Abstract

This study experimentally investigated the effect of low-

frequency ultrasonic waves on the heat transfer augmentation of
turbulent water flow in a narrow rectangular duct with a width of 5 mm.
25-, 33-, and 40-kHz ultrasonic transducers were set to release waves in a
downward direction to disturb the flow, with Reynolds numbers (Re) of
10,000–25,000 at increments of 2500. The results indicated that the
ultrasonic waves increased the friction loss by only 0.2–2% over the entire
testing Re range, while an 8.1–48.6% enhancement of the heat transfer
capability was obtained for the Re range of 10,000–15,000. The
maximum Nusselt number occurred at a Re of 12,500 and frequency of
33 kHz. However, beyond Re values of 12,500, the thermal performance
tended to decrease with an increase in Re. Consequently, the average
Nusselt number ratios at ultrasonic frequencies of 25, 33, and 40 kHz
over the tested Re range were 1.123, 1.039, and 1.033, respectively, while
the thermal performance values were 1.108, 0.989, and 1.036,
respectively. These results confirmed that ultrasound has significant
potential for application in heat transfer augmentation of turbulent pipe
flow. This paper also provides formulas to predict the friction factor and
Nusselt number and discusses the mechanisms of heat transfer
enhancement by ultrasonic waves at 25, 33, and 40 kHz.
Introduction
It is well known that piezoelectric materials can produce an electric
current when they are placed under mechanical strain. The piezoelectric
process is reversible; thus, when an electric current is applied to these
materials, material deformation occurs. Piezoelectric materials are
generally used as the main substance in ultrasonic transducers to generate
ultrasonic waves. Ultrasonic waves are used in various industrial
applications and are typically classified into three types according to their
frequency [1]. When the frequency is between 20 and 100 kHz, low-
frequency ultrasonic waves or power ultrasonic waves are produced. The
waves in this range can be used for cleaning, plastic welding, and drying
processes [2], [3], [4], [5]. If the frequency is above 1 MHz, very high-
frequency ultrasound is produced. The waves in this frequency range are
particularly used for ultrasonic nondestructive testing and medical
diagnosis. Within these two ranges of acoustic frequency, ultrasound
affects the behavior of heat transfer enhancement differently. Generally,
two main types of heat transfer enhancement exist: active and passive
techniques [6]. Passive techniques include surface extension, surface
roughness, use of a swirler, porous media, and nanofluids, and they do
not require any direct external forces to augment the heat transfer [7], [8],
[9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22]. In
contrast, the active techniques utilize an external force to drive the
enhancement process, such as the use of electric fields, magnetic fields,
jets, and ultrasound. In particular, ultrasound has been observed to have
significant potential in enhancing heat transfer and non-pollution [23].
When it is released in a liquid medium, acoustic cavitation and acoustic
streaming are two phenomena that ensue from the propagation of
ultrasonic waves, and they significantly affect the heat transfer
characteristics.

Acoustic cavitation is the process of bubble formation and collapse owing

to variations in the wave pressure [24]. When the local pressure in the
rarefaction period is lower than the vapor pressure of the liquid, the small
gas bubbles suspended in the liquid rapidly expand and collapse into
many smaller bubbles [25]. This appearance disturbs both the
hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layers, acting as thermal
resistances. Under low-frequency ultrasound, this effect periodically
occurs very rapidly at the microstructural level and can intensely augment
convective heat transfer [26], [27]. Acoustic streaming is another major
phenomenon resulting from the emission of high-frequency ultrasound
into a liquid medium. Acoustic streaming results from the dissipation of
acoustic energy transformed from a vibrating surface. As the energy
increases, momentum in a fluid bulk is created and results in fluid
streaming [28]. In particular, turbulent flow streaming at a high wave
power can increase the convective heat transfer coefficient [29], [30].
Furthermore, a stronger streaming effect can be obtained when cavitation
is observed [31], [32]. Research in this field has become more interesting
with the dramatic development of piezoelectric materials over the last
decade. A 2011 review by Legay et al. [1] concluded that acoustic
streaming and cavitation as well as other effects occur to develop the heat
transfer process. These effects include vibration, fouling reduction, and
acceleration of the boiling process. Nevertheless, frequency has been
observed to be the main factor affecting the heat transfer capability of a
thermal system.

