Skip to main content
Log in

Experimental investigation of the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of water and nanofluids in a horizontal metal foam tube

  • Original
  • Published:
Heat and Mass Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present article experimentally explored heat transfer through a horizontal metal foam tube with a constant wall heat flux during the subcooled flow boiling of water, Al2O3/H2O, and CuO/H2O nanofluids. To investigate the effect of using metallic foam on the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer, the results have been compared with a simple tube. Besides, The impacts of significant parameters, including subcooled inlet temperature (25–60 °C), mass flux (150–310 kg m−2 s−1), wall heat flux (100–230 kW m−2), particle type (CuO and Al2O3), and nanofluids concentration (0.5% wt., 1% wt.) were investigated on the transfer of boiling heat while measuring pressure loss and rate of heat transfer. The results show that the use of metal foam increases the heat transfer rate by 3.5–5.8 times compared to the simple tube. Comparing the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of water and nanofluids in both metal foam and simple tubes, it was found that water has superiority over the nanofluids. Besides, the value of the thermal performance index defined as a ratio of the heat transfer enhancement to the pressure loss degradation is more than one for water and the nanofluids.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

cp :

specific heat (J/kg K).

D :

diameter (m).

f :

friction factor.

G :

mass flux (kg/m2 s).

h :

heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K).

hlg :

latent heat (J/kg).

I :

current (A).

J :

superficial velocity (m/s).

k :

thermal conductivity (W/m K).

l :

liquid.

L :

length of the test section (m).

Leff :

effective heating length (m).

\( \dot{\mathrm{m}} \) :

mass flow rate (kg/s).

P :

pressure (Pa).

Pr :

Prandtl number.

Nu :

Nusselt number.

q :

heat flux (W/m2).

Q :

Heat (W).

R :

deviation.

Re :

Reynolds number.

r :

radius (m).

S :

nucleate boiling parameter.

T :

temperature (K).

v :

fluid velocity (m/s).

vol :

volume fraction.

V :

voltage (V).

z :

axial distance (cm).

wt :

weight percent.

ρ :

density (kg/m3).

μ :

dynamic viscosity (kg/m s).

φ :

nanoparticle fraction (%).

\( \overset{\cdotp }{\varPhi } \) :

heat rate per unit volume (W/m3).

σ :

surface tension (N/m).

η :

DC Power thermal efficiency (output power /input power).

b :

bulk.

bf :

base fluid.

f :

fluid.

FC :

force convection.

in :

inner.

g :

gas phase.

l :

liquid phase.

nf :

nanofluid.

np :

nanoparticle.

NB :

nucleate boiling.

mft :

metal foam tube.

out :

outer.

por :

porous.

sat :

saturated.

st :

simple tube.

tpi :

thermal performance index.

w :

wall.

DC:

Direct Current

HTC:

Heat Transfer Coefficient

PPI:

Pores Per Inch

References

  1. Wang G, Cheng P (2009) Subcooled flow boiling and microbubble emission boiling phenomena in a partially heated microchannel. Int J Heat Mass Transf 52:79–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Lee J, Mudawar I (2009) Critical heat flux for subcooled flow boiling in micro-channel heat sinks. Int J Heat Mass Transf 52:3341–3352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Fang X, Yuan Y, Xu A, Tian L, Wu Q (2017) Review of correlations for subcooled flow boiling heat transfer and assessment of their applicability to water. Fusion Eng Des 100:52–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Azizifar S, Ameri M, Behroyan I (2020) An experimental study of subcooled flow boiling of water in the horizontal and vertical direction of a metal-foam tube, Therm Sci Engin Prog 100748

  5. Hua S, Huang R, Li Z, Zhou P (2015) Experimental study on the heat transfer characteristics of subcooled flow boiling with cast iron heating surface. Appl Therm Eng 77:180–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Yan J, Bi Q, Liu Z, Zhu G, Cai L (2015) Subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of water in a circular tube under high heat fluxes and high mass fluxes. Fusion Eng. Des. 100:406–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hata K, Masuzaki S (2010) Subcooled boiling heat transfer for turbulent flow of water in a short vertical tube. J Heat Transf 132(1):011501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Shah M (1977) A general correlation for heat transfer during subcooled boiling in pipes and annuli. ASHRAE Trans 83(1):205–217

    Google Scholar 

  9. Eastman JA, Choi US, Li S, Thompson LJ, Lee S (1997) Enhanced thermal conductivity through the development of nanofluids, materials research society symposium – proceedings, vol. 457, Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Boston, MA, USA 3–11

