Biography
Biography: Maryam Shafahi
Abstract
Heat pipes and their applications in thermal management have been studied for decades. They are efficient, compact tools to dissipate substantial amount of heat from various engineering systems. Heat pipes are able to dissipate substantial amount of heat with a small temperature drop along their length while providing a self-pumping ability. Nanofluid heat pipes utilize nanofluid as their working fluid. Nanofluids are a relatively new class of fluids which consist of a base fluid with nano-sized particles (1–100 nm) suspended within them. These particles, generally a metal or metal oxide, alter thermal conductivity of the fluids allowing them to transfer more heat. Nevertheless, addition of nanoparticle to the base fluid increases their density and viscosity which causes more pressure drop along the heat pipe. Based on the published work of the first author, there is an optimum concentration of nanoparticles within the base fluid to exploit the maximum heat transfer in the heat pipe. The purpose of the current work is to verify the previous findings of mathematical model with experimental data. Almost all the research on the use of nanoparticles in heat pipes is either obtained by merely experimental or mathematical models. To the best of authors’ knowledge; there is a lack of information on heat pipe characteristics in the presence of a nanofluid based on a model supported by experimental data. In this work, the influence of nanofluid on the heat pipe thermal performance is studied using a mathematical analytical model supported with experimental data. The nanofluid utilized as the working fluid is Al2O3 (Alumina) mixed with water. The changes in velocity, pressure, maximum heat, and thermal resistance of the two phases in a cylindrical heat pipe are studied using Alumina nanoparticles with water as the working fluid. The expected results of the experimental model are to verify the increase in thermal conductivity, pressure drop of the liquid phase and maximum heat transfer for the nanofluid heat pipe compared to conventional cylindrical heat pipe with the same size. As a result, there will be an improvement in thermal resistance of the heat pipe using nanofluid which allows a noticeable reduction in the heat pipe size while transferring a large amount of heat with negligible temperature drop. This feature of the nanofluid heat pipe nominates this devise as a new significantly efficient heat remover for several applications in electronic cooling, aerospace and biomedical industry.