J Therm Anal Calorim

DOI 10.1007/s10973-017-6372-7

Investigation of volume fraction of nanoparticles effect and aspect

ratio of the twisted tape in the tube
Omid Ali Akbari1 • Hamid Hassanzadeh Afrouzi2 • Ali Marzban3 •

Davood Toghraie4 • Hossein Malekzade5 • Abedin Arabpour1

Received: 25 February 2017 / Accepted: 25 March 2017

 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2017

Abstract In present study, the heat transfer of laminar and increasing the width of twisted tape and the concentration
turbulent flow of water/Al2O3 nanofluid in the volume of nanoparticles, heat transfer enhances.
fraction of u = 0–4% of solid nanoparticles in Reynolds
numbers of 500–25,000 have been numerically investi- Keywords Water/Al2O3 nanofluid  Twisted tapes 
gated. The studied geometrics is a three-dimensional tube Twisted ratios  Heat transfer  Turbulent flow
with the diameter of D = 2 cm and the length of
L = 50 cm. In order to increase the heat transfer inside List of symbols
horizontal tube, the twisted tape in different aspect ratios A Area (m2)
has been used. In this research, the considered geometrics C Distance between the twisted tape to the tube
with aspect parameters, such as the twisted ratios (P/W) of diameter (m)
3, 3.5 and 4, the space ratios (C/D) of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 and Cp Heat capacity (J kg-1 K-1)
the tape width ratios (W/D) at the range of 0.5–0.9, has D Tube diameter (m)
been investigated. The results indicate that, in the turbulent F Friction factor
flow, the use of solid nanoparticle in higher volume frac- H Convective heat transfer coefficient (W m-2 K-1)
tions and Reynolds numbers, comparing to the laminar K Thermal conductivity coefficient (W m-1 K-1)
flow, improves heat transfer. The existence of solid L Tube length (m)
nanoparticles in lower twisted ratios (P/W) has great effect Nu Nusselt number
on the heat transfer enhancement. In the laminar flow, by P Pressure (Pa)
P Twisting pitch (m)
Pr Prandtl number
& Davood Toghraie
Toghraee@iaukhsh.ac.ir
Q00 Heat flux (W m-2)
R Radius of the tube (m)
1
Young Researchers and Elite Club, Khomeinishahr Branch, Re Reynolds number
Islamic Azad University, Khomeini Shahr, Islamic Republic T Temperature (K)
of Iran
Uin Inlet velocity in x directions (m s-1)
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani W Width twisted tape (m)
University of Technology, Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran
x, y, z Cartesian coordinates
3
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aligoudarz Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Aligoudarz, Islamic Republic of
Iran
Greek symbols
4
D Difference
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khomeinishahr
d Tape thickness
Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomeini Shahr
84175-119, Islamic Republic of Iran u Nanoparticles volume fraction
5 l Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Qaemshahr Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Qaem Shahr, Islamic Republic of q Density (kg m-3)
Iran t Kinematics viscosity (m2 s-1)

