ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846

Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(40), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i40/101486, October 2016 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

Experimental Studies on Heat Transfer Performance

of Double Pipe Heat Exchanger with using Baffles
and Nanofluids
Swati Singh*, Gurpreet Singh and Amit Singla
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chandigarh University, Gharuan - 140413, Punjab, India;
swati211790@gmail.com, singh.gurpreetcu@gmail.com, amit.singlacu@gmail.co.in

Abstract
Objective: The present study was made to investigate the enhancement in the heat transfer characteristics of CuO water
base nanofluids by inserting the baffles in the annulus of the double pipe heat exchanger. Statistical Analysis: The
experimentation was carried out with distilled water and copper oxide water base nanofluids at 0.1% and 0.2% volume
concentration. The effect on heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number is determined in this experiment at various
temperatures. Findings: It has been observed that in comparison to the distilled water, copper oxide nanofluids with
baffles shows more heat transfer enhancement. The result showed that the Nusselt number increased by 8% without
introducing baffles and nanofluids and 10-12% enhancement was observed with baffles and nanofluids. The enhancement
of 22-25 % has been observed in the heat transfer coefficient at 0.1% volume concentration and 25-30 % of enhancement
0.2% volume concentration. Applications: In automobile radiators, cooling towers, air preheaters, refrigeration, air
conditioning, condensers etc double pipe heat exchanger with baffles inserts can be easily implemented.

Keywords: Baffles, Copper Oxide Nanofluids, Double Pipe Heat Exchanger, Heat Transfer Coefficient, Nusselt Number

1. Introduction research has been reported to improve the performance

with using the baffles in annulus of double pipe heat
In todays era everyone is concern about the energy exchanger1 the first scientist who introduced the nanopar-
consumption as the natural resources are vanishing day ticles in 19932 in this experimentation the pressure drop
by day. Due to limitation of natural resources energy and the heat transfer characteristics has been evaluated
consumption enhances in industrial processes. Heat on the horizontal concentric tubes using the twisted
exchanger is the simplest and most effective device in wire brushes. The experiment was carried out having the
chemical processes. To maximize the heat transfer rate, counter flow arrangement. Hot and cold water is taken as
minimize the heat loss, increase energy, efforts are made the working fluid. Different parameters and pressure drop
such as by increasing area, turbulence, thermal conduc- were studied in this experiment and the result showed
tivity, by changing flow geometry etc. that there was large effect on heat transfer enhancement
Double pipe heat exchanger is the most effective and approximately 10-15 % with the use of twisted wire inserts.3
efficient heat exchanger as the design is easy to service Experimental work has been carried out in laminar flow
and requires low inventory. In recent researches, so many region on three different kinds of alumina nanoparticles
attempts has been made to improve the performance of used in concentric pipe and the improvement in heat
double pipe heat exchanger such as change the material transfer rate has been observed.4 The heat transfer per-
of heat exchanger device, modification of heat exchanger formance was studied with laminar flow arrangement
with inserting twisted tape in inner pipe but there has no in a vertical double pipe heat exchanger. Aqueous glycol

*Author for correspondence

 Experimental Studies on Heat Transfer Performance of Double Pipe Heat Exchanger with using Baffles and Nanofluids

