Applied Nanoscience

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-022-02425-6

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effect of graphene‑based nanofluid on heat transfer performance

of alternate elliptical axis oval tube heat exchanger
Dora Nagaraju1   · Abdul Razack Mohammad1

Received: 22 November 2021 / Accepted: 12 February 2022

© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2022

Abstract
The comparative heat transfer analysis of alternative elliptical axis oval tube (AEAOT) carrying graphene/water-based nano-
fluids at various volumetric concentrations and operating conditions has been done. The investigation pertains to Reynolds
number range, i.e., 100–2000 in AEAOT tube heat exchanger and the inlet temperature of nanofluid is varied from 40 to
70 °C. The outer pipe is allowed to flow water, inner pipe (AEAOT) carries nanofluid at different volumetric concentrations
(0.02%, 0.04%, 0.06%, 0.08%, and 0.1%), and heat exchanger is subjected to both parallel and counter flow arrangements.
The effect of pertinent parameters such as mass flow rate and fluid temperature on the performance of the AEAOT heat
exchanger has been studied through numerical investigations. The presence of alternate oval tube enhances the axial vortices
resulting in improving the heat transfer performance. Overall heat transfer coefficient is higher for counterflow arrangement,
approximately 4.5% more than parallel flow. Moreover, the estimated non-dimensional heat transfer enhancement factor for
parallel and counter is in the range of 2.68–2.17 to 2.59–2.06. It is concluded that heat transfer enhancement can be achieved
with low concentrations of nanoparticles to avoid excessive pumping requirements in AEAOT heat exchanger.

Keywords  Alternate oval tube · Graphene/water nanofluid · Enhancement factor · CFD

Introduction components is explored by retaining the initial steady state in

Over the past few decades, the importance of active and pas-
sive devices for enhancing heat transfers gained much atten-
tion in heat exchangers. Apart from different methods, the
alternative elliptical axis oval tube (AEAOT) design moti-
vated researchers for extensive utilization in industrial sectors
like oil and gas. In engineering applications point of view, the
literature presents the experimental and numerical methods
for the heat transfer augmentation and performance attributes
of alternative elliptical axis oval tubes. Alkam and Al-Nimr
(1999) investigated a heat exchanger with concentric tube
and porous substrate material in counter and parallel-flow
arrangements. It is observed that with the incorporation of the
substrate, the effectiveness of the heat exchanger is enhanced
considerably. The effect of the flow rates on transient
* Dora Nagaraju
ndora@gitam.edu
Abdul Razack Mohammad
amohamma@gitam.edu
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, GITAM Deemed
to be University, Visakhapatnam 530045, India
the heat exchanger in different flow (counterflow and tubular)
arrangements by Abdelghani-Idrissi et al. (2001). Estel et al.
(2000) investigated the conjugate heat transfer characteristics
in a wall-separated flow region which is referred from a tube
in the tube heat exchanger. With increasing the attention in
alternating oval cross-section, Chen et al. (2004, 2006) con-
cluded that configuration could improve heat transfer param-
eter compared to the circular tube with a range of 40–100%
but at the cost of pressure drop. Numerical investigation on
alternating horizontal and vertical oval tube heat exchangers
has been carried to study the parameter Uo (effective heat
transfer coefficient) (Chen 2007; Chen and Dung 2008).
Experimental results of elliptical tubes subjected to parallel
and counter have been presented for the considered Reynolds
number range to verify the heat transfer and flow resistance
(Akpinar and Bicer 2005; Meng et al. 2005). It is perceived
that inserting swirl elements and multi-longitudinal vortices
in the alternative tube shapes enhanced the Nusselt number
by 130% and decreased the friction factor by 2.9 times. Ren
and Yang (2006) developed an analytical model to verify the
effect of spray water phenomena and their parametric study
reveals the best agreement with numerical integration.