123

Super- and sub-scripts
Ave Average
C Cold
Eff Effective
F Base fluid (pure water)
H Hot
In Inlet
Nf Nanofluid
P Solid nanoparticles
W Wall
Introduction
Using nanofluids in heat exchangers and changing in
geometrics and arrangement of heat exchangers are very
efficient in increase of heat transfer of this equipment.
Choosing surfaces with aspects and proper surface prop-
erties such as using rough and ribbed surfaces and twisted
taps with different aspect ratios in tubes, microchannels,
heat exchangers and refrigeration systems, in order to heat
transfer enhancement as the practical methods in industries
and considerable issues among the researchers. In order to
obtain the optimized aspect and states for improving heat
transfer of equipment and using various nanofluids,
numerous studies have been done by researchers [1–6]. The
basic function of twisted tapes is the augment of heat
transfer with the enhancement of pressure drop. Sundra and
Sharma [7] investigated the thermophysical properties as
thermal conductivity and viscosity for Al2O3 nanofluid in
different temperatures for flat twisted tape in the turbulent
flow. Their results evidenced that the heat transfer coeffi-
cient and friction coefficient, comparing to water fluid, is
higher. Promronge and Eisma-ard [8] experimentally
studied the heat transfer rate, friction coefficient, thermo-
hydraulic efficiency of composed twisted tapes. Guo et al.
[9] numerically simulated the heat transfer and laminar
flow of water fluid in a tube with the length of L = 0.05 m
and diameter of D = 0.02 m and also the thickness of
twisted tape d = 0.001 m and twisted pitch in twisted state
of 180 equals with H = 0.05 m and twisted ratio of H/
D = 2.5 by applying constant heat flux on the tube walls
by using short-width twisted tapes and center-cleared
twisted tapes. They figured out that, by using both methods,
the resistance of fluid flow decreases; however, both
methods have different heat transfer behavior.
Murugesan et al. [10] empirically investigated the increase
of heat transfer, friction coefficient and thermal perfor-
mance coefficient for the circular tube fitted with and
without V-cut twisted tape insert. He figured out that, in V-
cut twisted tape insert at the edge of tapes, by decreasing
twisted ratio of y and depth ratio and increase of width
ratio, Nusselt number and average friction coefficient
123
O. A. Akbari et al.
enhance. Zhang and Cheng [11] experimentally and
numerically studied the heat transfer and pressure drop of
air fluid flow, by applying constant temperature to the tube
surface and by using circular tube it edgefold-twisted-tape
inserts. They figured out that the edgefold-twisted-tape,
comparing to the ordinary twisted tapes, has higher heat
transfer enhancement. Hejazi et al. [12] experimentally
investigated the heat transfer and pressure drop along the
refrigeration of HFC-134a in a horizontal tube with tur-
bulent flow in which twisted tapes were used. His results
showed that the reduction of y accompanies with the
increase of heat transfer rate and pressure drop. Eiasma-ard
and Promvong [13] studied the effect of using circular tube
fitted with serrated twisted tape of aluminum in the tur-
bulent flow in a tube. Their empirical results showed that,
using edgefold-twisted tape, comparing to ordinary twisted
tapes, has heat transfer rate enhancement and higher fric-
tion coefficient. Saha et al. [14] empirically investigated
the heat transfer and pressure drop of turbulent flow
through the rectangular and square channels with axial
corrugation roughness and twisted tapes with and without
oblique teeth. In this research, the turbulent flow of air fluid
for Reynolds numbers of 10,000 to 100,000 has been
investigated. The results indicated that the existence of
oblique teeth has great effect on heat transfer enhancement
and pressure drop. Klaczak et al. [15] experimentally
investigated the heat transfer of laminar flow on the vertical
copper tube with twisted tapes. The result of this experi-
ment showed that, by increasing the pitch of twisted tape,
heat transfer enhances. Ferroni et al. [16] experimentally
analyze the pressure drop in constant temperature for
horizontal tube with separated, multiple, short-length
twisted tape in turbulent flow state. The result indicated
that the separated short-length twisted tapes have higher
efficiency. Wang et al. [17] performed the CFD analyze for
optimizing the regularly spaced short-length twisted tape in
a circular tube. It was evident that, by increasing twisted
angle of a, the average heat transfer and flow resistance
enhance. Yadav [18] experimentally investigated the effect
of short-length twisted tapes on the heat transfer and
pressure drop in a U-shaped tube in heat exchangers. The
results showed that the heat transfer enhancement rate in
