Experimental investigation on cooling tower performance with Al2O3, ZnO and Ti2O3 based nanofluids

Habibur Rahman; Altab Hossain; Mohammad Ali; Habibur Rahman; Altab Hossain; Mohammad Ali

doi:10.3934/matersci.2024045

AIMS Materials Science

2024, Volume 11, Issue 5: 935-949. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2024045

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Research article

Experimental investigation on cooling tower performance with Al₂O₃, ZnO and Ti₂O₃ based nanofluids

1.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh
2.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Faculty (MIST), BMA, Chattogram-4315, Bangladesh
3.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh

Received: 24 July 2024 Revised: 17 August 2024 Accepted: 27 August 2024 Published: 15 October 2024

This study deals with an experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a prototype mechanical wet cooling tower with a counter flow arrangement. Different volume concentrations ranging from 0.18 to 0.50 vol.% of stable Al oxide (Al₂O₃), Zn oxide (ZnO), and Ti oxide (Ti₂O₃) nanoparticles of 80, 35, and 70 nm diameter were considered. Water was taken as a base fluid, and the experiment was carried out at 60, 70, and 80 ℃, respectively, in laboratory conditions. The study revealed that an increase in the volume concentration of the nanofluids increased the cooling range, cooling efficiency, convective heat transfer coefficient, tower characteristic called number of transfer unit (NTU), and effectiveness of the cooling tower compared with water at the same mass flow rate and inlet temperature. However, increasing the volume concentration increased the viscosity of the nanofluids, leading to an increase in friction factor. For instance, for 0.18% volume concentration of ZnO, at an inlet water temperature of 66.4 ℃ and water/air (L/G) flow ratio of 1.93, the cooling range increased by 3.62%, cooling efficiency increased by 33.3%, and NTU increased by 50.5% compared with fresh water (FW).
- cooling tower,
- volume concentration,
- nanofluids,
- cooling efficiency,
- NTU
Citation: Habibur Rahman, Altab Hossain, Mohammad Ali. Experimental investigation on cooling tower performance with Al2O3, ZnO and Ti2O3 based nanofluids[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2024, 11(5): 935-949. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2024045

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Abstract

This study deals with an experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a prototype mechanical wet cooling tower with a counter flow arrangement. Different volume concentrations ranging from 0.18 to 0.50 vol.% of stable Al oxide (Al₂O₃), Zn oxide (ZnO), and Ti oxide (Ti₂O₃) nanoparticles of 80, 35, and 70 nm diameter were considered. Water was taken as a base fluid, and the experiment was carried out at 60, 70, and 80 ℃, respectively, in laboratory conditions. The study revealed that an increase in the volume concentration of the nanofluids increased the cooling range, cooling efficiency, convective heat transfer coefficient, tower characteristic called number of transfer unit (NTU), and effectiveness of the cooling tower compared with water at the same mass flow rate and inlet temperature. However, increasing the volume concentration increased the viscosity of the nanofluids, leading to an increase in friction factor. For instance, for 0.18% volume concentration of ZnO, at an inlet water temperature of 66.4 ℃ and water/air (L/G) flow ratio of 1.93, the cooling range increased by 3.62%, cooling efficiency increased by 33.3%, and NTU increased by 50.5% compared with fresh water (FW).

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