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In general (Kumar et al. 2006), it is perceived the heat
transfer characteristics of heat exchanger with the tube in
tube arrangement in counter flow direction where an outer
tube modified with semi-circular plate insert to initiate tur-
bulence in this region. The results of Li et al. (2006) pre-
cisely focused on models and transition region of Reynolds
number equal to 1000 related alternative elliptical axis tube
in this study. Similarly, various authors have performed the
comparative analysis of thermal flow characteristics of a
twisted oval tube or heat exchanger with a rod baffle heat
exchanger. It is observed that the heat transfer coefficient is
higher for twisted oval tube heat exchanger than rod baffle
heat exchanger (Tan et al. 2013). They also explored that the
performance evaluation criteria decreased for twisted tube
and wire coil heat exchangers (Yu et al. 2020). Considerable
research work related to oval tube design and heat trans-
fer studies with the dispersion of nanoparticles MWCNTs,
graphene in the base fluids and oils has been investigated
(Karami et al. 2016; Esfahani and Languri 2017; Fares et al.
2020). The results reveal that corrugated tube operating in
the turbulent flow in the range of 1000–3000 was observed
with good heat transfer enhancement where smooth tubes
are still in the transition regime. Research on the application
of graphene-based nanofluid reveals that 0.2 vol% nanofluid
attains a maximum heat transfer coefficient of 29%.
Sajadi et al. (2014, 2016) compared the flow and geo-
metrical parameters of the alternating flattened tube using
both experimental and numerical approaches for the bet-
ter performance enhancement ratio and cost-effectiveness
with the conventional circular tubes. The drawbacks of oval
pipes design were also analyzed (Vaezi et al. 2017) over
the circular tubes. A numerical analysis was presented by
Rennie and Raghavan (2006) on helical double-pipe heat
exchanger to study the heat transfer characteristics in the
laminar flow region and tested with different tube sizes.
Additionally, Hashem-ol-Hosseini et al. (2020) performed
comprehensive parametric studies on finned oval tubes in
both experimental and numerical approaches to analyze
the effect of fin length, fin spacing, and diameter ratio. The
obtained results reveal that the flow range with low Reyn-
olds number spacing of fin 1 mm is a good choice compared
to 3 or 4 mm. An experimental analysis was performed to
develop the correlations for twisted oval tube with fins. The
observed range of ­Remax (7500–18,000) opted for a twisted
oval tube bundle for industrial applications (Li et al. 2019,
2018). Tang et al. (2019) have carried out the numerical and
experimental research on heat exchanger with a 2-row plain
finned oval tube and tested it at different air incident angles
at the inlet. It is perceived that at the incident angle of 45°,
air performance is the best in heat transfer, whereas incident
angles of 90° and 30° attain the most negligible pressure
drop. Unger et al. (2019a, 2020; b) have performed experi-
mental and numerical analysis on oval tube flow and heat
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Applied Nanoscience
transfer characteristics with fins at different tube tilt angles
and fin spacing. The results show that thermal enhancement
is decreased when the tube tilt angle was 40° for various fin
spacings. It is also observed that the PEC of serrated inte-
grated pin fin is highest compared to plain circular fin. Three
different corrugated fin designs in the oval tube are numeri-
cally investigated by Gholami et al. (2017, 2019) to verify
the influence of nine geometrical parameters (pitch, thick-
ness, width, height, wing, length, wing angle, fluted angle of
the fin, and spacing in longitudinal, transverse tube) to study
the performance. Results of the computational analysis show
that FTCHE arrangement with corrugated fin can improve
Nusselt number and pressure drop value up to 20% and 19%
compared to the conventional case. 3D numerical analysis
in the range of Re = 50–2000 was carried out by Cheng et al.
(2017) with the help of the field synergy principle to ver-
ify the performance of oval tube twisted. Xie et al. (2017)
recommended an oval tube case over the fin tube, because
the thermal–hydraulic benefits and required pressure drop
could be attained when the airflow rate reaches its critical
value in the specific applications of waste-gas heat utilizers
(Pis’Mennyi 2016; Guo et al. 2017; Hasan and Sirén 2004).
Du et al. (2014) performed experimental studies by vary-
ing air inlet angles (30°, 45°, 60°, and 90°) to analyze the
heat transfer and pressure factor on two finned oval tube heat
exchangers. Chu et al. (2009) have focused on the oval tube
heat exchanger with a three-row fin. With the introduction of
longitudinal vortex generators, 13.6–32.9% enhancement is
observed concerning the conventional case, while in the case
of pressure loss, improvement was 29.2–40.6% noted. Tan
et al. (2013a) have performed numerical analysis on the heat
exchanger with twisted oval tube using turbulence model
to verify the influence of geometrical parameters on fluid
performance on the shell side. Results indicate that with
the increment of pitch length and aspect ratio, heat transfer
enhancement is observed. The plate-fin tube with gas flow
heat exchanger was analyzed numerically by Taler and Ocłoń
(2014) to calculate average heat transfer coefficient. Tiwari
et al. (2003) performed tests on two winglet pairs in the oval
tube with varying incoming airflow and different angles of
attack. Herpe et al. (2009) used the finite volume method to
analyze a compact heat exchanger with fins and a longitudi-
nal vortex generator. Their analysis was focused on entropy
generation due to drag forces caused by laminar flow under
certain heat flux conditions. Experiments are conducted by
Liu et al. (2020a) to test a unique oil cooler design with the
oval tube to determine pressure drop and heat transfer coef-
ficient on shell-side fluid. The findings show that the same
flow rate oil cooler with oval tube pressure drop decreases
than the oil cooler with round-tube pressure on the shell
side. Researchers have investigated optimization of stability
and mixed reaction process of hybrid solutions using various
algorithms (Ebrahimi et al. 2021; Ghasemi et al. 2020, 2021;
Applied Nanoscience

Mozaffari et al. 2021; Wang et al. 2021). Also, a library of nanofluids vol 0.02%, 0.04%, 0.06%, 0.08%, and 0.1%
surfactants are investigated in the biomedical applications are considered and inlet temperature range is 40–70  °C
and relevant properties are analyzed (Chowdhury et al. 2021, by assuming the single-phase mixture under steady-state
2019; Li et al. 2021; Liu et al. 2020b, 2021; Wang et al. analysis. The empirical correlations [Eqs. (1)–(4)] are used
2020). to calculate density (ρnf) specific heat (Cpnf), thermal con-
The careful design of spacing between oval tubes and ductivity (knf), and viscosity (µnf). The variation of thermal
their arrangements enhances the heat transfer and reduction conductivity and viscosity of graphene nanofluid with tem-
of pressure drop which can overcome the extra pumping perature is presented in Fig. 1a and b. It is observed that the
power cost. The complete design of AEAOT heat exchanger viscosity decreases, and thermal conductivity increases with
involves selection of aspect ratio, enhancement ratio, since temperature
the geometry ER affects the flow characteristics. Therefore, ( )
the design of AEAOT on experimental basis is cumbersome 𝜌nf = 1 − � (𝜌)bf + �(𝜌)np (1)
and it is perceived that a developed numerical model will be
( )( ) ( )
useful to conduct parametric studies. The broad objective of 1 − � 𝜌Cp bf + � 𝜌Cp np
this work is to envisage the effect of an alternate oval tube Cpnf = ( ) (2)
in a double-pipe heat exchanger while considering the gra- 1 − � 𝜌bf + �𝜌np
phene nanofluid in alternate oval tubes. First, AEAOT heat
exchanger results are validated with the present numerical knf − kf
model, since experimentation studies are very limited on = 0.764481.� + 0.018689.T − 0.462147 (3)
kf
AEAOT design. Later, the developed numerical model is
used to predict the performance of AEAOT while consid-
ering the flow arrangements in parallel/counter, and nano- ⎡ ⎤
fluid temperature is varied from 40 to 70 °C. The results are ⎢ 1𝛽np 𝛽np 1 ⎥
𝛽nf = 𝛽nf ⎢ + ⎥. (4)
presented in terms of isotherms, velocity contours, and the
𝜌
⎢ 1 + ( ) bf 𝛽bf
1−� 𝜌 �
1 + 1−� 𝜌np ⎥
⎣ ( ) bf ⎦
heat transfer enhancement factor parameter is analyzed to � 𝜌np

anticipate the heat exchanger performance.