the twisted tapes is under the influence of twisted tapes
which produced swirl flows. It averages that, the short-
length twisted tapes, comparing to the full-length twisted
tapes, have more efficiency. Eiasma-ard et al. [19] com-
paratively studied the turbulent flow among three different
states of twisted tapes, as single twisted tape, full-length
dual and regularly spaced dual twisted tapes as swirl gen-
erators, for studying heat transfer and pressure drop. He
concluded that, all free-spaced dual twisted tapes, com-
paring to full-length dual twisted tapes, have less heat
transfer enhancement. Hata and Masuzaki [20]
Investigation of volume fraction of nanoparticles effect and aspect ratio of the twisted…
systematically measured the twisted tapes and heat transfer
of swirl flow due to the exponential enhancement of heat
transfer in the inlet and twisted tapes which cause pressure
drop in a turbulent flow. The results indicated that, by
increasing Reynolds number and twisted ratio, the total
heat transfer enhances. Eiasma-ard et al. [21] studied the
turbulent flow and the effect of multiple-twisted tapes as
vortex generators on heat transfer and fluid friction in
rectangular channels. In other studies, Eiasma-ard et al.
[22, 23] also experimentally studied the effect of turbulent
flow on Nusselt number, the friction coefficient and ther-
mal performance coefficient in a short-length twisted tapes
tubes, full-length twisted with twisted ratio of 4.5. The
main propose of present study is the simultaneous inves-
tigation of solid nanoparticle with twisted tapes on the flow
parameters and laminar and turbulent heat transfer of
water/Al2O3 nanofluid in a horizontal tube. The results
related to the simulation of laminar and turbulent flow for
the introduced parameters will be investigated and
compared.
Problem statement and numerical solving details
Figure 1 shows the schematic of studied geometrics of this
numerical research. The considered geometrics is a hori-
zontal tube with inside diameter of D = 2 cm and the
length of L = 50 cm for improving the heat transfer and
flow hydro-dynamical behavior of water/Al2O3 nanofluid
in the studied geometrics, an insulated twisted tape with
dimensions of twisted pitch (P), width of twisted pitch (W),
thickness of tape (d) and the space between twisted tape to
the tube diameter (C) have been used. In order to investi-
gate the effect of aspect ratio of twisted tape on the heat
transfer simulation and nanofluid flow, the results of this
research have been explained for the parameters such as
twisted ratio of tape (P/W), space ratio (C/D) and width
ratio of tape (W/D). In this research, the considered
Water Al2O3 Nanofluid
Inlet surface q ″ = Cte surface
Fig. 1 Schematic geometrics of two- and three-dimensional tube and twisted tape at the length and width sections inside the tube
geometric with twisted ratios (P/W) of 3, 3.5 and 4 and
space ratio (C/D) of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 will be numerically
investigated. The thickness of twisted tape is d = 0.001 m.
The flow of water/Al2O3 nanofluid at the range of laminar
flow for Reynolds numbers of 500–1700, in the turbulent
flow state at the range of 5000–25,000 with volume frac-
tion of 0–4% of aluminum nanoparticle, has been numer-
ically studied.
Boundary conditions and assumptions of problem-
solving
In this study, the twisted tape is inside the smooth tube
and the constant heat flux of q00 = 10,000 W m-2 is
applied on the wall. In the inlet section of tube, the
velocity is uniform and the inlet temperature of flow is
300 K. At the outlet, the out flow condition has been used.
The boundary condition on the wall is no-slip boundary
condition. The twisted tape has been considered as a solid
and insulated body and is responsible for swirl flow inside
the tube. The boundary conditions of present study are
explained in Fig. 2. In this numerical research, the
dynamic viscosity behavior of nanofluid flow with 0–4%
of volume fraction of nanoparticles has been studied as a
Newtonian fluid and the radiation effects have been
neglected. At the inlet section, the velocity is uniform and
normal to the inlet section. The properties of nanofluid
have been assumed constant with the temperature. The
used turbulence model is k - x-SST (shear stress trans-
port) model, the nanoparticle has been used completely
mixed in the based fluid consequently, the mixture
behaved as a single-phase fluid, like water. Both phases of
fluid and nanoparticle are in thermal equilibrium, and the
relative velocity between them has been considered 0. The
studied problem is three-dimensional and is investigated
under steady-state conditions in the laminar and turbulent
regime.
W C/2
D
L δ
Twisted tape surface
123
 O. A. Akbari et al.

