Thermo-hydraulic performance of metal oxide nanofluid flow through the helical coil tube of a three-fluid heat exchanger: an experimental and optimization study

The thermo-hydraulic performance of a three-fluid heat exchanger (TFHE) to concurrently transfer heat from a heated nanofluid to ordinary water and air is the subject of investigation in this paper. The fluid flow and heat transfer abilities of the TFHE concerning changes in nanofluid (Al2O3-water, CuO-water, Fe2O3-water) are used to quantify effectiveness and pressure drop. Parametric studies having nanofluid volume fraction (1%, 5%, and 10%), flow rate (100LPH, 150LPH, and 200LPH), and inlet temperature (80°C, 120°C, and 160°C) respectively are considered in the present experimentation. The results of the experiment demonstrate that the use of CuO-water nanofluid at an intake temperature of 160°C and 5% volume percentage led to a considerable improvement in heat transfer effectiveness, with a maximum value of 0.884. At a flow rate of 100 LPH, a volume percentage of 1%, and an inlet temperature of 160°C, the Al2O3-water nanofluid exhibits the least amount of pressure loss. Nine test runs with four control factors are conducted using Taguchi’s experiment design. From Taguchi analysis, it is observed that the nanofluid volume flow rate and nanofluid inlet temperature have the largest and lowest contributions of 68.83%, 3.76%, and 72.05%, 2.03% respectively on heat transfer effectiveness and pressure drop of the TFHE. A multi-response optimization is carried out using the Taguchi-Gray Analysis to determine the least pressure drop and the highest possible heat transfer effectiveness. At 1% volume fraction, 100 LPH volume flow rate, and 160°C intake temperature, Al2O3-water nanofluids show an increase in the total performance of the TFHE of 10.39%.