Exergy Analysis in a Minichannel with Nanofluid

EasyChair Preprint 6081

Abstract

Due to its better heat transfer properties and compatibility, forced convection in minichannel might be one of the most popular methods for the thermal management of electronic equipment. Using various approaches, the channel's performance may be increased even more. The most obvious method is to enhance the working fluid's thermophysical characteristics. This may be accomplished by substituting a nanofluid for the working fluid. Due to their unique properties of increased thermal conductivity, nanofluids perform better than water. The optimum design of minichannel that gives maximum possible heat transfer with minimum pressure drop can be performed by quantifying the thermodynamic losses through exergy analysis. In this work, experimental studies were performed in a single rectangular channel with a hydraulic diameter of 591 μm and an aspect ratio of 0.135. Nanofluid was prepared by dispersing Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in De-Ionised water. The single-phase flow experiments were conducted and the exergy and heat transfer characteristics have been determined using nanofluid with varying concentrations (0.01 vol % to 0.3 vol %) and compared the results with that of base fluid (water). The output exergy, exergy efficiency, and exergy gain rise as the volume percentage of nanoparticles increases and decreases as the mass flow rate increases. At a flow rate of 42.75 ml/min, the greatest exergy efficiency was determined to be 52.75 percent for 0.3 vol. percent Al₂O₃–water nanofluid. At 0.3 vol. percent nanofluid, the highest exergy gain was discovered. The most critical characteristics that contribute to the exergy gain are determined to be the output fluid temperature and pressure that are decrease through the micro channel.

Keyphrases: Exergy, Hydraulic diameter, Minichannel, Nanofluid, pH, volume fraction

@booklet{EasyChair:6081,
  author    = {Jils John and S Jeseela},
  title     = {Exergy Analysis in a Minichannel with Nanofluid},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 6081},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2021}}