat ow, W
_ pDl
Reynolds number, 4m=
temperature, C
thickness of the tape, m
velocity, m/s

et al. [8] performed experiments for Al2O3/water nanouid in radiator type heat exchanger and observed 40% heat transfer enhancement for a volume concentration of 6.8%. Wen and Ding [9]
conducted Al2O3/water nanouid heat transfer experiments under
constant wall heat ux for laminar ow conditions. They reported
an increase in the nanouid heat transfer coefcient with the Reynolds number and nanoparticles concentration, particularly in the
entrance region. Peyghambarzadeh et al. [10] obtained data with
the objective of determining the convective heat transfer of
Al2O3/water nanouid owing in an automobile radiator and
observed heat transfer enhancement up to 45% as compared to
pure water. Heris et al. [11] observed heat transfer enhancement
of Al2O3/water nanouid owing in a tube under laminar ow conditions for constant wall temperature boundary condition. Lai et al.
[12] studied the ow behaviour of Al2O3 nanouids in a stainless
steel test tube, subjected to constant wall heat ux and for Reynolds numbers less than 270 and observed Nusselt number
enhancement of 8% for a particle concentration of 1.0%. Jung
et al. [13] observed convective heat transfer enhancement of 32%
for 1.8% volume concentration of Al2O3 nanouid. Ho et al. [14]
obtained heat transfer enhancement of 51% for 2.0% volume concentration of Al2O3 nanouid. These researchers also observed
marked heat transfer enhancement between laminar and turbulent
ow conditions.
A number of experimental studies have been reported to investigate the effects of various inserts for the ow of nanouid in a
tube. Eiasma-ard et al. [15] experimentally investigated the convective heat transfer and friction factor in a double pipe heat exchanger
by inserting full length tape, spaced twisted tape, forward and backward arrangement of louvered strips, helical screw tape with and
without core rod and developed the correlations for practical applications. Eiamsa-ard et al. [16] also studied the inuences of peripherally-cut twisted tape insert on heat transfer and thermal
performance in laminar and turbulent tube ows and reported that
the peripherally-cut twisted tape offer higher heat transfer rate,
friction factor compared to the typical twisted tape. Sivashanmugam and Suresh [17] conducted experimental investigation on heat
transfer and friction factor of circular tube tted with full-length
helical screw inserts of different twist ratio, and increasing and
decreasing order of twist using water as the test uid and also
reported that the heat transfer coefcient increases with the twist
ratio and friction factor also increases with the twist ratio. Naik
and Sundar [18] have done experimental study using helical
tape inserts in transition ow of low volume concentration

Greek symbols
d
uncertainty
Dp
pressure drop
u
volume concentration of nanoparticles, %
l
dynamic viscosity, kg/m2 s
q
density, kg/m3
Subscripts
b
bulk temperature
Exp
experimental
i
inlet
o
outlet
Reg
regression
w
wall temperature

CuO-propylene glycol nanouid and reported considerable enhancement of convective heat transfer compared to ow with
water. The applicability of nanouids in solar energy and entropy
generation of nanouids has been explained Mahian et al. [19,20]
in their review paper. Esfe et al. [21] has been explained by heat
transfer characteristics and pressure drop of COOH-functionalized
DWCNTs/water nanouid in turbulent ow at low concentrations
and obtained heat transfer enhancement compared to its base uid.
In the present work both active and passive method of heat
transfer enhancement techniques were used, namely: (i) by modifying the test section itself and (ii) by placing turbulent promoters
in the ow path. To achieve this purpose, the test section used in
the investigated in a double pipe heat exchanger with U-bend.
The experiments of heat transfer, friction and thermal performance
were conducted in the particle concentrations of 0.01, 0.03 and in
the Reynolds number range from 3000 to 30,000. The analysis is
extended for nanouid ow in a tube with helical tape inserts of
p/d = 5, 10, 15 and 20. The experimental data is used to develop
correlations for the Nusselt number and friction factor.
2. Experimental section
2.1. Preparation of nanouids
The nanouids were prepared by dispersing Al2O3 nanoparticles
in distilled water. The nanoparticles were purchased from Sigma
Aldrich Chemicals, USA [22] and the thermal properties of water
and the physical properties of Al2O3 nanoparticles were reported
in Table 1. Preparation of stable nanouids are very important to
avoid sedimentation of the particles in the base uid a problem
that occurs with micro-size particles; to this purpose there available various methods, among others, addition of a surfactant, a stabilizer, or a surface activator, or ultrasonic vibration. In the present
work the addition of a surfactant was preferred due to its simplicity and effectiveness. Selection of the appropriate surfactant is critical to obtain long-term stable nanouids; the best results were
obtained with sodium dodecyl benzene sulphate (SDBS) surfactant.
The weight of SDBS surfactant used is nearly equal to 1/10th of
weight of nanoparticles for a particular concentration; surfactant
was prepared by mixing with water and then stirring by using a
high speed stirrer.

