Effect of Magnetic Field on the Forced Convective Heat Transfer of Water–Ethylene Glycol-Based Fe₃O₄ and Fe₃O₄–MWCNT Nanofluids

Abstract

This paper discusses the forced convective heat transfer characteristics of water–ethylene glycol (EG)-based Fe3O4 nanofluid and Fe3O4–MWCNT hybrid nanofluid under the effect of a magnetic field. The results indicated that the convective heat transfer coefficient of magnetic nanofluids increased with an increase in the strength of the magnetic field. When the magnetic field strength was varied from 0 to 750 G, the maximum convective heat transfer coefficients were observed for the 0.2 wt% Fe3O4 and 0.1 wt% Fe3O4–MWNCT nanofluids, and the improvements were approximately 2.78% and 3.23%, respectively. The average pressure drops for 0.2 wt% Fe3O4 and 0.2 wt% Fe3O4–MWNCT nanofluids increased by about 4.73% and 5.23%, respectively. Owing to the extensive aggregation of nanoparticles by the external magnetic field, the heat transfer coefficient of the 0.1 wt% Fe3O4–MWNCT hybrid nanofluid was 5% higher than that of the 0.2 wt% Fe3O4 nanofluid. Therefore, the convective heat transfer can be enhanced by the dispersion stability of the nanoparticles and optimization of the magnetic field strength.

Keywords

• Fe₃O₄ nanofluid
• Fe₃O₄–MWCNT hybrid nanofluid
• forced convection
• convective heat transfer
• pressure drop
• magnetic field