Hydrothermal Characteristics of Spinel Manganese Ferrite Nanofluid in a Metal Foam Tube: Modeling of Experimental Results using Artificial Neural Network

ABSTRACT

In this research, an experimental evaluation is conducted on the hydrothermal behavior of water-based manganese ferrite nanofluid flowing in a metal foam tube. For this purpose, manganese ferrite nanoparticles are synthesized, and X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy are implemented to specify the samples for determination of phase and size of nanoparticles. The effects of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and presence of MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles inside the water on the Nusselt number and friction factor have been studied. The experimental analysis shows that the increment of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and nanoparticles concentration improve the heat transfer performance. The maximum of 19.1% and 10.5% increase in Nusselt number and friction factor have been achieved respectively by dispersion of 2 wt% manganese ferrite nanoparticles inside the deionized water at Reynolds number of 1,000. A hydrothermal index is proposed to consider the thermal and hydrodynamic characteristics of the nanofluid, and it is attained that the convection heat transfer improvement dominates the pressure drop in this work. According to the experimental results, the Nusselt number and friction factor of the nanofluid is modeled as a function of Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and nanoparticles concentration using artificial neural network with an acceptable precision.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohammad Amani

Mohammad Amani received his Ph.D. in the field of Mechanical Engineering at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. He received his B.Sc. degree in 2009 and M.Sc. degree in 2011 from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran. He is currently working on the experimental evaluation and numerical simulation of flow and heat transfer of different types of nanofluids.

Mohammad Ameri

Mohammad Ameri is a Professor of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran. He received his B.Sc. degree from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, M.Sc. degree from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Eng. from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He has been selected as the distinguished researcher of the country. His research contributions are in the field of thermal power plants, renewable energies, and advanced nanofluid heat transfer. He is a member of editorial board of the Journal of Renewable Energy & Environment.

Alibakhsh Kasaeian

Alibakhsh Kasaeian is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of New Science and Technologies at the University of Tehran. He received his B.Sc. degree from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering, from the University of Tehran, Iran. His area of expertise and interest includes renewable energies, solar energy conversion, heat transfer, and nanofluid. He is an editor for the Journal of Thermal Engineering.