ABSTRACT

This paper presents an investigation of the effect of a nanofluid on the heat transfer performance of an elliptical pin-fin heat sink including the influence of pin orientation. The orientation angle of pins is increased with the number of pins in an array with a 0 degree angle for the first pin and a 90 degree angle for the last pin. To study the flow and heat transfer behaviors in a pin-fin heat sink, the three-dimensional steady Navier−Stokes and energy equations were discretized using a finite volume approach and were solved iteratively. Dl-water was used as a base coolant fluid, while copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles were used in the present study with mean diameters of 29 nm. The results showed that (1) changing the angular orientation of pins can cause significant enhancement in heat transfer, (2) a significant enhancement of heat transfer can be attained in the system due to the suspension of CuO nanoparticles in the base fluid in comparison with pure water, (3) enhancement of heat transfer is intensified with increasing volume fraction of nanoparticles and Reynolds number, and (4) an increase in the volume fraction of nanoparticles, which is responsible for higher heat transfer performance, leads to a higher pressure drop.