1
 100 %
100=um qp =qw 1

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Table 1
Thermophysical properties of Al2O3 nanoparticles and base uid.

Purity (%)

q (kg/m3)

Particle/base uid

Diameter (nm)

Al2O3
Distilled watera

<50 nm
99
3970
q = 1001.67  0.10408T  0.0033T2
2
Cp = 4192  0.70975T + 0.00956T
l = 1.445  106  2.525  108T + 1.475  1010T2
k = 0.55815 + 0.00222T  1.025  105T2

Surface area to mass, (m2/g)

C (J/kg K)

k (W/m K)

29

525

17.65

All temperatures are in degrees Celsius.

Fig. 1. Preparation of bulk quantity of Al2O3 nanouid.

Fig. 2b. Photograph of an experimental setup.

The quantity of nanoparticles required for a known volume concentration was estimated from Eq. (1) [2] and mixed with base
uid (water) and then sonicated continuously by 0using an ultrasonic processor (Hielscher, Germany) for at least 60 min; no particle sedimentation was observed for a period of 45 days. The stable
nanouid and bulk nanouid preparation is shown in Fig. 1.
Where (qp) and (qw) are the densities of the particles and water,
respectively, and (/) and (/m) are the volume and mass concentrations (%) of the dispersed uid, respectively.

2.2. Experimental apparatus and procedure

The schematic representation of the experimental setup is
depicted in Fig. 2a, along with its photograph in Fig. 2b; it consists
of a test section, data logger, personal computer, ow meter,
receiving tank, chiller, hot uid tank, pump, bypass valve arrangement and u-tube manometer. The test section consists of a U-bend

Fig. 2a. Schematic representation of experimental setup.

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double pipe heat exchanger; the inner tube is made of chromium

steel and its diameter is 0.019 m, and the annulus tube is made
of cast iron and its diameter is 0.05 m. The total length of the inner
tube is 5 m and the bend is equidistant from both ends at a distance of 2.2 m; its radius is 0.160 m. The inner tube is concentric
to the annulus tube and fully enclosed by it. The hot uid is
pumped through the annular region and the water/nanouid ows
through the inner tube by using a pump. The mass ow rates for
both the hot uid and the water/nanouid are controlled with
by-pass valve arrangements. Two ow meters (MAS Technologies
Ltd., India) were used to measure the mass ow rate of cold uid
and hot uid. Throughout the experiments the mass ow rate of
hot uid is kept constant (0.033 kg/s) and the mass ow rate of
nanouid is varied from 0.033 kg/s to 0.26 kg/s.
The test section is divided into three regions; (i) inner region (ii)
bend region (iii) outer region as depicted in Fig. 2c. The heat transfer coefcients for the inner and outer regions are calculated; the
surface area related to the bend region is relatively small compared
to the surface areas of the inner and outer regions; therefore, the
heat transfer in the bend region can be neglected with no signicant loss of accuracy. The outside surface of the annulus tube is
wounded with asbestos rope insulation to minimize the heat loss
from the test section to atmosphere. In order to measure the temperatures of the uids, a total of eight K-type thermocouples were
used, in which four are located at the inner region of the heat
exchanger and four at the outer region of the heat exchanger. Thermocouple needles are connected to the data acquisition system
and the thermocouple readings are recorded in the computer for
further processing. The thermocouples are calibrated (0.1 C)
before placement in the test section. The aspect ratio (l/d = 354, l:
length; d: diameter) of the test section is sufciently high to guarantee hydro-dynamically developed ow. The receiving and hot
uid tanks both have the capacity of 50 l and they are made of
stainless steel. The nanouid, which runs in a closed loop, before
entering the test section passes through a chiller to maintain the
inlet temperature constant. The procedure proposed by Beckwith
et al. [23] is used to determine the uncertainty associated with
the
evaluation
of
the
Nusselt
number:
q
2
2
DNu=Nu Dh=h Dk=k ; for the present study, the uncertainty is 1.5%.
The pressure drop across the inner tube of the test section was
measured by placing a U-tube manometer between both ends of
the tube. To achieve this purpose, 4-mm holes drilled at both ends

