HYDRODYNAMIC AND HEAT TRANSFER STUDY OF DISPERSED FLUIDS WITH SUBMICRON METALLIC OXIDE PARTICLES

Turbulent friction and heat transfer behaviors of dispersed fluids (i.e., uttrafine metallic oxide particles suspended in water) in a circular pipe were investigated experimentally. Viscosity measurements were also conducted using a Brookfield rotating viscometer. Two different metallic oxide particles, γ-alumina (Al2O3) and titanium dioxide (TiO2), with mean diameters of 13 and 27 nm, respectively, were used as suspended particles. The Reynolds and Prandtl numbers varied in the ranges l04-I05 and 6.5-12.3, respectively. The viscosities of the dispersed fluids with γ-Al2O3 and TiO2 particles at a 10% volume concentration were approximately 200 and 3 times greater than that of water, respectively. These viscosity results were significantly larger than the predictions from the classical theory of suspension rheology. Darcy friction factors for the dispersed fluids of the volume concentration ranging from 1% to 3% coincided well with Kays' correlation for turbulent flow of a single-phase fluid. The Nusselt n...