Ultrasonic frequencies and Reynolds numbers (Re) were the main

variables reported by Larson [33], with the Nusselt number (Nu)
increasing by up to approximately four times. He indicated that cavitation
and the streaming effect caused the increase in Nu at low frequencies. The
wave power affects the intensity that can significantly disrupt the thermal
and velocity boundary layers. Nomura and Nakagawa [34] studied heat
transfer enhancement with cavitation and acoustic streaming on a narrow
surface at which conduction was also very important. Bergles and Newell
[35] investigated the heat transfer of water flow in an annulus, with a
heating system located inside the central pipe. They reported a local
increase of up to 40% in the heat transfer coefficient. A survey on the
techniques for enhancement of heat transfer by ultrasonic vibrations was
conducted by Bergles [36]. He reported that authors generally observed
significant increases in non-boiling heat transfer at an intermediate flow
velocity, and improvements were clearly related to cavitation. However,
he finally indicated that no sufficient increase in heat transfer was
obtained to warrant the use of ultrasound as a technique for heat transfer
intensification. When more viscous liquids were used, the relationship
between heat flow and sonic amplitude was observed to be nonlinear.
Delouei et al. investigated heat transfer enhancement of turbulent flows in
a pipe under low-frequency ultrasound [37]. Their results indicated that
the ultrasound boosted the heat transfer by up to 7.28%, and the heat
transfer capability decreased as the Re and inlet temperature increased.
In addition, Delouei et al. investigated the effect of ultrasound on heat
transfer enhancement and pressure drop in turbulent nanoflow [38]. The
results indicated that the tendency of heat transfer enhancement is
similar to that obtained from Delouei et al. [37]. However, their
information was limited to Re values in the range 4000–11,000.
Meanwhile, the ultrasound resulted in a positive pressure drop that
increased with the increase in ultrasonic power, and the positive pressure
drop was caused by the decrease in the near-wall friction from acoustic
cavitation [39].
However, information is limited on the heat transfer and pressure drop of
a duct flow under low-frequency ultrasonic waves. Thus, this study
investigated the thermal and pressure drop characteristics of turbulent
water flow in a rectangular heating duct under 25-, 33-, and 40-kHz
ultrasonic waves. Re was set from 10,000 to 25,000 at increments of
2,500, and the duct wall was set under constant heat flux conditions.
The Nu and friction factor were recorded and represented as the thermal
and flow behaviors of the controlled flow, respectively. They were
converted to thermal performance to interpret the capability of the 25–
40 kHz ultrasound range to augment heat transfer. These data should
provide strong evidence of the potential of ultrasound usage for heat
transfer enhancement in a thermal system such as a motor’s cooling
system and the inverter for an electric vehicle. In addition, this will be
important information for designers of ultrasonic heat exchangers in the
future.

Section snippets

Experimental setup
The investigation was conducted in a test system (Fig. 1). The apparatus
consisted of a 1.65-W centrifugal pump used to supply water from a water
tank to an upstream settling tank. A motor inverter was applied to control
the water flow rate in the test system. In the tank, a baffle plate was
mounted to reduce the turbulence energy of the flow, and a thermocouple
was set to measure the inlet temperature. A constant water temperature of
26 ± 0.1 °C was set at the inlet of the test section through

Data reduction and experimental verification

In the experiment, the steady-state rate of convective heat transfer was
assumed to be equal to the heat gain of water in the test
duct:Ql=QcwhereQl=ṁCp(To-Ti)where ṁ is the mass flow rate, Cp is the
specific heat capacity, and To and Ti are the outlet and inlet temperatures,
respectively. Thus, the heat transfer rate absorbed by the fluid is used to
calculate the convective heat transfer coefficient. Typically, the convection
heat transfer from the heating surface to the water can be

Hydrodynamic loss under low-frequency ultrasound

Since the friction factor represents the friction loss of water flow in a pipe,
it was measured via the pressure drop under conditions with and without
ultrasound. In this study, the Re was fixed at 10,000, 12,500, 15,000,
17,500, 20,000, 22,500, or 25,000, and the ultrasonic frequencies were
25, 33, or 40 kHz. The pressure drop was measured when the fluid flow
attained a steady state while the inlet temperature was maintained at
26 °C. Note that after the waves were released from the

Conclusions
The characteristics of the heat transfer and friction loss in turbulent water
flow in a narrow rectangular duct were experimentally investigated using
25-, 33-, and 40-kHz ultrasounds. During the test, the Re was varied in
the range of 10,000–25,000 with increments of 2500. When the
ultrasound was released from the transducer in a downward direction, the
thermal characteristics were captured using thin leaf thermocouples,
while the friction losses were detected using a differential pressure

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgement
The authors thank the Faculty of Engineering, Kasetsart University,
Bangkok, Thailand for support. Valuable suggestions were provided by
Prof. Dr. Tanongkiat Kiatsiriroat and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chawalit
Kittichaikarn.