of the inner tube are connected using exible tubing to the U-tube
manometer; its uid is carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and the equivalent height is recorded as a function of the mass ow rate. For
reaching the steady state of the system 2 h time is required and
once the system reached to steady state, the readings of eight thermocouples were recorded and used for heat transfer calculations.
The uncertainty of friction factor [23] is determined using the folq
lowing relation: Df =f Dp=p2 Dq=q2 D2v =v 2 ; for the
present study the value of the uncertainty is 1.3%. The experimental setup was calibrated with water as the working uid prior to
using the nanouid with different concentrations of Al2O3. The
tube is cleaned with pure water between the experiments conducted with the nanouid. The thermophysical properties of the
nanouid were estimated at bulk mean temperature. The convective heat transfer coefcient was estimated based on the Newtons
law of cooling by considering logarithmic-mean temperature difference of the hot uid and nanouid.
2.3. Helical tape with central core rod
The helical tape inserts were shown in Fig. 2d and those are
made by winding uniformly aluminium strip of 6 mm width over
aluminium rod of 5 mm diameter with a length of 2000 mm. The
aluminium strip is tightly wound on the aluminium rod with
pitches of 90, 180, 255 and 340 mm. Experimental parameters
and its operating range is shown in Table 2.
3. Data analysis
3.1. Thermophysical properties of nanouids
The thermo-physical properties (density, specic heat, viscosity
and thermal conductivity) of the nanouid were calculated as a
function of nanoparticle volume concentration together with properties of base uid and nanoparticles. The density of nanouid was
evaluated using the general formula for the mixture:

qnf /qp 1  /qbf

C p nf /C p p 1  /C p bf

These equations have been found appropriate for nanouids

through experimental validation by Pak and Cho [2]. The thermal
conductivity was calculated from Maxwell model [24] as shown

Fig. 2c. Details of test section.

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For uid ows in a concentric tube heat exchanger, an overall

heat transfer coefcient (U) is calculated from:

Q_ av g UAi DTLMTD

where Ai = pdiL

in Eq. (4) which is recommended for homogeneous and low volume concentration liquidsolid suspensions with randomly dispersed, uniformly sized and non interacting spherical particles.



kp 2kbf 2/kp  kbf
kp 2kbf  /kp  kbf

Viscosity of nanouids was calculated via the general Einsteins

formula [25]:

lnf lbf 1 2:5/

T 8  T 1  T 7  T 2


1
ln TT 87 T
T 2

10

Outer region ) DTLMTD

T 5  T 4  T 6  T 3


4
ln TT 56 T
T 3

11

Entire region ) DTLMTD

T 8  T 1  T 5  T 4


1
ln TT 85 T
T 4

12

In the experiments, the tube-wall temperature was not measured directly. Heat transfer coefcient (hi) was determined from
the overall heat transfer coefcient as shown below:

Fig. 2d. Different helical tape inserts with central core.

knf kbf

Inner region ) DTLMTD

where (l) is the viscosity and the subscripts (p), (bf) and (nf) refer to
particle, base uid and nanouid, respectively.

1 1 Ai lndo  di
Ai

Rf
U hi
2pkL
Ao ho

13

When the last three terms on the right-hand side of Eq. (13) are
kept constant, Eq. (13) can be re-written as proposed in [26]:

1 1
B
U hi

14

The heat transfer coefcient is related to Reynolds number as:

hi C Rem

15

Substitute Eq. (15) into Eq. (14) yields

1
1

B A Rem B
U C Rem

3.2. Heat transfer

16

The heat absorbed by nanouid/water and heat lost by hot

water can be expressed as:

Eq. (16) implies that the plot between 1/U and Rem is a straight
line with its slope of A and intercept at B in Y-axis (1/U). Rearranging Eqs. (15) and (16), yields

_ c C pc  T c;out  T c;in
Q_ c m
_
_ h C ph  T h;in  T h;out
Qh m

hi

6
7

According to the experimental results, the heat supplied by the

hot uid is found to be 35% higher than the heat absorbed by the
cold uid at thermal equilibrium due to convection and radiation
heat losses from the test section to surroundings. The average
value of heat transfer rates supplied by hot uid and absorbed cold
uid is therefore taken for further analysis.

