Hot Water Making Potential Using of a Conventional Air-Conditioner as an Air-Water Heat Pump

AbstractHeat pumps denote a novel technology with great potential to decrease the energy consumption in many industries. It is a device that removes heat from the source at low temperature to the sink at high temperature by using mechanical work. Normally, it uses the same basic refrigeration cycle. However, the difference between a heat pump and a conventional air conditioner is that a heat pump can be used to provide heating or cooling by using a reversing valve. The objective of the present study is to investigate the potential of hot water producing by using a conventional air conditioner as air-water heat pump. Air conditioner with cooling capacity of 1 TR and working with R-22 was used in this study. The room temperatures were adjusted at the range between 21-25 oC and the hot water temperatures were kept at 40, 45 and 50 oC, respectively. The water cooled condenser was immersed in the hot water tank with 40 liters capacity. All experimental data were measured at steady state condition. COP of the heat pump system is compared with the conventional air conditioner. Moreover, the effect of setting room temperature and setting hot water temperature on the COP, time interval for making of 200 L hot water, power consumption at compressor and equivalent energy required for 200 L hot water making are presented

Heat transfer through heat exchanger using Al₂O₃ nanofluid at different concentrations

This article reports an experimental study on the forced convective heat transfer and flow characteristics of a nanofluid consisting of water and different volume concentrations of Al₂O₃ nanofluid (0.3–2)% flowing in a horizontal shell and tube heat exchanger counter flow under turbulent flow conditions are investigated. The Al₂O₃ nanoparticles of about 30 nm diameter are used in the present study. The results show that the convective heat transfer coefficient of nanofluid is slightly higher than that of the base liquid at same mass flow rate and at same inlet temperature. The heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluid increases with an increase in the mass flow rate, also the heat transfer coefficient increases with the increase of the volume concentration of the Al₂O₃ nanofluid, however increasing the volume concentration cause increase in the viscosity of the nanofluid leading to increase in friction factor

Heat transfer and entropy generation analysis of HFE 7000 based nanorefrigerants

In this study, two dimensional numerical simulations of forced convection flow of HFE 7000 based nanofluids in a horizontal circular tube subjected to a constant and uniform heat flux in laminar flow was performed by using single phase homogeneous model. Four different nanofluids considered in the present study are Al2O3, CuO, SiO2 and MgO nanoparticles dispersed in pure HFE 7000. The simulations were performed with particle volumetric concentrations of 0, 1, 4 and 6% and Reynolds number of 400, 800, 1200 and 1600. Most of the previous studies on the forced convective flow of nanofluids have been investigated through hydrodynamic and heat transfer analysis. Therefore, there is limited number of numerical studies which include both heat transfer and entropy generation investigations of the convective flow of nanofluids. The objective of the present work is to study the influence of each dispersed particles, their volume concentrations and Reynolds number on the hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics as well as the entropy generation of the flow. In addition, experimental data for Al2O3-water nanofluid was compared with the simulation model and high level agreement was found between the simulation and experimental results. The numerical results reveal that the average heat transfer coefficient augments with an increase in Reynolds number and the volume concentration for all the above considered nanofluids. It is found that the highest increase in the average heat transfer coefficient is obtained at the highest volume concentration ratio (6%) for each nanofluids. The increase in the average heat transfer coefficient is found to be 17.5% for MgO-HFE 7000 nanofluid, followed by Al2O3-HFE 7000 (16.9%), CuO-HFE 7000 (15.1%) and SiO2-HFE 7000 (14.6%). However, the results show that the enhancement in heat transfer coefficient is accompanied by the increase in pressure drop, which is about (9.3 - 28.2%). Furthermore, the results demonstrate that total entropy generation reduces with the rising Reynolds number and particle volume concentration for each nanofluid. Therefore, the use of HFE 7000 based MgO, Al2O3, CuO and SiO2 nanofluids in the laminar flow regime is beneficial and enhances the thermal performance

Performance evaluation on an air-cooled heat exchanger for alumina nanofluid under laminar flow

This study analyzes the characteristics of alumina (Al2O3)/water nanofluid to determine the feasibility of its application in an air-cooled heat exchanger for heat dissipation for PEMFC or electronic chip cooling. The experimental sample was Al2O3/water nanofluid produced by the direct synthesis method at three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt.%). The experiments in this study measured the thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid with weight fractions and sample temperatures (20-60°C), and then used the nanofluid in an actual air-cooled heat exchanger to assess its heat exchange capacity and pressure drop under laminar flow. Experimental results show that the nanofluid has a higher heat exchange capacity than water, and a higher concentration of nanoparticles provides an even better ratio of the heat exchange. The maximum enhanced ratio of heat exchange and pressure drop for all the experimental parameters in this study was about 39% and 5.6%, respectively. In addition to nanoparticle concentration, the temperature and mass flow rates of the working fluid can affect the enhanced ratio of heat exchange and pressure drop of nanofluid. The cross-section aspect ratio of tube in the heat exchanger is another important factor to be taken into consideration