fluid was used in a 50% solution with specific values of of 47% has been observed.14 The work represented the
viscosity and density is dependent on temperature. The effect of temperature on the thermophysical properties
cold fluid flows through the annulus space and the mass of alumina-water nanofluids at 0-0.5 % volume concen-
flow rate of fluid, inlet temperature and the geometry of trations over a temperature range 25-75 0C. The results
heat exchanger was kept constant. The result showed the showed that on increasing the nanoparticles concentra-
enhancement of 15-20 % in the heat transfer rate.5 The tion density, thermal conductivity and viscosity increased
experimentation has been carried out by using alumin- while the specific heat capacity decreased.15 numerically
ium oxide and copper oxide nanoparticles to study the investigated the effect of flow rate and nanoparticles
enhancement in convective heat transfer coefficient and concentration on heat transfer fluid flow in triangular
enhancement of convective heat transfer coefficient upto channel two phase models is used. At the inner wall a
49% observed6 with TiO2 water nanofluids the enhace- uniform heat flux is applied. The results showed that the
ment in heat transfer coefficent was reported upto 11% heat transfer rate enhanced more by using of two phase
in double pipe heat exchanger7 experimentally studied model as compared to single phase model.16 The works
the heat transfer coefficient of silver-water base nanoflu- performed on multi tube copper nickel with corrugated
ids in laminar, transition and turbulent flow regions with copper fins in a cross flow heat exchanger to evaluate the
0.3%-0.9% volume concentration and the result showed heat transfer characteristics with temperature range from
upto 10-12 % enhacement in heat transfer coefficient.8 380C 640C. The results showed that the rate of water and
In this research work comparasion between the result of air heat transfer coefficient increases constantly on water
smooth tube and two types of twisted tape by varying the and air side respectively.
flow rates was carried out and result shown that there is
improvement in heat transfer with lower twist ratio of
twisted tape as compared to the smooth tube because
2. Preparation of Nanofluids
twisted tape gives the turbulance which directly increases For the preparation of nanofluids there are basically two
the heat transfer.9 The overall heat transfer characterstics main methods named as one step and two step methods.
of double pipe heat exchanger has been investigated in In this work, nanofluids were prepared by two step meth-
this experimental work. The result showed that the in ods as it has more advantages on one step method. Two
counter flow arrangement inner side heat transfer coeffi- step methods can be use for the metallic as well as for the
cient is almost 1.5 times larger than that of outer side heat oxide nanoparticles. The required amount of nanopar-
transfer co-efficient10 with TiO2- water base nanoflu- ticles was calculated with the help of equation (1):
ids in double pipe heat exchanger the effect of Reynolds
mnp
number on Nusselt number was experimentally car-
ried out and the results concluded that Nusselt number np (1)
=
incresed with increase Reynolds number 8000- 51000 mnp mbf
and particle concentration from 0.002%- 0.02%.11In +
np bf
this research work comparision between the alumina
nanoparticles thermal conductivity to the transformer The size of the nanoparticles was confirmed with the
oil has been experimentally investigated and the results help of the transmission electron microscope (TEM). The
showed that alumina nanoparticles has higher thermal average size of the nanoparticles is 20nm was recorded
conductivity as compare to the transformer oil which is from the TEM test as shown in figure 1. Distribution of
used as the base fluid12 experimentally studied the heat the nanoparticles was done with the help of the scan-
transfer characterstics of alumina and titania in water ning electron microscope (SEM) as shown in figure 2. An
at 3% volume concentration and the result showed that XRD and EDX pattern was shown in figure 3 and figure 4
the heat transfer coefficient was 12% less than the base respectively. For the preparation of nanofluids, nanopar-
fluid at constant average velocity13 under the laminar flow ticles were mix thoroughly in the base fluid (distilled
condition in copper tubes the heat transfer performance water) with the help of the magnetic stirrer. For each
and the Nusselt number ehancement of Al2O3 water sample the stirring was done for about 60-70 minutes.
nanofluids was studied experimentally. The result showed To reduce the agglomeration and the complete disper-
that at 1.3% volume concentration the enhancement sion, the stirred nanofluids was kept under the vibrations

2 Vol 9 (40) | October 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Swati Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Amit Singla

for 150 minutes under the ultra sonic rays in the soni-
cator which increased the stability of the nanofluids.
Nanofluids were prepared without using any surfactant.
To ensure the stability of the prepared nanofluids, it was
kept in a container for one day and there was no sedi-
mentation found. Then the prepared nanofluids was use
to conduct the experiment.

Figure 4. EDX photograph of CuO nanoparticles.

3. Experimental Set Up
The experimentation has been conducted on the test
section as shown in figure 5 and figure 6 respectively.
Experimental set up consists of two concentric pipes heat
Figure 1. TEM photograph of CuO nanoparticles. exchanger, two fluid tanks of 6 liters capacity each, to raise
the temperature of the fluid a heater was installed in hot
water tank, proportional derivative controller (PID) was
installed to control the temperature of heater. To measure
and calculate the pressure drop two U-tube manometers
has been connected, the temperature of hot and cold fluid
at the inlet and outlet of double pipe heat exchanger were
measured with the help of four K-type thermocouples. To
measure the surface temperature three K-type thermo-
couples has been installed on the inner surface of tube, to
control the flow rate of water and nanofluids in pipe and
annulus spacing two rotameters of range 0-5 lpm was
used. To enhance the heat transfer performance modifi-
cation is done at the outer surface of inner pipe by using

Figure 2. SEM photograph of CuO nanoparticles.

