Enhancement of Heat Transfer Performance of a Heat Pipe by Using Calcium Magnesium Carbonate-Ethylene Glycol/Water Nanofluid with Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of using CaMg(CO3)2/Ethylene Glycol-water (50:50%) as a working fluid on the thermal performance of thermosyphon heat pipe was experimentally studied. Nanofluid was prepared by two-step method using 2% concentration of CaMg(CO3)2 nanoparticle and 0.05% surfactant (Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate). For the experimental set-up, a straight copper pipe of one-meter length was used. The inner diameter of the pipe is 13 mm, and the outer diameter is 15 mm. Experiments were conducted at three different cooling water mass flow rates (5, 7.5, and 10 g/s) and different heating powers (200, 300, 400 W) to test heat pipe performance. It was observed that the CaMg(CO3)2 nanofluid reduced the average wall temperature of the heat pipe according to the base fluid. Furthermore, the efficiency and thermal resistance of the heat pipe were investigated separately for EG/water and CaMg(CO3)2 nanofluid. The maximum heat transfer enhancement was obtained as 9.55% under 400 W heating power and 10 g/s cooling water mass flow rate conditions and the maximum improvement in thermal resistance was observed as 21% at 200 W and 10 g/s cooling mass flow rate. Viscosity and specific heat of base fluid and CaMg(CO3)2 nanofluid were also determined and compared to each other.