Peculiarities of Convective Heat and Mass Transfer in Magnetic Nanofluids

Heat transfer enhancement due to thermomagnetic convection arising in nonisothermal electrically nonconducting ferrofluids placed in an external magnetic field is reviewed with an emphasis on realistic applications. It is shown that due to a complex composition of such fluids numerous internal physical processes can lead to directly opposite heat transfer trends. Physical factors influencing such processes are identified. It is concluded that while the complexity of such mechanisms makes designing ferrofluid-based heat exchangers a delicate task when done correctly, it ensures manyfold improvement of heat removal characteristics of such devices compared with their natural convection counterparts. This short review aims to provide a concise starting-point summary of ferrohydrodynamic effects and processes that need to be taken into account when designing practical applications.