ENHANCED HEAT TRANSFER WITH ALUMINIUM OXIDE MICROPARTICLES

This study aims at experimental investigation on the effect of mixing of Al2O3 microparticles in water fluid on the heat transfer enhancement. The experiment was done in a 3 channel 1-1 pass corrugated plate heat exchanger. The plates had sinusoidal wavy surfaces with corrugation angle of 45°. Hot water at different inlet temperature ranging from 40°C to 70°C was made to flow through central channel to get cooled by water in outer channels. Experiment was measured in parallel and counter flow arrangement. The variations of hot fluid outlet temperature and effectiveness of heat exchanger were measured with rise of inlet hot fluid temperature. The required properties of the Al2O3 water mixture were measured at different concentration of Al2O3 microparticles from 0.0% to 1.275% by volume. It is observed that with volume percentage of Al2O3 increases in the cold fluid the effectiveness of heat exchanger increases substantially. The addition of Al2O3 microparticles in cooing water increases the effectiveness of heat exchanger by 0.88 in parallel flow and by 0.96 in counter flow.