The parameter ϕ represents the presence of nanoparticles
volume fraction in the base fluid (Table 1).
Methodology

Properties of nanofluid Mathematical formulation and geometry details

Graphene nanoparticles at low concentrations are dispersed Alternating elliptical axis oval tube (AEAOT) is modeled
into the base fluid, and their thermophysical properties are by considering both horizontal and vertically arranged
calculated using a correlation available in the literature oval tubes in an alternate direction as an inner tube of heat
(Esfahani and Languri 2017; Fares et al. 2020). Graphene exchanger presented schematically in Fig. 2a and b. The

Fig. 1  Variation of a viscosity of graphene/water nanofluid and b thermal conductivity of graphene/water nanofluid with temperature

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 Applied Nanoscience

dimensions of the alternative elliptical axis oval tube are Numerical modeling
shown in Table 2. The domain consists of graphene nano-
fluid as a heat transfer fluid inside an alternative oval tube The governing equations mass, momentum, and energy of
heat exchanger and exchanges heat with the cold fluid in the computational concern domain operating with steady flow is
outer tube filled with water. 3D geometry of the computa- solved using finite volume method-based FLUENT software.
tional domain is modeled using ICEM-CFD. Thereby its The second-order upwind scheme discretization method is
unstructured mesh is created with the orthogonal quality of adopted to decrease the error, and the SIMPLE algorithm is
0.85. Along the length of the alternative elliptical axis of the used to solve continuity and momentum. Governing equations
oval tube, fine mesh is generated. The unstructured hexahe- are solved in steady, pressure-based algorithm. Inlet and out-
dral cells receive a lot of attention. For uniform heat transfer, let are considered at ends of inner AEAOT and outer pipe of
smooth meshing is constructed at the edges and regions of computational domain. Numerical simulations are investigated
temperature and velocity limitations in the connected area. by imposing mass flow rate boundary condition at a specified
The assumptions involved in the present numerical investi- inlet nanofluid temperature.
gation are as follows: nanofluid is considered as Newtonian The unstructured form of computational grid is discre-
fluid and density variation with temperature is ignored, i.e., tized and developed along the inner alternate elliptical axis
incompressible fluid flow. The nanoparticle in the base fluid oval tube. To capture the near wall boundary layer, enhanced
is dispersed uniformly, and effect of any sedimentation is not wall treatment is enabled while conducting the simulations.
considered. The graphene/water nanofluid is treated as sin- y + Parameter is less than 1 and it is varied between 0.1 and
glephase and their thermophysical properties are not affected 0.6 for all the numerical simulations investigated in the present
by temperature while conducting the steady-state numerical study.
simulations. Also, the flow is hydrodynamic, and the tem- The governing equations [Eqs. (5)–(9)] are as follows:
perature is maintained at a consistent level. ( )
The numerical investigation has been performed in an 𝜕𝜌 𝜌uj
+ =0 (5)
AEAOT heat exchanger with various nanofluids under steady- 𝜕t Xj
state conditions. Heat exchanger walls are perfectly insulated
and fouling in the heat exchanger has not been considered. ( )
𝜕ui 𝜕u 𝜕P 𝜕 𝜕uj
The overall length of the pipe is 231 mm with 0.5 mm thick- 𝜌 + 𝜌Uj i = − +𝜇 + (6)
ness, and the pipe material is iron. The testing requirements 𝜕t 𝜕Xj 𝜕Xi 𝜕t 𝜕Xj 𝜕Xi
are presented in Table 3.

Fig. 2  a Computational domain

of AEAOT heat exchanger and
b meshing of AEAOT heat
exchanger

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 Table 1  Comprehensive literature review on various heat exchangers
References
Chen et al. (2004)
Meng et al. (2005)
Chen et al. (2006)
Chen (2007)
Li et al. (2006)
Chen and Dung (2008)
13
Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger
Applied Nanoscience
Num Tube [d = 16.5, da = 20, db = 13, Iron/Water Re = 10,000–60,000 Oval tube heat exchanger
l = 40] enhances heat transfer from
40 to 100% range than a cir-
cular pipe but at the pressure
drop loss
Exp Tube A = 20.8 mm, B = 12.8 mm, Cooper/Water Re = 500 to 5 × ­104 Because of induced multi-lon-
C = 6 mm, P = [40, 50 and gitudinal vortices to change
60], Tcold = [5–65 °C], due to variation in cross-sec-
Thot = [10–95 °C ] tion in alternating elliptical
axis tube enhancement in
heat transfer observed
Num Tube [d = 16.5, da = 20, db = 13, Iron/ Re = 500–2000 The CFD study reveals that
l = 40] Water with optimized oval tube
geometry and different
Reynolds numbers in the
laminar region performs bet-
ter than circular pipe in other
application
Num Heat exchanger [d = 16.5, da = 20, db = 13, Iron/Water Rei = 100–2000, ReO = 10–40 The computation results reveal
l = 40] that wall temperature changes
along both the axial and cir-
cumferential direction of the
pipe in the heat exchanger. It
completely differs from the
distribution in wall tem-
perature case from previous
studies
Exp Tube L = 2000 mm, B = 20.8 mm, Copper/Water Re = 20,000 to 20,000 Nusselt number enhancement
A = 12.8 mm, N = 19, is observed with alternat-
P = 50 mm, C = 6 mm, ing elliptical axis tube in
di = 17 mm 84–134% compared to a
circular one
Num Heat exchanger d = 16.5 mm, da = 20 mm, Iron/ Re = 100–2000 The computing results reveal
db = 13 mm, do = 33 mm, Water that the selection of an
l = 40, lt = 6 mm oval tube as an inner pipe
significantly improves heat
transfer with axial vortices.
Counterflow configurations
have improved averaged
heat transfer coefficient than
parallel flow


