Experimental thermal performance intensification of gravitational water vortex heat exchanger using hexagonal boron nitride-water nanofluid

One of the main concerns presently is the rapid improvement of thermal technology for widespread heat exchanger applications involving energy conservation and intensification of heat transfer process. For the enhancement of heat exchange processes, nanofluids have been considered as a potential substitute for conventional fluids, which in general have subpar thermal characteristics. Therefore, the present study focusses on the heat transfer enhancement and the intensification of overall thermal performance of the developed gravitational water vortex heat exchanger (GWVHE). The experimental investigation first involves the preparation and characterization of water-based hexagonal-boron nitrides (h-BN) nanofluids as well as the computation of thermophysical properties of different volume fractions of h-BN nanofluids. Subsequently, a comparative analysis evaluating the thermal energy exchange capabilities of water-to-water and water-to-h-BN nanofluids combination of two fluids has been conducted to investigate the intensification in thermal performance of the developed GWVHE. The experimental investigation is primarily based on calculating the thermal energy balance, overall heat transfer coefficient, log-mean temperature difference (LMTD) and the effectiveness of the developed GWVHE using effectiveness-NTU method. The experimental results reported that 0.02 % volume fraction of water-based h-BN nanofluids is more suitable for further testing of the developed GWVHE to mitigate the stability concerns at higher concentrations. The minimal thermal losses, that lie within the 10 % confirms the thermal energy balance and by using the h-BN nanofluids −to-water strategy for two fluids. The maximum value of heat exchange rate significantly increased from 8490 W to 9998 W with the utilization of h-BN nanofluids-to-water as compared to water-to-water combination. Furthermore, the maximum values of LMTD employing h-BN nanofluids are found to be reduced from 21.15 K to 17.53 K compared to the water-to-water combination confirming the intensification in thermal performance of GWVHE. The overall heat transfer coefficient values are also found higher when h-BN nanofluids are substituted instead of water. The maximum value of overall heat transfer coefficient for h-BN nanofluids-to-water combination is improved from 874 W/m²K to 1142 W/m²K compared to water-to-water combination. Moreover, by utilizing the h-BN nanofluids-to-water combination, the values of effectiveness are intensified by an average of 13.5 % and 9 % in both sets of testing parameters, respectively. All these maximum improvement in findings for heat exchange, overall heat transfer coefficient, effectiveness, and reduction in LMTD values are obtained by maintaining the inlet mass flow rate of cold fluid at 0.142 kg/s, while the inlet mass flow rate of hot fluid was varied in the range from 0.092 kg/s to 0.133 kg/s. Additionally, the inlet temperatures of hot and cold fluids are kept at 330 K and 296 K, respectively. Hence, the utilization of h-BN nanofluids is proven to be highly effective for boosting thermal energy exchange and enhancing the overall thermal performance of the developed GWVHE.