Tin , Uin Out flow

q ″ = Cte surface (Nin-slip boundary condition) Twisted tape surface (Nin-slip boundary condition)

Fig. 2 Layout the smooth tube, twisted tape and boundary conditions

The governing equations energy generator, due to the average velocity gradients, and
Gx is the production of this sentence from x.
The basic governing equations on solution domain
e k ¼ minðGk ; 10b kxÞ
G ð8Þ
The governing equations of present problem are including  
= = ouj
continuity equations, momentum and energy conservation Gk ¼ qui uj
oXi
equations in the Cartesian coordinate system which are ð9Þ
a
defined as follow [24]. The second-order discretization is Gx ¼ Gk
tt
used for all parameters. The turbulent model of k - x-SST
is used for modeling the turbulent flow. where vt is the turbulent kinematic viscosity, b* is the fixed
Continuity equation: model and a is calculated by following equation:
o   
ðqui Þ ¼ 0 ð1Þ a0 þ Ret =Rx
oXi a ¼ a1 ð10Þ
ð1 þ Ret =RxÞ
Vector momentum equations:
   The amount of Rx = 2.95 and a is defined as:
o   oP o oui ouj 2 oui
qui uj ¼  þ l þ  dij a1 ¼ F1 a1;1 þ ð1  F1 Þa1;2 ð11Þ
oXj oXi oXj oXj oXi 3 oXj
o  bi;1 j2
= =
þ qui uj a1;1 ¼   pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ð12Þ
oXj b1 rx;1 b1
ð2Þ bi;2 j2
a1;2 ¼   pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Energy equation: b1 rx;2 b1 ð13Þ
  
o o Cplt oT   j ¼ 0:41; bi ¼ 0:072; a ¼ a1 ¼ 1:0
ðui ðEq þ PÞÞ ¼ kþ þ ui sij eff ¼ 0
oXi oXj Prt oXj
In the above equation j = 0.41 and bi = 0.072. In higher
ð3Þ Reynolds numbers a = a? = 1. In equations of (6) and
Which in the above equation, (sij)eff is the deviatoric (7), Ck and Cx are the effective diffusions of k and x and
stress tensor E is the total energy, which is defined as: are defined as:
   
  ouj oui 2 oui lt
sij eff ¼ leff þ  leff dij ð4Þ Ck ¼ l þ ð14Þ
oXi oXj 3 oXj rk
  l
E ¼ CpT  ðP=qÞ þ u2 =2 ð5Þ Cx ¼ l þ t ð15Þ
rx
The transfer equation for the shear stress transfer model
where rx and rj state turbulent Prandtl numbers for k and
k - x is as:
  x, respectively:
o o ok e k  Yk þ S k
ðqkui Þ ¼ Ck þG ð6Þ 1
oXi oXj oXj rx ¼ ð16Þ
  F1 =rx;1 þ ð1  F1 Þ=rx;2
o o ox
ðqxkui Þ ¼ Cx þ Gx  Yx þ Dx þ Sx ð7Þ 1
oXi oXj oXj rk ¼ ð17Þ
F1 =rk;1 þ ð1  F1 Þ=rk;2
Which in the above equation Gk is the turbulent kinetic
where lt is the turbulent viscosity and is as follow:

123
Investigation of volume fraction of nanoparticles effect and aspect ratio of the twisted…

qk considering the effects of nanoparticles and base fluid,

lt ¼ a ð18Þ
x following equations are used [27–30]:
a* coefficient is damper of turbulent viscosity and is qnf ¼ ðl  uÞqf þ uqp ð27Þ
defined as follow:      
qCp nf ¼ ð1  uÞ qCp f þ u qCp p ð28Þ
  
a þ Ret =Rk
a ¼ a1 0 where q is density, Cp is specific heat in the constant
ð1 þ Ret =Rk Þ
 
pressure, u is volume fraction of nanoparticles and indexes
a ¼ a1 ¼ 1:0 of p for nanoparticle properties, f for base fluid, nf for
Ret ¼ kq=xl; Rk ¼ 6; a0 ¼ bi =3; bi ¼ 0:072 nanofluid are used. Various equations for calculating
ð19Þ dynamic viscosity properties of nanofluid have been pre-
sented. In this study, Brinkman equation has been used
The blending equation of F1 is equal with: [31, 32],
 