Q_ h Q_ c
Q_ av g
2

1
1=U  B

17

The average Nusselt number based on the inner diameter of the

tube, was then evaluated by

Nu

hi  di
k

18

The Reynolds number is based on the ow rate at the inlet of

the tube.


Renf

qv di
l


19
nf

Table 2
Experimental parameters and operating ranges.
Conditions

Heat transfer

Pressure drop

Reynolds number, Re
Inlet water temperature (C)
Outlet water temperature (C)
Inlet nanouid temperature (C)
Outlet nanouid temperature (C)
Ratio of inlet mean temperature of water to hot uid temperature
Ratio of inlet mean temperature of nanouid to hot uid temperature
Average temperature of water (C)
Average temperature of nanouid (C)
Prandtl number, Pr
Twist ratio (p/d)
Mass ow rate (kg/s)

300030,000
27 0.5
42.41 (p/d = 0), 49.45 (p/d = 5)
27 0.5
46.51 (p/d = 0), 54.34 (p/d = 5)
0.476 (p/d = 0), 0.522 (p/d = 5)
0.496 (p/d = 0), 0.548 (p/d = 5)
35.70 (p/d = 0), 39.22 (p/d = 5)
37.25 (p/d = 0), 41.17 (p/d = 5)
5.126.54
5, 10, 15 and 20
0.0330.266 (p/d = 0)
0.00850.0697 (p/d = 5)
0.01780.1402 (p/d = 20)

300030,000
27 0.5
28 0.5
27 0.5
28 0.5

28
28
5.83
5, 10, 15 and 20
0.0330.266 (p/d = 0)
0.00850.0697 (p/d = 5)
0.01780.1402 (p/d = 20)

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The Prandtl number is calculated based on the specic heat (Eq.

(3)), thermal conductivity (Eq. (4)) and viscosity (Eq. (5)) of
nanouids.

Prnf

lC P
k


20
nf

The available Nusselt number correlations for single phase uid

are given below:
Gnielinski [27] equation


f
Re  1000Pr
2
Nu
 0:5
Pr 2=3  1
1:07 12:7 2f
2

f 1:58lnRe  3:82 ;

2300 < Re < 106 ;

0:5 < Pr < 2000

21

The available Nusselt number correlations for Al2O3 nanouid is

given below:
Pak and Cho [2] equation

Nu 0:021 Re0:8 Pr0:5

0 6 u 6 3:0%;

6:54 6 Pr 6 12:33;

104 6 Re 6 105

22

3.3. Friction factor

Friction factor (f) can be calculated from

DP
L=Dqv 2 =2

23

The available friction factor correlations for single phase uid

are given below:
Blasius [28] equation

f 0:3164 Re0:25
3000 < Re < 105

24

3.4. Thermal performance

The thermal performance factor is dened as the ratio of the
enhanced convective heat transfer coefcient (hE) to the nonenhanced one (hNE) at the same pumping power.