CuO
2100

2000
d=2.32852, 38.636
d=2.53038, 35.447

1900

1800

1700

1600

1500

1400

1300
Lin (Counts)

1200

1100
d=1.86880, 48.685

1000
d=1.41259, 66.092
d=1.37738, 68.008
d=1.50739, 61.463
d=2.75672, 32.452

900
d=1.58280, 58.244

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120

2-Theta - Scale
CuO - File: CuO.raw - Type: 2Th/Th locked - Start: 5.000 - End: 119.998 - Step: 0.019 - Step time: 38.4 s - Temp.: 25 C (Room) - Time Started: 11 s - 2-Theta: 5.000 - Theta: 2.500 - Chi: 0.00 - P
Operations: Smooth 0.150 | Y Scale Mul 0.750 | Import

Figure 3. XRD photograph of CuO nanoparticles. Figure 5. Schematic diagram of Experimental Setup.

Vol 9 (40) | October 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3
 Experimental Studies on Heat Transfer Performance of Double Pipe Heat Exchanger with using Baffles and Nanofluids

baffles and introducing nanofluids, while conducting the Xuan and Roetzel17 equation was used to evaluate the
experiment hot water flows in the inner pipe and nano- specific heat:
fluids flows in the annulus spacing of the double pipe heat
exchanger. The experimentation has been conducted with
Cpnf ( Cp) p ) + (1 ) (Cp) w
= (4)
base fluid (water) and then with the nanofluids (working The specific heat for nanofluids at 0.1% and 0.2%
fluid) at 0.1% and 0.2% volume concentrations of copper volume concentrations was measured by a differential
oxide nanoparticles at the different ranges of hot water scanning calorimeter (DSC).
temperatures 300C, 400C, 500C and 600C. Yu and Choi18 equation was used to calculate the
thermal conductivity at 0.1% and 0.2% volume concen-
trations:
k s + ( n 1) kbf ( n 1) (kbf k p )
knf = kbf

ks + ( n 1) kbf (kbf k p ) (5)

The thermal conductivity of nanofluids was measured

by KD2-Pro analyzer with accuracy 1.2%.

4.2 Data Processing

In this experimentation, data was evaluated with the help
of following relations:
To obtain the Reynolds number following relation
was used:
Figure 6. Photographic view of the Experimental setup.
VDh
Re = (6)

4. Data Analysis for the
Where, the hydraulic diameter was calculated by:
Nanofluids Thermophysical
4 A0
Properties DH = (7)
P

To calculate the heat transfer rate following relations

4.1 Nanofluids Thermophysical Properties was used:
In this research, the nanofluids thermophysical prop- = Qh mhC ph (Th ,i Th ,o ) (8.a)
erties like viscosity, density, thermal conductivity and
were measured and calculated at 0.1% and 0.2% volume = Qc mc C pc (TC ,O TC ,i ) (8.b)
concentrations on various temperatures with the help of
theoretical models. The overall heat transfer coefficient was calculated by
Pak and Cho equation was used to calculate the den-
12
using equation 9:
sity theoretically: Qavg
nf = p + (1 ) w (2)
U = (9)
AT LM

A density meter was used to measure the density of The average heat transfer rate was calculated by using
the nanofluids. equation 10:
Wen and Ding13 equation was used to measure the
Qh + Qnf
theoretically viscosity: Qavg = (10)
2
= bf (1 + 2.5 ) (3)
To measure the LMTD (logarithmic mean tempera-
The viscosity was calculated by Brookfield viscometer. ture difference) following equation was used:

4 Vol 9 (40) | October 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Swati Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Amit Singla

(Th,i Tc,o ) (Th,o Tc.i )

TLMTD =
T T 0.1v%/v
LN ( h ,i c ,o ) 0.2v%/v
Th ,o Tc ,i 1.036

Thermal Conductivity ratio ( Knf / Kbf )

(11)
To calculate the heat transfer coefficient equation (12)
has been used: 1.029

Qavg
h= (12)
A(Tb Tw ) 1.022

The Nusselt number was calculated by the following

relation: 30 40 50 60

hDH Temperature (0C)

Nu = (13)
k Figure 7. Variation of thermal conductivity ratio with
temperature.
5. Results
The experimentally investigated results on copper oxide 0.1% v/v
0.2% v/v
water base nanofluids and the nanoparticles volume
concentration was taken at 0.1% and 0.2% volume con- 1.040

centrations by inserting baffles and the results has been

Density ratio ( nf / bf )

evaluated in this section.