F1 ¼ tan U41 ð20Þ lf
" ! # lnf ¼ ð29Þ
pffiffiffi ðl  uÞ2:5
k 500l 4qk
U1 ¼ min max ; ; ð21Þ
0:09xy qy2 x rx;2 Dþ xy
2
Maxwell equation has been used for computing the effec-
  tive thermal conductivity of nanofluid [33, 34]:
1 1 ok ox  
Dþ
x ¼ max 2q ; 10 10
ð22Þ keff kp þ 2kf þ 2u kp  kf
rx;2 x oXj oXj ¼   ð30Þ
kf kp þ 2kf  u kp  kf
where in Eq. (21), D? x is the positive portion of the cross-
diffusion term. Where Yk and Yx are the indicators of where kp and keff are, respectively, the conductivity coef-
dissipation for k and x and according to the turbulence are ficient of nanoparticle, and conductivity coefficient of
defined as: nanofluid. The calculation of Nusselt number [35], Rey-
nolds number and friction coefficient can be obtained
Yk ¼ qb kx ð23Þ
[36–38]:
2 
Yx ¼ qbx ; b and b are constants ð24Þ
q00 Dh
bi ¼ F1 bi;1 þ ð1  F1 Þbi;2 ð25Þ Nuave ¼ ð31Þ
kf ðTw  Tm Þ
where Dx is the influence in cross section, while Sk and Sx qVD
Re ¼ ð32Þ
are the possible conditions of the source. In a particular l
state, Dx is equal with:   
D 2DP
f ¼ ð33Þ
1 ok ox L ql2
Dx ¼ 2ð1  F1 Þqrx;2 ð26Þ
x oXj oXj
The thermophysical properties of water/Al2O3 are indi-
cated in Table 1 [25, 26]. Numerical procedure

The governing equations on the thermophysical For steady-state solving of the studied problem, finite
properties of nanofluid volume method has been used. The velocity–pressure
algorithm has been used for discretizing the governing
In this numerical study, for calculating thermophysical equations with double precision. For saving time and
properties of nanofluid such as density and specific heat, by obtaining the considered accuracy, the maximum residual
is 1e-6 as the convergence criteria of results. The studied
problem is three-dimensional and is investigated under
Table 1 Thermophysical properties of water/Al2O3 steady state in the laminar and turbulent flow. Inside the
Material Pr q/kg m-3 Cp/J kg-1 K-1 k/W m-1 K-1 l/Pa s tube, there is a fluid twirler which generates turbulence.
These assumptions are exactly reflectors of nanofluid
Pure 6.2 997.1 4179 0.613 891e-6 behavior in engineering process. The effective thermo-
water
physical properties of nanofluid are related to temperature
Al2O3 – 3970 765 40 –
and volume fraction of nanoparticles.

