Al2O3/water nano-fluid forced convective flow in a rectangular curved micro-channel: first and second law analysis, single-phase and multi-phase approach

Abstract

Al2O3/water nano-fluid flow is investigated in a rectangular curved micro-channel using computational fluid dynamics and a comparative study has been conducted between single-phase and multi-phase approaches for modeling of nano-particles addition. The effects of nano-particles volume fraction and Reynolds number on pressure drop, Nusselt number and entropy generation are assessed. Results showed that, increasing nano-particles volume fraction raises Nusselt number, in addition to pressure drop enhancement. Entropy generation due to fluid friction, heat transfer and total entropy generation are also analyzed and the effects of different parameters are investigated. According to the results, nano-particles volume fraction decreases entropy generation due to heat transfer and enhances entropy generation due to fluid friction. It is also noted that nano-particles volume concentration and Reynolds number can alter the dominant source of irreversibility on total irreversibility. Furthermore, Eulerian multi-phase mixture model is compared with single-phase model in curved rectangular micro-channel.