Forced convective flow drag and heat transfer characteristics of carbon nanotube suspensions in a horizontal small tube

This study paid attention to the effect of fluid temperatures on the forced convective flow drag and heat transfer characteristics of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWNTs)-water suspensions without any surfactants. The experiments were carried out under the two fixed average fluid temperatures of 29 and 58A degrees C. A horizontal small stainless steel tube with an inner diameter of 1.02 mm was used as the test section. The experiment results show that the flow drag characteristics of suspensions are almost the same as those of water. While the heat transfer of MWNTs suspensions with high mass concentration or high fluid temperature is significantly enhanced. The fluid temperature does not affect flow drag characteristics but has great effect on the heat transfer characteristics. Nanometer characteristics are presented by suspensions with high MWNT mass concentration or high temperature on convective heat transfer.