Numerical assessment of the influence of helical baffle on the hydrothermal aspects of nanofluid turbulent forced convection inside a heat exchanger

Abstract

Abstract This study is devoted to the numerical assessment of the influence of helical baffle on the hydrothermal aspects and irreversibility behavior of the turbulent forced convection flow of water-CuO nanofluid (NF) inside a hairpin heat exchanger with 100 mm length, 10 mm inner tube internal diameter, and 15 mm outer diameter internal diameter. The variations of the first-law and second-law performance metrics are investigated in terms of Reynolds number (Re = 5000–10,000), volume concentration of NF ( $$\varphi =0-4\mathrm{\%}$$ φ = 0 - 4 % ) and baffle pitch (B = 25–100 mm). The results show that the NF Nusselt number grows with the rise of both the Re and $$\varphi$$ φ whereas it declines with the rise of B. In addition, the outcomes depicted that the rise of both Re and $$\varphi$$ φ results in the rise of pressure drop, while it declines with the increase of B. Moreover, it was found that the best thermal performance of NF is equal to 1.067, which belongs to the case B = 33.3 mm, $$\varphi$$ φ =2%, and Re = 10,000. Furthermore, it was shown that irreversibilities due to fluid friction and heat transfer augment with the rise of Re while the rise of B results in the decrease of frictional irreversibilities. Finally, the outcomes revealed that with the rise of B, the heat transfer irreversibilities first intensify and then diminish.