Convective Heat Transfer Enhancement of CNT-Water Nanofluids in Plain Tube Fitted with Wire Coil Inserts

The turbulent convective heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of CNT-water nanofluid in a horizontal tube fitted with wire coil inserts are studied experimentally. CNTs were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method with purity of more than 99%, functionalized by acid treatment and dispersed in distilled water in different concentrations. Also, the thermal conductivity and viscosity of synthesized nanofluids were measured experimentally. Convective heat transfer experiments are conducted with water and nanofluids in the range of 5000 < Re < 22000, CNT volume concentration 0 < < 0.1 % and wire coil with wire pitch of 2. The experimental results indicate that the convective heat transfer increases up to 23% in 0.05 vol% CNT-nanofluid and the heat transfer coefficient increases with CNT vol% and Reynolds number. Wire coil inserts increase the heat transfer coefficient of water and nanofluids up to 102% in Re=5700 but its performance decreases with Reynolds number. Experiments have shown that only use of wire coil inserts increases pressure drop of working fluid. Moreover, empirical correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor are proposed from nonlinear regression of the experimental data. Further, performance evaluation of enhanced tube is determined with considering opposing thermal resistance.