Efficient Heat Transfer Augmentation in Channels with Semicircle Ribs and Hybrid Al2O3-Cu/Water Nanofluids

Hussein Togun; Raad Z Homod; Zaher Mundher Yaseen; Azher M Abed; Jameel M Dhabab; Raed Khalid Ibrahem; Sami Dhahbi; Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi; Goodarz Ahmadi; Wahiba Yaïci; Jasim M Mahdi

doi:10.3390/nano12152720

Efficient Heat Transfer Augmentation in Channels with Semicircle Ribs and Hybrid Al₂O₃-Cu/Water Nanofluids

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2022 Aug 7;12(15):2720. doi: 10.3390/nano12152720.

Authors

Hussein Togun^{1

2}, Raad Z Homod³, Zaher Mundher Yaseen^{4

5

6}, Azher M Abed⁷, Jameel M Dhabab⁸, Raed Khalid Ibrahem⁹, Sami Dhahbi¹⁰, Mohammad Mehdi Rashidi^{11

12}, Goodarz Ahmadi¹³, Wahiba Yaïci¹⁴, Jasim M Mahdi¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Thi-Qar, Nassiriya 64001, Iraq.
² College of Engineering, University of Warith Al-Anbiyaa, Karbala 56001, Iraq.
³ Department of Oil and Gas Engineering, Basrah University for Oil and Gas, Basrah 61004, Iraq.
⁴ Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁵ Adjunct Research Fellow, USQ's Advanced Data Analytics Research Group, School of Mathematics Physics and Computing, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia.
⁶ New era and Development in Civil Engineering Research Group, Scientific Research Center, Al-Ayen University, Thi-Qar 64001, Iraq.
⁷ Department of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Al-Mustaqbal University College, Babylon 51001, Iraq.
⁸ Alnukhba University College, Baghdad, Iraq.
⁹ Department of Medical Instrumentation Engineering, Al-Farahidi University, Baghdad 10015, Iraq.
¹⁰ Department of Computer Science, College of Science and Art at Mahayil, King Khalid University, Aseer 62529, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
¹² Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa.
¹³ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699-5725, USA.
¹⁴ CanmetENERGY Research Centre, Natural Resources Canada, 1 Haanel Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 1M1, Canada.
¹⁵ Department of Energy Engineering, University of Baghdad, Baghdad 10071, Iraq.

Abstract

Global technological advancements drive daily energy consumption, generating additional carbon-induced climate challenges. Modifying process parameters, optimizing design, and employing high-performance working fluids are among the techniques offered by researchers for improving the thermal efficiency of heating and cooling systems. This study investigates the heat transfer enhancement of hybrid "Al₂O₃-Cu/water" nanofluids flowing in a two-dimensional channel with semicircle ribs. The novelty of this research is in employing semicircle ribs combined with hybrid nanofluids in turbulent flow regimes. A computer modeling approach using a finite volume approach with k-ω shear stress transport turbulence model was used in these simulations. Six cases with varying rib step heights and pitch gaps, with Re numbers ranging from 10,000 to 25,000, were explored for various volume concentrations of hybrid nanofluids Al₂O₃-Cu/water (0.33%, 0.75%, 1%, and 2%). The simulation results showed that the presence of ribs enhanced the heat transfer in the passage. The Nusselt number increased when the solid volume fraction of "Al₂O₃-Cu/water" hybrid nanofluids and the Re number increased. The Nu number reached its maximum value at a 2 percent solid volume fraction for a Reynolds number of 25,000. The local pressure coefficient also improved as the Re number and volume concentration of "Al₂O₃-Cu/water" hybrid nanofluids increased. The creation of recirculation zones after and before each rib was observed in the velocity and temperature contours. A higher number of ribs was also shown to result in a larger number of recirculation zones, increasing the thermal performance.

Keywords: hybrid nanofluids; ribs channel; separated flow; thermal performance; turbulent flow.

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.