Numerical simulations of Al2O3/water nanofluid in turbulent pipe flow are performed with considering the particle convection, diffusion, coagulation, and breakage. The distributions of particle volume concentration, the friction factor, and heat transfer characteristics are obtained. The results show that the initial uniform distributions of particle volume concentration become nonuniform, and increase from the pipe wall to the center. The nonuniformity becomes significant along the flow direction from the entrance and attains a steady state gradually. Friction factors increase with the increase of particle volume concentrations and particle diameter, and with the decrease of Reynolds number. The friction factors increase remarkably at lower volume concentration, while slightly at higher volume concentration. The presence of nanoparticles provides higher heat transfer than pure water. The Nusselt number of nanofluids increases with increasing Reynolds number, particle volume concentration, and particle diameter. The rate increase in Nusselt number at lower particle volume concentration is more than that at higher concentration. For a fixed particle volume concentration, the friction factor is smaller while the Nusselt number is larger for the case with uniform distribution of particle volume concentration than that with nonuniform distribution. In order to effectively enhance the heat transfer using nanofluid and simultaneously save energy, it is necessary to make the particle distribution more uniform. Finally, the expressions of friction factor and Nusselt number as a function of particle volume concentration, particle diameter and Reynolds number are derived based on the numerical data.
Discussion: “Simple and Explicit Formulas for the Friction Factor in Turbulent Pipe Flow” (Haaland, S. E., 1983, ASME J. Fluids Eng., 105, pp. 89–90)