  10. Abedini E, Zarei T, Afrand M, Wongwises S (2017) Experimental study of transition flow from single phase to two phase flow boiling in nanofluids. J Molecular Liquids 231:11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Sarafraz MM, Hormozi F (2016) Comparatively experimental study on the boiling thermal performance of metal oxide and multi-walled carbon nanotube nanofluids. Powder Technol 287:412–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Lee J, Mudawar I (2007) Assessment of the effectiveness of nanofluids for single-phase and two-phase heat transfer in micro-channels. Int Jour Heat Mass Trans 5:452–463

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. You SM, Kim JH, Kim KH, Effect of nanoparticles on critical heat flux of water in pool boiling heat transfer, Applied Physics Letters 83, 3374–3376

  14. Kim SJ, Bang IC, Buongiorno J, Hu LW, Effects of nanoparticle deposition on surface wettability influencing boiling heat transfer in nanofluids, Applied Physics Letters 89, 718

  15. Yu L, Sur A, Liu D (2015) Flow boiling heat transfer and two-phase flow instability of nanofluids in a minichannel. J Heat Trans 137:051502

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Fang X, Chen Y, Zhang H, Chen W, Dong A, Wang R (2016) Heat transfer and critical heat flux of nanofluid boiling: a comprehensive review. Renew Sustain Energy Reviews 62:924–940

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Nikkhah V, Sarafraz MM, Hormozi F (2015) Application of spherical copper oxide (II) water nano-fluid as a potential coolant in a boiling annular heat exchanger. Chem Biochem Eng Q 29(3):405–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Xu HJ, Gong L, Huang SB, Xu MH (2015) Flow and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluid flowing through metal foams. Int J Heat Mass Transf 83:399–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Zhang H, Ramakrishnan TS, Nikolov A, Wasan D (2018) Flow and heat transfer characteristics of nanofluid flowing through metal foams. J Colloid Interface Sci 511:48–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Azizifar S, Ameri M, Behroyan I (2020) Subcooled flow boiling of water in a metal-foam tube: an experimental study. Int Commun Heat Mass Transfer 118:104897

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Khanfer K, Vafaei K (2018) A review on the applications of nanofluids in solar energy field. Renew Energy 123:398–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Xu HJ, Xing ZB, Wang FQ, Cheng ZM (2019) Review on heat conduction, heat convection, thermal radiation and phase change heat transfer of nanofluids in porous media: fundamentals and applications. Chem Eng Sci 195:462–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ng KC, Anutosh C, Sai MA, Wang XL (2006) New Pool boiling data for water with copper-foam metal at sub-atmospheric pressures: experiments and correlation. Appl Therm Eng 26:1286–1290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Xu ZG, Zhao CY (2015) Experimental study on pool boiling heat transfer in gradient metal foams. Int J Heat Mass Transf 85:824–829

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Abadi GB, Kyung CK (2017) Enhancement of phase-change evaporators with zeotropic refrigerant mixture using metal foams. Int J Heat Mass Trans 106:908–919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Mancin S, Diani A, Doretti L, Rossetto L (2014) Liquid and flow boiling heat transfer inside a copper foam. Procedia Mater Sci 4:365–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Madani B, Zhong J, Wang K, Zhao C (2013) Experimental analysis of upward flow boiling heat transfer in a channel provided with copper metallic foam. Appl Therm Eng 52:336–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Akbari M, Galanis N, Behzadmehr A (2012) Comparative assessment of single and two-phase models for numerical studies of nanofluid turbulent forced convectio. Int J Heat Fluid Flow 37:136–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Mills KC, Su YC, Li ZS, Brooks RF (2004) Equations for the calculation of the thermos physical properties of stainless steel. ISIJ Int 44:1661–1668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Kline SJ, McClintock FA (1953) Describing uncertainties in single-sample experiments. Mech Eng 75:3–8

    Google Scholar 

  31. Wang G, Qi C, Pan Y, Li C (2018) Experimental study on heat transfer and flow characteristics of two kinds of porous metal foam tubes filled with water. Therm Sci 2:497–505

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Chen JC (1966) A correlation for boiling heat transfer to saturated fluids in convective flow. Int Eng Chem Proc Des Dev 5(3):322–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Kotepov AM (1983) Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer in Steam Generating, China Water Power Press, 224–232

  34. Thom JRS (1965) Paper 6. System on Boiling Heat Transfer in Steam Generating Units and Heat Exchangers, 15–16

  35. Zhao CY, Lu W, Tassou SA (2009) Flow boiling heat transfer in horizontal metal-foam tubes, journal of heat transfer 12

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Ameri.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

I do not have any conflict of interest regarding the manuscript with the title:

“Experimental investigation of the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of water and nanofluids in a horizontal metal foam tube”.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Azizifar, S., Ameri, M. & Behroyan, I. Experimental investigation of the subcooled flow boiling heat transfer of water and nanofluids in a horizontal metal foam tube. Heat Mass Transfer 57, 1499–1511 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03042-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-021-03042-9

Keywords

Navigation