!1=3

,
f nf ;insert
Nunf ;insert
g
Nustraight
f straight

counter ow direction between hot and nanouids either in the

two tubes of U-bend heat exchanger. Heat transfer coefcient in
the inner region and outer region is estimated based on the logarithmic mean temperature distribution. Eq. (18) is used to estimate
the experimental Nusselt number and the obtained data for water
is shown in Fig. 3. It is observed that Nusselt number in the outer
region is high compared to inner region. It understands that, the
base uid rst enter into inner region of the heat exchanger and
gain some amount of heat and enter into outer region of the heat
exchanger and further gain some more amount of heat from hot
uid. The Nusselt number enhancement for water is 1.68% at
Re = 3000 and 5% at Re = 30,000 between inner and outer regions.
This is an example of active method of heat transfer augmentation.
The same nature of active method of heat transfer augmentation
has been observed by Prabhanjan et al. [29] and Kumar et al. [30].
Nanouids of different concentrations were introduced into the
heat exchanger and the experimental Nusselt number is estimated
from Eq. (18) by incorporating logarithmic mean temperature difference between hot and nanouid for inner region and outer
region. The obtained experimental Nusselt number of nanouid
is shown in Fig. 4 between inner and outer regions. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity, viscosity of nanouid are used
for the estimation of experimental Nusselt number. With the use of
nanouid in a heat exchanger, the Nusselt number for outer region
is more compared to inner region. A maximum of 3.3% and 8.7%
enhancement was observed for 0.03% nanouid in the Reynolds
number range from 3000 to 30,000, respectively between inner
and outer regions. It is noticed that, the effective uid mixing
and extra turbulence is possible in the outer region compared to
inner region, because of the bend provided in the heat exchanger.
It is observed that, Nusselt number increases with the increase of
Reynolds number and volume concentration. In the similar conditions, the Nusselt number of nanouid increase more compared to
base uid (water), because of the presence of nanoparticles. At
0.03% volume concentration, the enhancement in Nusselt number
is 4.1% and 8.07% in the Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000,
respectively. The enhancement is more in high Reynolds number
compare to low Reynolds number because of the effective mixing
of uid in fully developed ow condition. Choi and Zhang [31]
observed the similar active method of heat transfer augmentation
for Al2O3 nanouid in a tube with return bend numerically.

25

where Nustraight, fstraight, Nunf and fnf are the Nusselt numbers and
friction factors for enhanced and non-enhanced conditions,
respectively.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Nusselt number for Al2O3 nanouid
The experimental setup is initially validated with water as
working uid and the experimental Nusselt number at the entire
region of the tube was estimated from Eq. (18) and compared with
the values from Eq. (21) of Gnielinski [27] and obtained a maximum of 3% between experimental and theoretical Nusselt number. The test section is divided into three regions (Fig. 2c) such as
inner, outer and bend region. Since the bend region is very small
and the ow rate of working uid is very high the heat transfer
coefcient in the bend region is neglected. Also observed experimentally, there is no much variation in temperature especially in
the bend region. The test section is well designed to maintain

Fig. 3. Experimental Nusselt number of water at various regions of the inner pipe.

P.V. Durga Prasad et al. / Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 62 (2015) 141150

Fig. 4. Experimental Nusselt number of Al2O3 nanouid at various regions of the

inner pipe.

147

Fig. 5b. Experimental Nusselt number of 0.01% nanouid in a tube with helical tape
inserts.

4.2. Nusselt number for Al2O3 nanouid with helical inserts

Further experiments were conducted with nanouid in a tube
together with helical tape inserts. Eq. (18) is used to estimate the
experimental Nusselt number and Al2O3 nanouid with 0.01%
and 0.03% volume concentrations. Fig. 5a depicts the Nusselt number of water ow in a tube with different twist ratios of helical tape
inserts. It is observed that Nusselt number increases with increase
of Reynolds number and decrease of helical tape pitch. The experimental Nusselt number of 0.01% and 0.03% nanouid ow in a
tube with helical tape inserts is shown in Figs. 5b and 5c. Compared to the same concentration of 0.03% nanouid in a tube with
p/d = 20 the Nusselt number enhancement is 9.08% and 16.84% in
the Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000, respectively. In the similar manner, compared to same concentration of 0.03% nanouid in
a tube with p/d = 5, the Nusselt number enhancement is 14.79%
and 23% in the Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000, respectively.
Compared to water in a tube and 0.03% nanouid in a tube with p/
d = 20 the Nusselt number enhancement is 13.56% and 26.26% in

Fig. 5c. Experimental Nusselt number of 0.03% nanouid in a tube with helical tape
inserts.

the Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000, respectively. Similarly,

compared to water in a tube and 0.03% nanouid in a tube with
p/d = 5 the Nusselt number enhancement is 19.51% and 32.91% in
the Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000, respectively. Using wire
helical tape inserts can intensify disturbance of nanoparticles by
inducing secondary ow. Therefore, the Nusselt number effect of
nanouids in helical tape inserted tubes is more noticeable.
The experimental Nusselt number of water, nanouid, nanouid with helical tape inserts (120 data points) are t into general
equation with an average deviation of 3.9% and standard deviation
of 4.79% and Eq. (26) is given below and comparison with experimental data is shown in Fig. 8.


p0:02
NuReg 0:096 Re0:8 Pr 0:4 1 /2:86 1
d
3000 < Re < 30; 000; 0 < / < 0:03%; 0 < p=d < 20
Fig. 5a. Experimental Nusselt number of water in a tube with helical tape inserts.