Table 1  (continued)
References Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger

Tan et al. (2013) Exp Heat exchanger d = 25 mm, a = 29 mm, Steel/Water Re = 4000–30,000 Heat exchangers with Twisted
b = 19.5 mm, t = 2.5 mm, oval tubes function better on
L = 3000 mm the low tube side than the

13
Karami et al. (2016) Exp Tube L = 1200 mm,
dh = 11.9,13.2,15.5
Sajadi et al. (2016) Exp-Num Tube A = 15.88 mm, a = 14.62 mm,
B = 15.88 mm,
b = 14.62 mm, Dh = 14.62,
temp = [30,50,70,90]
Vaezi et al. (2017) Num Heat exchanger d = 16.5 mm, da = 16.9–26 mm, Iron/Water
db = 13 mm, do = 33 mm,
l = 40, lt = 5 mm
Sajadi et al. (2014) Exp-Num Tube A = 10 mm, a = 8.74 mm, Copper/Oil
B = 19.23 mm,b = 17.97 mm,
c = 990 mm, P = 50 mm,
temp = 30–90 OC
Yu et al. (2020) Num Tube d = 25 mm, a = 29 mm,
b = 19.5 mm, P = 200 mm,
Ti = 300 K, Tw = 373.15 K
high shell side at high flow
rates
Copper-Nanofluid MWCNTs/ Re = 100–4000 The corrugated tubes using
oil MWCNTs/heat transfer oil
nanofluid in the range of
1000–3000 for smooth shift-
ing from laminar to turbulent
and observed that heat trans-
fer rate decreases with low
Reynolds number
Copper/Oil Re = 500–2000 Compared to conventional
circular tubes, the alternat-
ing flattened tube promotes
enhanced heat transfer
regardless of aspect ratio and
Reynolds number
Re = 100–1600 With the help of an oval
alternating tube as the inner
pipe in the double-pipe heat
exchanger, it is possible to
enhance the heat transfer irre-
spective of aspect ratio and
Reynolds number regarding
circular tube
Re = 300–2000 It demonstrates that using heat
transfer oil in the Re range
of 300–2000 in alternating
elliptical axis tubes repre-
sents better improvement
characteristics than flattened
or circular
Nil/Water Re = 5000–50,000 Concerning twisted oval
tubes, the thermal–hydraulic
behavior of equilateral cross-
sectioned wire coil performs
significantly with increment
ratio of Nu -45.92% and ­favg
of 674.86%
Applied Nanoscience
 Table 1  (continued)
References Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger

Hashem-ol-Hosseini et al. Exp-Num Tube a = 32 mm, b = 11 mm, L = 55, Nil/Air Re = 8500–60,000 Compared to finned-tube heat
Applied Nanoscience

(2020) H = 26 mm, s = 2 mm, exchangers with the circular

Lt = 125 mm. tf = 0.1 mm, tube, the shape of the oval
Nf = 392 mm tube offers fewer pressure
drops with nearly the same
magnitude of heat transfer.
Also, at a higher Reynolds
number, it is preferable to use
a shorter fin, and larger ones
are infeasible of providing
sufficient spacing
Li et al. (2019) Exp Tube d0 = 27 mm, a = 33 mm, Carbon steel-Water/Air Re = 7500–18,000 Related to the evaluation of
b = 16 mm, S = 300 mm, air-side comprehensive
performance, crossflow in
twisted oval tubes performs
more efficiently than smooth
round tubes. However, eco-
nomical execution is worth
noting when applying to twist
oval tubes among this range
of Reynolds number
Li et al. (2018) Exp Tube d0 = 27 mm, a = 33 mm, Carbon steel-Water/Air Re = 7500–18,000 Oval tube bundle twisted
b = 16 mm, S = 300 mm, has improved convection
heat transfer compared to
round-tube bundle concern-
ing arrangement related to
crossflow. It is found that
experimental results show
the range of 25.5% ~ 33.3%
higher in oval tube bundle
twisted than that of the
round-tube bundle
Unger et al. ((2019) Exp Tube a = 34 mm, b = 16 mm, Stainless Steel/Air Ra = 11,000–130,000 Oval tube with fins was ana-
S = 6,11&16 lyzed in natural convection
heat transfer with different fin
spacing, Rayleigh number,
and tilt angles. It is also
observed that due variation
in tilt angle more significant
impact on thermal perfor-
mance when spacing is high
in fin

13


Table 1  (continued)
References Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger

Tang et al. (2019) Exp-Num Heat exchanger 2a = 36 mm, 2b = 14 mm, Carbon steel/Air Re = 4000–7500 The analysis shows that the
W = 600 mm, H = 320 mm 45° offers the highest heat
transfer enhancement for

13
the air inlet concerning 60°,
while 30° offers the lowest
value overall
Unger et al. (2019a) Exp Tube dc = 27.5 mm, a = 34 mm, Stainless Steel/Air Re = 2000–8000 Related finned oval tube, the
b = 16 mm, S = 6, 11 and 16 parameters Nusselt number
and friction factor improved
due to variation of tilt angle
from 0° to 40°. As the loss in
pressure drop dominates the
heat transfer improvement
characteristics, it is observed
that tilt angle 0° performs
better than 40°
Unger et al. (2020) Exp Heat exchanger a = 34 mm, b = 16 mm, Powder material/Air Re = 1800–7800 To improve conduction and
T = 0–60 °C convection mode, the heat
exchanger with fin-tube
design with different tilt
angles was verified, and
finally, 0°–40° horizontal was
identified as optimum
Gholami et al. (2019) Num Heat exchanger Da = 12.7 mm, Db = 7.94, Aluminium/Air Re = 500–5000 Significant improvement in
Dc = 10.549, Fl = 101.6 mm, heat transfer is observed
inlet temperature = 300 K with corrugated profiles
with fins than the oval tube.
The FTCHEs η-factor with
different modes and designs
of THCF, TWCF, and ONCF
exhibited 20.9%, 13.3%, and
36.0% intensification con-
cerning conventional smooth
fin and oval tubes counterpart
Applied Nanoscience
 Table 1  (continued)
References Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger

Cheng et al. (2017) Num Tube a = 24.4 mm, b = 15 mm, Iron/Water Re = 50–2000 Due to the secondary flow
Applied Nanoscience

S = 600 mm, P = 200 mm, effect, the fluid in the twisted

inlet temp = 300 K oval tube performs better
than the smooth tube in
the range of 50–250 and
500–2000 for laminar and
turbulent Reynolds number.
For Reynolds number 350
enhancements, the factor
maximum is 1.7 with a flat-
tening of 2.0, twisted pitch
of 0.33
Xie et al. 2017) Num Heat exchanger dh = 0.13, Twater = 10–35 °C, Nil-Water/Air Re = 1369–2939 Thermal–hydraulic character-
Tair = 10–34 °C istics of the heat exchanger
with plain, oval, and longi-
tudinal fin tubes installed in
closed wet cooling towers
(CWCTs) is analyzed. From
the studies, the oval tube case
is proposed over the fin tube
due to its improved thermal–
hydraulic improvement and
the modest pressure drop
Pis’Mennyi EN, (2016) Exp Tube S1/d1 = 4.3,9.0 S2/d2 = 4.4,8.0, Steel/Water Re = 3 × ­103 to 2 × ­104 An incomplete finned oval
S3/d3 = 4.4..8.0 tube is recommended to save
material and energy in case
of heat transfer improvement
in different circumstances
Guo et al. (2017) Exp Tube d = 100 mm, [R = 5.5 mm, Mg–1.0Al–1.5Ca–1.0Mn 0.5 mm/s The particle of the flat oval
W = 20 mm, H = 18 mm, (wt.%)-Air tube shows a uniform
t = 2 mm] distribution in mechanical,
microstructure, and texture
analyses of an extruded Mg–
1.0Al–1.5Ca–1.0Mn (wt.%),
simultaneously in case of flat
region direction of extrusion
tend to aggregate into bands

13


Table 1  (continued)
References Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger

Gholami et al. (2017) Num Heat exchanger Da = 12.7, Db = 7.94, Aluminium/Air Re = 200–900 The results reveal that 5%
Dc = 10.459, Pt = 25.4, and 15% enhancement is
Pl = 25.41, Fp = 3.0 observed in the case of an

13
oval tube compact heat
exchanger with one and three
corrugated fins concerning
base studies
Hasan and Sirén (2004) Exp Heat exchanger da = 25.3, db = 8.2, Copper–Water/Air Air = 0.0151, 0.0235, For the oval tube concerning
da/db = 3.085, A = 88X133 and 0.0323 kg/s the circular tube, the Colburn
Water = 0.114 kg/s factor and friction factor
values are 89% and 46% on
average. It has exhibited good
thermal–hydraulic character-
istics than circular one
Du et al. (2014) Exp Heat exchanger a/b = 2.57, Fl/Fw = 157.14, Nil/Air Re = 1300–13,000 The results represent that
Fl/Fh = 2.16, Fl/Fs = 22, heat transfer performance
Pl/Pt = 2.25, Ө = 30,45,60,90 parameters for oval-tube
heat exchanger with two
fins depend on structure and
inclined angle in case (HE1:
double rows of tubes, HE2:
three rows of tubes.)
Chu et al. (2009) Num Heat exchanger Ra = 6.28, Rb = 3.77 mm, Aluminium/Air Re = 500–2500 It is observed that the average
Ps = 25.4 mm value of Nusselt number
in case of oval tube heat
exchanger with three-row
fin and longitudinal vortex
generator improved by
13.6–32.9% regarding base-
line case and simultaneously
increased in pressure drop by
29.2–40.6%
Tan et al. (2013a) Num Heat exchanger A = 12.3–14, B = 8.15–5, Nil/Water Re = 5000–25,000 Effect of turbulence model is
P = 169-140 mm, H = 19.45– analyzed, and heat transfer
22.13 mm, Tin = 300 K, enhancement factor is defined
Tw = 350 K to predict the optimum
model to analyze pertinent
parameters
Applied Nanoscience
 Table 1  (continued)
References Analysis Type of the Design and temperature input Tube material/tube fluid Mass flow rate Review aspects
tube/heat range
exchanger

Taler and Ocłoń (2014) Num Heat exchanger dmax = 11.82 mm, Aluminium-Air/Water Re = [150–400] and [4000– The typical observation is Nus-
Applied Nanoscience

dmin = 6.35 mm, P = 18.5 mm 12000] selt number increases with

high aspect ratios of the heat
exchanger, and a compari-
son between numerical and
experimental reveals that
approximately 13.7% lower
value underestimated using
numerical
Tiwari et al. (2003) Num Heat exchanger a = 4.40H, b = 1.465H Nil/Water Re = 1000 The analyses of heat and flow
structure in the forced mode
in the channel of rectangular
shape will incorporate with
oval tube and delta winglet-
type vortex generators. Con-
cerning oval tube with fins,
it is observed that 43.86%
increase in heat transfer with
staggered mode
Herpe et al. (2009) Num heat exchanger L = 3.38, h = 0.22, Aluminium/Air Re = 300 The analyses related entropy
Tinlet = 293 K, generation on compact heat
exchanger with punched lon-
gitudinal vortex generators.
It is observed that with the
decrease in entropy, the fin
efficiency increases with the
entropy generation flat rate in
the fluid field
Liu et al. (2020a) Exp Heat exchanger Tube- [do = 10, di = 8, L = 700] Copper/Carbon Steel-Water/Oil Re = 50–600 0.000722 ­m3/s to The experimental study reveals
Shell- [do = 102, di = 94, 0.0041 ­m3/s that at a similar flow rate of
L = 700] oil, the pressure drop param-
eter of OCRT-related shell
side is higher than that of
OCTT. The OCRT is lower
than OCTT-related shell-side
heat transfer coefficient per
unit drop in pressure

