Accuracy enhancement of thermal dispersion model in prediction of convective heat transfer for nanofluids considering the effects of particle migration

A thermal dispersion model is utilized for simulation of convective heat transfer of water-TiO2 nanofluid for laminar flow in circular tube. Concentration distribution at cross section of the tube was obtained considering the effects of particle migration, and this concentration distribution was applied in the numerical solution. Numerical solution was done at Reynolds numbers of 500 to 2000 and mean concentrations of 0.5 to 3%. Meanwhile, an experimental study was conducted to investigate the accuracy of the results obtained from the numerical solution. Non-uniformity of the concentration distribution increases with raising mean concentration and Reynolds number. Thereby, for mean concentration of 3%, at Reynolds numbers of 500 and 2000, the concentration from wall to center of the tube increases 2.6 and 30.9%, respectively. In the dispersion model, application of non-uniform concentration distribution improves the accuracy in prediction of the convective heat transfer coefficient in comparison with applying uniform concentration.