123

Grid independency
The investigation of the results independency from simula-
tion is one of the basic sections of simulating process, before
numerical solution and after determining solution domain.
Usually, gridding is one of the important and time-con-
suming sections of a numerical simulation. Choosing the
kind of grid and dividing the solved area to smaller parts for
generating a proper grid have considerable importance.
Determining proper size for grid takes the maximum time
for tree-dimensional analysis, because the quality of gridding
has great influence on convergence process. Solving the
computational fluid dynamics should be independent from
the number of cells; it averages that results that change for
the cells number enhancement are negligible. In order to find
the proper cell number, the figure of Nusselt number changes
has been drawn according to the number of elements of
Fig. 3. For obtaining the proper cells numbers, for a tube
which twisted tape is inside of it, the grid independency has
been solved in Reynolds number of Re = 20,000 for pure
water fluid. Figure 3 indicates the changes of average Nus-
selt number in different cells numbers. By changing the cell
number to 3197211, the changes of Nusselt number, com-
paring to Nusselt number related to 3912152 grid number,
are approximately trite and less than 10%, so this grid
number has been chosen for simulating. In these geometrics,
according to complexity of shape and for more coincidence
and better uniformity, triangular grid has been used.
Analysis of results
The effect of twisted ratio (P/W) on results
Figure 4 indicates the investigation of twisted tape effect
inside the tube in three different twisted ratios. The
140
120
100
Nu ave
80
60
40
20
2.6e+6 2.8e+6 3.0e+6 3.2e+6 3.4e+6 3.6e+6 3.8e+6 4.0e+6
Grid Number
Fig. 3 Changes of Nusselt number in different cells number in
Reynolds number of 20,000
123
O. A. Akbari et al.
obtained Nusselt numbers have been studied in three
twisted ratios of 3, 3.5 and 4 in pure water as the working
fluid. As it is obvious from Fig. 4, the changes of Nusselt
number from twisted ratios of 4–3.5 are less than the
Nusselt number changes with twisted ratio from 3.5 to 3.
Another point that can be noticed in this section is the
increase of heat transfer rate with the augment of Reynolds
number in all studied twisted ratios. By decreasing twisted
ratio, stronger swirl flow generates and consequently cau-
ses the disruption and reduction of thermal boundary layer
thickness. These changes are responsible for the enhance-
ment of convection heat transfer. This enhancement is
usually due to the centrifugal forces of spiral movement of
fluid and tape. In higher Reynolds numbers, the effect of
twisted tape on the turbulence enhancement is less than
lower Reynolds numbers. It is noticeable that the increase
of Nusselt number is not the only reason of system effi-
ciency enhancement. Actually, Nusselt number augment
accompanies with increase of pressure drop.
The effect of reduction of twisted tape width
on the results
In Fig. 5, the effect of tape width reduction on Nusselt
number in different Reynolds numbers in twisted ratios of
3, 3.5 and 4 with pure water as the working fluid has been
showed. There are noticeable points in results obtained
from the comparison of different width ratios with constant
twisted ratios. The first is the decrease of convection heat
transfer by reduction of tape width. And this point was
predictable at first. By increasing the space between tape
and tube, the created thermal boundary layers on the tube
have sufficient time for growing and prohibiting more heat
transfer between tube and fluid. By more decreasing of this
space, the tape causes the disruption of this layer and as a
result, heat transfer increases. The other point is the effect
200
180
P/W = 4
160 P/W = 3.5
P/W = 3
140
Nu ave
120
100
80
60
40
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re
Fig. 4 Changes of Nusselt number in three different twisted ratios in
different Reynolds numbers
Investigation of volume fraction of nanoparticles effect and aspect ratio of the twisted…

Fig. 5 Changes of Nusselt 200 200

number by changing tape width C/D = 0.5
180 180 C/D = 0.5
in different twisted ratios (P/W) C/D = 0.4 C/D = 0.4
C/D = 0.3 C/D = 0.3
160 160

140 140

Nu ave

Nu ave
120 120

100 100

80 P/W = 3 80 P/W = 3.5

60 60

40 40
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re Re

180

C/D = 0.5
160 C/D = 0.4
C/D = 0.3
140

120
Nu ave

100

80 P/W = 4

60

40
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re

220 240

200 220
ϕ=0
ϕ=0 200 ϕ = 0.01
180
ϕ = 0.01 ϕ = 0.025
ϕ = 0.025 180 ϕ = 0.04
160
ϕ = 0.04
140 160
Nu ave
Nu ave