13
 Applied Nanoscience

( )
𝜕T 𝜕u T 𝜕u 𝜕 𝜕ui 𝜕uj k2
𝜌 + 𝜌 i = −P i + k + . (7) 𝜇t = 𝜌C𝜇 (10)
𝜕t 𝜕t 𝜕Xi 𝜕Xj 𝜕Xj 𝜕Xi ∈

k-ε model has been chosen for the turbulence flow 𝜕uj
modeling, and associated equations are presented below Pk = −𝜌ui uj . (11)
𝜕xi
Eq. (9)–(10):
( ) The constants can be defined as
𝜕 𝜕 ( ) 𝜕 v 𝜕k
(k) + kui = v+ t + Pk − ∈ (8)
𝜕t 𝜕Xi 𝜕Xi 𝜎k 𝜕xj C1∈ = 1.44, C2∈ = 1.92, C𝜇 = 0.09, 𝜎k = 1, 𝜎∈ = 1.3.

( ) Flow boundary conditions of the inner tube at the inlet as

𝜕 𝜕 ( ) 𝜕 v 𝜕∈ ∈( ) ∈2
(∈) + ∈ ui = v+ t + C1∈ Pk − C2∈ ,
𝜕t 𝜕Xi 𝜕Xj 𝜎∈ 𝜕xj k k u = v = 0, w = wi, T = Thi . (12)
(9)
Flow boundary conditions at the outlet
where 𝜇t is the turbulent viscosity, 𝜇t and Pk are defined as
𝜕u 𝜕v 𝜕w 𝜕T
= = = =0 (13)
Table 2  Dimensional parameters of alternating elliptical oval tube 𝜕z 𝜕z 𝜕z 𝜕z
(AEAOT)
at the interface of solid–fluid
Alternating oval tube Dimensions
𝜕T || 𝜕T |
Diameter of circular inner tube (di) 16.5 mm u = v = 0, kfluid | = ksolid || , (14)
𝜕n |fluid 𝜕n |solid
Major axis diameter (dX) 20 mm
Minor axis diameter (dy) 13 mm where n represents the direction average to the wall. Simi-
Diameter of the outer tube (dO) 33 mm larly, flow boundary conditions of outer tube inlet location
Total length (L) 231 mm
Tube thickness 0.5 mm W = ±wo, u = v = 0, T = Tci . (15)
Length of transition (l) 5 mm
The following equations related to overall heat transfer
Number of alternating tubes (n) 5
coefficient equation adopted (Chen and Dung 2008)
Pipe material Iron
Thermal conductivity of iron 77 W/m K Q
Density of iron 7870 kg/m3
Uo = , (16)
AΔTm

Table 3  Simulation study S. no Parameters Range/standard

parameters
1 Inner tube fluid (Alternating tube) Graphene nanofluid
2 Reynolds number of the inner tube 100–2000
3 Mass flow rate of inner tube 0.000523546–0.021149202 kg/s
4 Flow velocity of inner tube 0.00244341–0.08886551 m/s
5 Inlet temperature of inner tube 40–70 °C
6 Volume concentration of graphene nanofluid 0.02–0.1(5 intervals)
7 Density of nanofluid 1002–1113 kg/m3
8 Thermal conductivity of nanofluid 0.67–0.883 W/m K
9 Specific heat of nanofluid 3828–4091 j/kg K
10 Viscosity of nanofluid 4.2–8.16 × ­10–4 Pa-s
11 Annulus tube fluid [Circular tube] Water
12 Reynolds number of outer tube 1000
13 Mass flow rate of outer tube 0.00161823–0.04382051 kg/s
14 Flow velocity of annulus tube 0.00250451–0.06710697 m/s
15 Inlet temperature of annulus tube 270C
16 Outer fluid density [Water] 997.05 kg/m3
17 Outer fluid thermal conductivity [Water] 0.6065 j/kg K
18 Outer fluid specific heat [Water] 4181.3 W/m K
19 Outer fluid absolute viscosity [Water] 0.0008502 Pa-s