Preparation and characterization of carbon nanofluid by a plasma arc nanoparticles synthesis system

Heat dissipation from electrical appliances is a significant issue with contemporary electrical devices. One factor in the improvement of heat dissipation is the heat transfer performance of the working fluid. In this study, we used plasma arc technology to produce a nanofluid of carbon nanoparticles dispersed in distilled water. In a one-step synthesis, carbon was simultaneously heated and vaporized in the chamber, the carbon vapor and particles were then carried to a collector, where cooling furnished the desired carbon/water nanofluid. The particle size and shape were determined using the light-scattering size analyzer, SEM, and TEM. Crystal morphology was examined by XRD. Finally, the characterization include thermal conductivity, viscosity, density and electric conductivity were evaluated by suitable instruments under different temperatures. The thermal conductivity of carbon/water nanofluid increased by about 25% at 50°C compared to distilled water. The experimental results demonstrated excellent thermal conductivity and feasibility for manufacturing of carbon/water nanofluids

Toward nanofluids of ultra-high thermal conductivity

The assessment of proposed origins for thermal conductivity enhancement in nanofluids signifies the importance of particle morphology and coupled transport in determining nanofluid heat conduction and thermal conductivity. The success of developing nanofluids of superior conductivity depends thus very much on our understanding and manipulation of the morphology and the coupled transport. Nanofluids with conductivity of upper Hashin-Shtrikman (H-S) bound can be obtained by manipulating particles into an interconnected configuration that disperses the base fluid and thus significantly enhancing the particle-fluid interfacial energy transport. Nanofluids with conductivity higher than the upper H-S bound could also be developed by manipulating the coupled transport among various transport processes, and thus the nature of heat conduction in nanofluids. While the direct contributions of ordered liquid layer and particle Brownian motion to the nanofluid conductivity are negligible, their indirect effects can be significant via their influence on the particle morphology and/or the coupled transport

Experimental and theoretical studies of nanofluid thermal conductivity enhancement: a review

Nanofluids, i.e., well-dispersed (metallic) nanoparticles at low- volume fractions in liquids, may enhance the mixture's thermal conductivity, knf, over the base-fluid values. Thus, they are potentially useful for advanced cooling of micro-systems. Focusing mainly on dilute suspensions of well-dispersed spherical nanoparticles in water or ethylene glycol, recent experimental observations, associated measurement techniques, and new theories as well as useful correlations have been reviewed

A review on the heat and mass transfer phenomena in nanofluid coolants with special focus on automotive applications

Engineered suspensions of nanosized particles (nanofluids) are characterized by superior thermal properties. Due to the increasing need for ultrahigh performance cooling in many industries, nanofluids have been widely investigated as next-generation coolants. However, the multiscale nature of nanofluids implies nontrivial relations between their design characteristics and the resulting thermo-physical properties, which are far from being fully understood. This pronounced sensitivity is the main reason for some contradictory results among both experimental evidence and theoretical considerations presented in the literature. In this Review, the role of fundamental heat and mass transfer mechanisms governing thermo-physical properties of nanofluids is assessed, from both experimental and theoretical point of view. Starting from the characteristic nanoscale transport phenomena occurring at the particle-fluid interface, a comprehensive review of the influence of geometrical (particle shape, size and volume concentration), physical (temperature) and chemical (particle material, pH and surfactant concentration in the base fluid) parameters on the nanofluid properties was carried out. Particular focus was devoted to highlight the advantages of using nanofluids as coolants for automotive heat exchangers, and a number of design guidelines was suggested for balancing thermal conductivity and viscosity enhancement in nanofluids. This Review may contribute to a more rational design of the thermo-physical properties of particle suspensions, therefore easing the translation of nanofluid technology from small-scale research laboratories to large-scale industrial applications

Thermal and Hydraulic Performances of Nanofluids Flow in Microchannel Heat Sink with Multiple Zigzag Flow Channels

This article presents an experimental investigation on the heat transfer performance and pressure drop characteristic of two types of nanofluids flowing through microchannel heat sink with multiple zigzag flow channel structures (MZMCHS). SiO2 nanoparticles dispersed in DI water with concentrations of 0.3 and 0.6 vol.% were used as working fluid. MZMCHS made from copper material with dimension of 28 × 33 mm. Hydraulic diameter of MZMCHs is designed at 1 mm, 7 number of flow channels and heat transfer area is about 1,238 mm2. Effects of particle concentration and flow rate on the thermal and hydraulic performances are determined and then compare with the common base fluid. The results indicated that the heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids was higher than that of the water and increased with increasing particle concentration as well as Reynolds number. For pressure drop, the particle concentrations have no significant effect on the pressure drop across the test section