26

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Fig. 6. Experimental friction factor of different nanouids estimated at entire

region.

Fig. 7b. Experimental friction factor of 0.01% nanouid in a tube with helical tape
inserts.

4.3. Friction factor for Al2O3 nanouid

Since the uid ow is fully developed turbulent ow, the friction factor of inlet and outlet pipe is neglected. The friction factor
of entire pipes is considered for analysis. Friction factor experiments for water were conducted initially and the values are estimated from Eq. (23). The experimental friction factor of water is
in comparison with the data obtained from Eq. (24) of Blasius
[28] and found to be a maximum of 2.5% deviation. Experimental
friction factor of different volume concentrations of Al2O3 nanouid for entire region was estimated from Eq. (23) and the data
was indicted in Fig. 6. The friction factor of Al2O3 nanouid
increases with increase of Reynolds number and particle concentration. The viscosity of Al2O3 nanouid is also one of the major
inuencing parameter for friction factor enhancement. The friction
factor of the nanouid owing through a tube is purely depends on
the ow rate and viscosity. The friction factor enhancement for
0.03% volume concentration of Al2O3 nanouid is about 5.8% and
7.6% at a Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000, respectively compared to water under same ow conditions.

Fig. 7a. Experimental friction factor of water in a tube with helical tape inserts.

Fig. 7c. Experimental friction factor of 0.03% nanouid in a tube with helical tape
inserts.

Fig. 8. Comparison of proposed Nusselt number regression equation with the

experimental data.

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149

gradually decrease with the rise of Reynolds number for the p/d
ratios of 5, 10, 15 and 20. On the other hand, the overall enhancement ratio increased slightly as the rise of Reynolds number for the
case of p/d = 5. In addition, the maximum value of the overall
enhancement ratio is 1.13.
5. Conclusions

Fig. 9. Comparison of proposed friction factor regression equation with the

experimental data.

The present work focuses on the heat transfer augmentation of

different concentrations of nanouid in a double pipe U-bend heat
exchanger. In this analysis two methods of heat transfer augmentations were considered and they are active method and passive
method. In order to achieve active method of heat transfer augmentation, bend is provided in the test tube at a distance of
2.5 m. In order to achieve passive method of heat transfer augmentation nanouid (nanoparticles dispersed in base uid) as well as
helical tape inserts were used. In the active method there is 5% heat
transfer enhancement for water owing in a heat exchanger with
bend at a Reynolds number of 30,000. Similarly, in the active
method, there is 8.7% heat transfer augmentation for 0.03% nanouid owing in a heat exchanger with bend at a Reynolds number
of 30,000. In the passive method, 0.03% nanouid with helical tape
insert of p=d 5 the Nusselt number enhancement is 19.51% and
32.91% in the Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000 compared to
water in a heat exchanger without inserts. Similarly, friction factor
enhancement 0.03% nanouid with helical tape insert of p/d = 5 is
26% and 38% at a Reynolds number of 3000 and 30,000 compared
to water in a heat exchanger without any inserts. The overall
enhancement ratio for nanouids with helical tape inserts is more
than unity for all ow rates.
References

Fig. 10. Thermal performance factor for 0.03% nanouid in a tube with helical tape
inserts.

4.4. Friction factor for Al2O3 nanouid with helical tape inserts
The experimental friction factor for water and Al2O3 nanouid
with 0.01% and 0.03% volume concentrations in a tube with helical
tape inserts are estimated from Eq. (23) and the data is shown in
Fig. 7ac. It observed that for 0.03% volume concentration with
p/d = 5 is 19.3% and 29% higher in the Reynolds number range
3000 and 30,000 compared with the base uid. The experimental
friction factor of water, nanouid, nanouid with helical tape
inserts (120 data points) are t into general equation with an average deviation of 6.54% and standard deviation of 7.763% and Eq.
(27) is given below and comparison with Eq. (27) is shown in Fig. 9.

p0:04
f Reg 0:284Re0:24 1 /2:46 1
d
3000 < Re < 30;000; 0 < / < 0:03%; 5:12 < Pr < 6:54; 0 < p=d < 20

27

4.5. Thermal performance factor

Fig. 10 depicts the thermal performance factor of nanouid ow
in a double pipe heat exchanger with different twist ratios of helical tape inserts. The thermal performance factor tended to

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