13
Applied Nanoscience
where overall heat transfer rate and total heat transfer area
are represented by Q and A, respectively. With the log mean
temperature difference ΔTm represented as
ΔT1 − ΔT2
ΔTm = . different unstructured meshes M1(837890), M2(858827),
ΔT
ln ΔT1
2
Inlet and outlet mean temperatures are obtained from
numerical simulations. ΔT1 and ΔT2 are calculated using mean
temperature values of inlet and outlet. According to conven-
tional method, LMTD difference for both parallel and counter
is expressed as follows.
For a parallel-flow direction heat exchanger
ΔT1 = Thi − Tci, ΔT2 = Tho − Tco .
For a counter flow direction heat exchanger
ΔT1 = Thi − Tco, ΔT2 = Tho − Tci .
At constant physical conditions, the heat transfer enhance-
ment factor is defined as the ratio of an oval tube's total heat
transfer coefficient to a circular tube's overall heat transfer
coefficient (Chen and Dung 2008)
UOval
𝜂= . (20)
UCircular
Results and discussion
To strengthen the proposed numerical model in the pre-
sent work, the overall heat transfer coefficient results of
available literature (Chen and Dung 2008; Vaezi et al.
2017) are compared with the present numerical model.
The variation of the overall heat transfer coefficient with
the inlet velocity of water is shown in Fig. 3a and b. The
Fig. 3  Comparison of numerical results AEAOT with a variation of a inner tube velocity and b outer tube velocity
results obtained in the present are significantly matched
with the literature, and it is observed mean percentage
error (MPE) of 2.09% and 3.13%.
Grid independence test is conducted by generating three
(17)
M3(907354) which are having skewness values 0.71. 0.78,
and 0.85, respectively. Numerical simulations are conducted at
inlet and inner fluid inlet temperature of 40 °C on AEAOT heat
exchanger by considering the Reynold number as 1000 at both
inner and outer pipes. Mass weighted average outlet temperature
is obtained from the analysis and its comparison against vari-
ous meshes is presented in Fig. 4, and it is observed that further
mesh refinement will not show significant difference in results.
(18)
Effect of inner tube Reynolds number ­(Rei)
The effect of the inner tube Reynolds number range
(19)
(100–2000) on the performance of the AEAOT heat exchanger
has been investigated while maintaining the flow arrange-
ments in both parallel and counter. At a particular instant,
the inlet temperature of inner tube fluid, i.e., graphene nano-
fluid, is held at 40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C and 70 °C separately, and
outer fluid, i.e., water maintained at ­Reo = 1000. The numeri-
cal simulations have been performed to cater to the enhanced
thermophysical properties of graphene nanofluid on the heat
exchanger's overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo). The results
of the inner tube Reynolds number range and the temperature
on the overall heat transfer coefficient for the parallel-flow
arrangement are depicted in Fig. 5a–e. It is observed that the
overall heat transfer coefficient increases with inlet tempera-
ture and Reynolds number of nanofluid. The heat transfer
enhancement in the case of graphene 0.02 vol% is signifi-
cantly registered with the rise in inner fluid inlet temperature.
Also, the effect of R­ ei on overall heat transfer coefficient has
the least influence by the temperature for 0.06 vol% nanofluid
compared with other nanofluid conditions.
13

Fig. 4  Mesh independence test
of AEAOT heat exchanger
Moreover, the overall heat transfer coefficient value is in
the range of 900–970 W/m2K in the whole Reynolds number
range and inlet temperature range of graphene 0.02 vol%
nanofluid. Similarly, in the case of other nanofluids such
as 0.04 vol%, 0.06 vol%, 0.08 vol%, and 0.1 vol%, the heat
transfer enhancement is observed for the nanofluid’s inlet
temperature 70 °C at R ­ ei = 2000. It is noticed that variation
of U value is insignificant for all inlet fluid temperatures
when the graphene nanoparticles’ concentration is more sig-
nificant than 0.08 vol%. Indeed, graphene 0.1 vol% nanofluid
has shown the optimum heat transfer enhancement for the
considered ­Rei and inlet temperature range in the AEAOT
parallel-flow heat exchanger.
The effect of ­Rei in counter AEAOT heat exchanger on
overall heat transfer coefficient is presented in Fig. 6a–e.
The thermal enhancement in the AEAOT counter flow heat
exchanger is more at a higher Reynolds number, further
enhancing the overall heat transfer coefficient. The uni-
form temperature difference and vortices in the multi-lon-
gitudinal directions in the counter flow AEAOT enhance
the overall heat transfer coefficient. As expected, the U
value increases with R ­ ei for various inlet temperatures of
nanofluids. It is perceived from Fig. 6 that the graphene
0.1 vol% nanofluid has shown the highest enhancement of
heat transfer, i.e., an inlet temperature of 70 °C, U value
1165 W/m2K for R ­ ei = 2000. In addition, for all nanofluid
inlet temperatures in the pertained ­Rei range, the optimum
enhancement is shown with graphene 0.1 vol% nanofluid
than other nanofluids. The reason is corroborated by the
existence of secondary flows in the alternate, oval tube due
to flow around the oval tube which helps to improve the heat
transfer coefficient.
13
Applied Nanoscience
Effect of outer tube Reynolds number ­(Reo)
The influence of outer fluid Reynolds number ­(Reo) on the
performance of the AEAOT heat exchanger has been investi-
gated while maintaining the inner nanofluid ­Rei at a constant
value in both parallel and counter flow arrangements. ­Reo
range is considered as 100–1000-associated mass flow rate is
estimated and specified as a boundary condition at the inlet
of outer pipe provided ­Rei = 1000 is remains fixed and inlet
temperature is maintained as constant. The numerical simu-
lations are repeated for various outer fluid inlet temperatures
(40–70 °C). The corresponding overall heat transfer coeffi-
cient is estimated in parallel and counter flow arrangements.
The results of the AEAOT heat exchanger with graphene 0.1
vol% nanofluid as inner fluid and the influence of outer fluid
­Reo range for various inlet temperatures are obtained and
presented in Fig. 7a–b. For instance, at a constant ­Rei, the
overall heat transfer coefficient significantly increases with
inner fluid temperature for a particular ­Reo. Moreover, as
the inner fluid inlet temperature increases from 60 to 70 °C,
the effect of R­ eO is registered as insignificant impact on the
overall heat transfer coefficient. It is observed that R
­ eO > 500
does not show heat transfer enhancement in both parallel and
counter flow arrangements.
From the perspective related to distributions of the Uo,
a common trend like that discussed in the preceding sub-
section can be observed. Additionally, it is also observed
that the arrangement of counterflow is improved than the
arrangement of parallel flow; the higher the Reynolds
number value of the outer tube (­ Reo) is, the higher the
overall heat transfer coefficients become for all the inner
tube concentrations from (0.02–0.1%) types and arrange-
ments’ flow. The increase in overall heat transfer coefficient
Applied Nanoscience