The results clearly showed that as the temperature of 1.035

the nanoparticles concentration increases the thermal

conductivity also increases. At 0.2% volume concentra-
tion maximum enhancement was observed. The variation 1.030

in temperature with nanoparticles concentration on ther-

mal conductivity ratio was shown in figure 7. 30 40 50 60
Temperature (0C)
It has been also observed that as the nanoparticles
concentration increases the density also increases and
Figure 8. Variation of density ratio with temperature.
decreases with the rise in temperature, the variation of
nanoparticles concentrations with temperature on the
density ratio was observed in figure 8. Maximum decre- 0.1% v/v
1.3 0.2% v/v
ment was shown at 600C operating temperature.
The result showed that viscosity increases as the
nanoparticles concentration increases with the rise in
temperature. The variation of viscosity ratio was shown
Viscosity ratio ( bf / nf )

1.2
in figure 9. The results showed that the enhancement at
0.2% volume concentration was found maximum at 600C
operating temperature.
1.1

5.1 Variation of Nusselt number on

Reynolds number without baffle insertion at
60C of operating temperature 1.0
30 40 50 60
The results showed the variation of Nusselt number on Temperature (0C)
Reynolds number of CuO water base nanofluids at 0.1%
and 0.2% volume concentration to the distilled water was Figure 9. Effect of temperature on viscosity ratio.

Vol 9 (40) | October 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 5
 Experimental Studies on Heat Transfer Performance of Double Pipe Heat Exchanger with using Baffles and Nanofluids

shown in figure 10. Reynolds number specific range was 5.3 Heat Transfer Coefficient Variation with
maintained from 1000-12000. Maximum enhancement different Reynolds number without Baffle
was observed 8% at 0.2% volume concentration.
Insertion at 60C
The results showed that as the CuO nanoparticles concen-
0.1% v/v
0.2% v/v tration increases the heat transfer coefficient also increases
with the Reynolds number. The result was shown in figure
1.036 12 at 0.1% and 0.2% volume concentration respectively
and the enhancement of 22-25 % has been observed with-
Nusselt Number ( Nunf / Nubf )

out inserting the baffles.

1.029

0.1% v/v
1.05 0.2% v/v

Heat Transfer Coefficiet Ratio ( hnf / hnf )

1.022

1.04
0 2000 4000 6000 8000
Reynolds Number

1.03
Figure 10. Effect of Nusselt number on Reynolds number
on ratio without inserting baffles.
1.02

5.2 Variation of Nusselt number with

Reynolds number and Baffle Insertion at
0 4000 8000 12000
Reynolds Number
60C of Operating Temperature
Total enhancement of 10-12 % has been observed in the Figure 12. Effect of heat transfer coefficient ratio on
Nusselt number after inserting the baffles in the parallel Reynolds number without inserting baffles.
flow concentric tube type heat exchanger at 0.2% volume
concentration as shown in figure 11. 5.4 Variation of Heat Transfer Coefficient
at different Reynolds number with Baffle
Insertion at 60C
1.14 0.1% v/v The results showed that as Reynolds number increases the
0.2% v/v heat transfer coefficient also increases after the insertion
1.11 of baffles at 600C and it was found that it is highest for
Nusselt Number ( Nunf / Nubf )

nanofluids at 0.2% volume concentration. Total enhance-

1.08
ment of 25-30% approx has been found out in case of
nanofluids is shown in figure 13.
1.05

1.02
6. Conclusion
0.99
The present study has been conducted on copper oxide
water nanofluids. The main concern of experiment was
0.96
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 to evaluate the nanoparticles concentration effect on
Reynolds Number the Nusselt number and on the heat transfer character-
istics with or without inserting baffles. After studied the
Figure 11. Effect of Nusselt number on Reynolds number results it was concluded that the Nusselt number and the
ratio with inserting baffles. heat transfer characteristics increased after inserting the

6 Vol 9 (40) | October 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Swati Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Amit Singla

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