120 140

100 120

80 100

60 80

40 60
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re Re

Fig. 6 Changes of Nusselt number in twisted ratio of 4 in different Fig. 7 Nusselt number changes in twisted ratio of 3.5 in different
volume fractions of Al2O3 nanoparticles volume fractions of Al2O3 nanoparticles

of tape on creation of secondary flow. When the tape width
is higher, larger part of flow becomes under the influence of
secondary flow. The noticeable point in recent figures is the
changing process of Nusselt number, by decreasing the
width in different twisted ratios. In twisted ratio of 3, the
change of tape width creates a constant behavior in
changing of heat transfer. While twisted ratios of 3.5 and 4
from 0.3 to 0.4 are more than Nusselt number changes from
0.4 to 0.5. This problem indicates that, in higher twisted
ratios, the effect of tape width is more sensible on heat
transfer. The reason is less effect of secondary flow on this
state.

123
 O. A. Akbari et al.

The effect of nanoparticles on heat transfer The investigation of laminar flow results

In this section, the related results of turbulent heat transfer
of Al2O3 nanofluid with twisted tape are presented. In this
problem, the effect of nanoparticles on width ratio of 0.8 is
explained. It should be noticed that the effect of nanopar-
ticles in three twisted ratios of 3, 3.5 and 4 has been
studied. In each three twisted ratio, the volume fraction of
nanoparticles has been investigated. Figures 6 and 7 indi-
cate the changes of Nusselt number in different volume
fractions of Al2O3 nanoparticles in different Reynolds
numbers in twisted ratio of 4. Figure 7 indicates Nusselt
number changes in different volume fractions of Al2O3
nanoparticles in different Reynolds numbers in twisted
ratio of 3.5. Figure 8 evidenced Nusselt number changes in
different volume fraction of Al2O3 nanoparticles and
Reynolds numbers in twisted ratio of 3. By analyzing
Figs. 6–8, it can be understood that, in lower twisted ratios,
nanoparticle has great effect on heat transfer enhancement.
This fact is because of more power of swirl flows in lower
ratios. In this state, the improvement of thermal properties
is responsible for more heat transfer. However, when the
twisted ratio is higher, the effect of viscosity enhancement
is more obvious.
240
220
ϕ=0
200 ϕ = 0.01
ϕ = 0.025
180 ϕ = 0.04
Figures 9 and 10, respectively, show the static temperature
contours for pure water as the working fluid in different
longitudinal sections. These contours have been drawn for
the considered geometrics along Z axis and width section
(x–z). According to the contours it can be seen that the
thermal penetration from constant heat flux surface to the
internal layers of fluid. Figure 11 indicates the static tem-
perature contours in Re = 500 and different width ratios
for pure water. By observing these figures it can be said
that, by decreasing width ratio, thermal boundary layer
increases. On the other words, temperature gradients closed
to the wall become smaller, especially from W/D = 0.75 to
W/D = 0.9 this reduction is more significant. These
changes indicate that mixing in boundary layer is an
important factor for increasing heat transfer in twisted tape.
Figure 12 indicates the changes of Nusselt number with
different width ratios in different Reynolds numbers for
pure water as working fluid. It can be seen from the figures,
by increasing Reynolds number, Nusselt number enhances.
Also, in constant Reynolds numbers, when the width ratio
reduces, Nusselt number decreases and high width ratio
causes more heat transfer. It is noticeable that, when the
width ratio relatively increases, Nusselt number enhances
rapidly. For instance, for width ratio (W/D) of 0.75–0.9,
Nusselt number enhances with high inclination and in this
area more changes of Nusselt number can be seen. Table 2
shows the obtained Nusselt numbers from the problem-
solving in different conditions of Reynolds number and

160
Nu ave

140
Temperature: 298.15 298.65 299.15 299.65 300.15 300.65 301.15

120

100

80

60
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Re

Fig. 8 Nusselt number changes in twisted ratio of 3 in different Fig. 10 Temperature contours in (x–z) plane in width ratio (W/D) of
volume fraction of Al2O3 nanoparticles 0.5 and Reynolds number of 500