Fig. 5  Effect of inner fluid Reynolds number ­(Rei) and inlet temperature on overall heat transfer coefficient in parallel-flow direction with nano-
fluid at various inlet temperatures 40–70 °C: a 0.02%, b 0.04%, c 0.06%, d 0.08%, and e 0.1%

versus ­Reo is lower at low R

­ eo but gradually enhances with
increased inlet temperature variation. Additionally, the per-
centage of enhancement in the parallel-flow arrangement
with an average of 2.5%, whereas in the case of counter-
flow, 3% is noted.
Effect of nanofluid on heat transfer enhancement
factor
The significance of the overall heat transfer coefficient of
the AEAOT heat exchanger compared to the conventionally
used circular pipe heat exchanger is imperative to note. And

13

Fig. 6  Effect of inner fluid Reynolds number (­ Rei) and inlet temperature on overall heat transfer coefficient in counter flow direction with nano-
fluid 40–70 °C: a 0.02%, b 0.04%, c 0.06%, d 0.08%, and e 0.1%
related non-dimensional parameter known as heat transfer
enhancement factor (η) explains its significance. The heat
transfer enhancement factor of both parallel and counter flow
arrangements of the circular double-pipe heat exchanger
of exact AEOT dimensions (length, inner pipe, and outer
pipe diameter) has been analyzed. Subsequently, in both
13
Applied Nanoscience
flow arrangements, the overall heat transfer coefficient has
been obtained while considering the pertinent parameters.
The effect of ­Rei on η is estimated for various inlet tem-
peratures while considering the outer fluid Reynolds num-
ber ­Reo = 1000 for both parallel and counter is analyzed and
presented in Fig. 8i–viii. It is observed that the heat transfer
Applied Nanoscience

Fig. 7  Effect of variation in Reynolds number (­ ReO) and 0.1 vol% nanofluid inlet temperature on overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo) in a paral-
lel flow and b counterflow

Fig. 8  Effect of variation in Reynolds number ­(Rei) and nanofluid percentage on heat transfer enhancement coefficient, [i, ii] parallel & counter
− 40 °C, [iii, iv] parallel & counter− 50 °C, [v, vi] parallel & counter − 60 °C, and [vii, viii] parallel & counter − 70 °C

enhancement factor increases with ­Rei, and the effect of
nanofluid on η is registered significantly. It is evident that in
comparison to water, the heat transfer enhancement factor
for AEAOT heat exchangers in counterflow configuration
exhibits from 2.59 to 2.06. Still, for parallel-flow arrange-
ment for the same flow characteristics grows from 2.68 to
2.17. The primary reasons for such behavior in enhancement
factor from parallel to counter are identified because of a
lower ­Uo level than the latter value.
Temperature and velocity distribution
The simulation results in terms of temperature and velocity
contours are presented in Figs. 9 and 10 (refer supporting
information) for both parallel and counter flow arrangements
when the inner 0.1 vol% of nanofluid flows with Re = 2000
at a temperature of 70 °C. The isotherms and velocity vec-
tors show how temperature and velocity vary non-uniformly
inside the tube at six different cross-sectional positions. At
six different locations, the cross-section is identified, so that
a well-developed flow in both outer and inner tubes should
not affect tube entrance length. Furthermore, the cut section
was precisely chosen in the middle of an alternative oval
tube; one was selected at a horizontally positioned oval unit,
while the other was selected at a vertically placed oval tube
unit (Figs. 9 and 10). Secondary flows, which are essential
components for encouraging heat transfer development, have
improved in both the inner and outer tubes, as shown by the
temperature and velocity vectors parallel and counter flow
at both sectional views.
Figure  11a–d (refer supporting information) depicts
the temperature distribution of counterflow AEAOT heat

13

exchanger with graphene 0.1 vol% nanofluid flows at
Re = 2000 and various inlet temperatures. It is evident that as
there is no heat transfer from the axial wall conduction, the
temperature is nearly homogeneous across the cross-section.
Moreover, the temperature variation impacts the flow’s sta-
bility; thus, it is important to record it while analyzing flow
behavior, which supports using a three-dimensional model
in this study.
Conclusions
Numerical investigation of alternate elliptical axis oval tube
heat exchanger (AEAOT) filled with graphene/water nano-
fluid at various volumetric concentrations has been studied.
The computational domain consists of a double pipe where
the inner pipe is considered an alternate oval tube that allows
nanofluid, and the outer circular one carries water. The effect
of inner tube Reynold number at various inlet temperatures
and flow arrangements on heat transfer enhancement fac-
tor and overall heat transfer coefficient is obtained. Due to
the existence of a non-uniform design, fluid parameters will
vary in all three directions, especially local velocity, and
temperature. The overall heat transfer coefficient (Uo) for
parallel and counter flow arrangements increases with gra-
phene nanofluid inlet temperature. Moreover, Uo value of
counterflow arrangement significantly improved than par-
allel flow. Similar behavior is noticed in the case of vari-
ous graphene nanoparticle volumetric concentrations. The
unique benefit of the alternate oval tube is the generation
of secondary flows resulting in heat transfer enhancement.
Moreover, the enhanced nanofluid properties lead to heat
transfer rate increase with vol% of graphene nanoparticles
and maximum attained with 0.1 vol% graphene nanofluid.
The parametric study reveals that the novel approach of
inserting the alternate oval tube pipe in a double-pipe heat
exchanger prompts the heat transfer enhancement. Further-
more, the work is extended to conduct experimental inves-
tigations operating with water and nanofluids to draw firm
conclusions while measuring the pressure drop, because the
pump power plays a vital in heat exchanger design.
Supplementary Information  The online version contains supplemen-
tary material available at https://d​ oi.o​ rg/1​ 0.1​ 007/s​ 13204-0​ 22-0​ 2425-6.
Acknowledgements  Not applicable.
Author contributions  DN: simulation, analysis, and drafting. ARM:
concept, design, and simulation.
Funding  Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials  Not applicable.
13
Applied Nanoscience
Code availability  Not applicable.
Declarations 
Conflicts of interest  The authors would like to declare that “No con-
flict of interest.
Ethics approval  Not applicable.
Consent to participate  All co-workers have agreed to participate.
Consent for publication  All co-workers have agreed to publication.
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