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Boundary layer analysis and heat transfer of a nanofluid

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Abstract

A theoretical model for nanofluid flow, including Brownian motion and thermophoresis, is developed and analysed. Standard boundary layer theory is used to evaluate the heat transfer coefficient near a flat surface. The model is almost identical to previous models for nanofluid flow which have predicted an increase in the heat transfer with increasing particle concentration. In contrast our work shows a marked decrease indicating that under the assumptions of the model (and similar ones) nanofluids do not enhance heat transfer. It is proposed that the discrepancy between our results and previous ones is due to a loose definition of the heat transfer coefficient and various ad hoc assumptions.

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Acknowledgments

M.M.M. gratefully acknowledges the support of a PhD grant from the Centre de Recerca Matemática. T.M. gratefully acknowledges the support of this research through the Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant Industrial applications of moving boundary problems Grant No. FP7-256417 and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Grant MTM2011-23789. B.W. also received funding from the Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant. T.M. acknowledges the kind support of Prof. J.B. van den Berg and the Mathematics Department of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, where this work was completed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recerca Matemàtica, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici C, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    M. M. MacDevette & T. G. Myers

  2. Departament de Matemàtica Aplicada I, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

    M. M. MacDevette

  3. Mathematics Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada

    B. Wetton

Authors
  1. M. M. MacDevette
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  2. T. G. Myers
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  3. B. Wetton
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Correspondence to T. G. Myers.

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MacDevette, M.M., Myers, T.G. & Wetton, B. Boundary layer analysis and heat transfer of a nanofluid. Microfluid Nanofluid 17, 401–412 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1319-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-013-1319-1

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