Temperature
306
305.143
304.286
303.429
302.571
301.714
300.857
300

Z = 0.001 m Z = 0.15 m Z = 0.3 m Z = 0.45 m

Fig. 9 Temperature contours for width ratio (W/D) of 0.5 and Reynolds number of 500 in different spaces from the beginning of tube

123
Investigation of volume fraction of nanoparticles effect and aspect ratio of the twisted…

299.994 300.736 301.479 302.221 302.963 303.705 304.448 305.19

W/D = 0.9 W/D = 0.75 W/D = 0.6 W/D = 0.5

Fig. 11 Temperature contour for different width ratios in constant Reynolds number of 500

55
Re = 500
Re = 800
50 Re = 500 Re = 1100
Re = 800 Re = 1400
Re = 1100 Re = 1700
45
Re = 1400
Re = 1700 40
40
Nu ave

35 35

30
30
25
Nu ave

20
25
15
0.5 0.6 0.8 0.9
W/D 20

Fig. 12 Nusselt number changes in width ratio of (W/D) and

15
different Reynolds numbers
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03
ϕ

Table 2 Amounts of average Nusselt number for pure water in dif- Fig. 13 Investigation of Al2O3 nanoparticle effect in width ratio of
ferent Reynolds numbers and width ratios W/D = 0.6
W/D Re Re Re Re Re
= 500 = 800 = 1100 = 1400 = 1700
transfer. In present study, the volume fraction of nanofluid
0.5 18.097 22.99 26.49 29.22 31.99 from 1 to 3% for different conditions of Reynolds numbers
0.6 19.17 24.13 28.4 31.13 35.31 and width ratios has been investigated. Figure 13 shows the
0.75 20.49 25.66 30.83 35.92 40.68 mentioned volume fractions effects for W/D = 0.6 and
0.9 22.31 32.49 39.377 45.83 51.69 different Reynolds numbers. By observing Fig. 13 it can be
understood that, in volume fraction of u = 0.03 and
Re = 1700, the maximum rate of Nusselt number obtains
width ratio (W/D). It can be figured out from Table 2 that and positive slop of figure from 1 to 3% indicates that, the
the maximum Nusselt number is in Re = 1700 and width increase of volume fraction is proportion with heat transfer
ratio W/D = 0.9 and its minimum is in Re = 500 and W/ enhancement and by enhancing 2% of volume fraction,
D = 0.5. The changes of Nusselt number with Reynolds more heat transfer can be obtained. As an example, in
number and width ratio can be seen separately from mentioned width ratio (W/D) and Re = 1700, Nusselt
Table 2. It averages that by increasing each of two number has been increased to 8.2% and it averages more
parameters Nusselt number augments and simultaneous heat transfer. Figures 14 and 15 indicate this procedure in
increase of both of them accompanies with more heat width ratio (W/D) of 0.5 and 0.75.

123
 O. A. Akbari et al.

Re = 500 of 3, the change of tape width is responsible for creating a

Re = 800 constant behavior in heat transfer change. The amount of
Re = 1100
Re = 1400 Nusselt number change in twisted ratios of 3.5 and 4 for C/
Re = 1700
D = 0.3 to C/D = 0.4 is more than the state of C/D = 0.4
38
to C/D = 0.5. By increasing the space between tape and
36
tube (C/D), the thermal boundary layer created on the tube
34
has sufficient time for growing and preventing of more heat
32
transfer between tube and fluid. By more reduction of this
30 space, the tape causes the distribution of this layer and
28 consequently the heat transfer increases. At the end, it can
Nu ave

26 be understood from the results of present study at the range

24 of laminar Reynolds numbers, the maximum Nusselt
22 number arises in Reynolds number of 1700 and width ratio
20 (W/D) of 0.75 and also, by increasing volume fraction of
18 nanoparticle, the rate of heat transfer enhances. The
16
extension of this paper for nanofluid according previous
0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 works [39–72] affords engineers a good option for nanos-
ϕ cale and microscale simulation.
Fig. 14 Investigation of Al2O3 nanofluid effect in width ratio of W/
D = 0.5

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