This work presents an experimental study of the effect of a magnetic field on laminar forced convection of a ferrofluid flowing in a tube filled with permeable material. The walls of the tube are subjected to a uniform heat flux and the permeable bed consists of uniform spheres of 3-mm diameter. The ferrofluid synthesis is based on reacting iron (II) and iron (III) in an aqueous ammonia solution to form magnetite, Fe3O4. The magnetite is mixed with aqueous tetra methyl ammonium hydroxide, (CH3)4NOH, solution. The dependency of the pressure drop on the volume fraction, and comparison of the pressure drop and the temperature distribution of the tube wall is studied. Also comparison of the wall temperature distribution, convection heat transfer coefficient and the Nusselt numbers of ferrofluids with different volume fractions is investigated for various Reynolds numbers (147 < Re < 205 ). It is observed that the heat transfer is enhanced by using a porous media, increasing the volume fraction had a similar effect. The pressure coefficient decreases for higher Reynolds number. The effect of magnetic field in four strategies, named modes, on ferrofluid flow through the porous media is presented.
Experimental Study on Fluid Flow in Porous Media by MRI Technique
