Performance Enhancement of Plate Heat Exchangers Using MWCNTs-SiO2 Hybrid Nanofluids: A CFD Analysis on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics

Performance Enhancement of Plate Heat Exchangers Using MWCNTs-SiO2 Hybrid Nanofluids: A CFD Analysis on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Performance Enhancement of Plate Heat Exchangers Using MWCNTs-SiO 2 Hybrid Nanofluids: A CFD Analysis on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics Saeed Zeinali Heris, Nima Zolfagharian, Seyed Borhan Mousavi, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4920410/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Heat exchangers play a vital role in numerous sectors like power generation and automotive manufacturing. Enhancing the energy efficiency of these exchangers stands as a significant hurdle. Utilizing nanofluids emerges as an optimal solution to augment heat transfer rates, leveraging their superior thermal conductivity while addressing economic constraints linked with traditional heat exchanger technologies. The motivation for this study is to consider the comprehensive synergistic features of MWCNTs, SiO 2 , and hybrid MWCNTs–SiO 2 EG-based nanofluids in plate heat exchangers. This was achieved by simulating a plate heat exchanger using CFD (Fluent and Gambit softwares) considering the comparison of two SiO 2 , MWCNTs, and their hybrid forms at different mass concentrations. The Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method was employed to model turbulent flows, and the nanoparticles were compared in both single-phase and two-phase states, with their properties derived from experimental studies. Moreover, Nusselt number, convective heat transfer coefficient, and pressure drop variations were computed at different Reynolds numbers. The findings indicated an increase in the Nusselt number with the incorporation of the hybrid nanofluid, achieving a maximum enhancement of 11.19% in comparison to EG at a Reynolds number of 240 and a concentration of 0.86 wt.%. Noticeably, the pressure drop remained negligible at lower Reynolds numbers, exhibiting marginal variations up to 0.3% at higher Reynolds numbers. At a concentration of 0.86 wt.% and a Reynolds number of 480, the introduction of MWCNTs, hybrid, and SiO 2 nano-additives resulted in respective increases in the heat transfer coefficient by 21.02%, 10.76%, and 2.16% and corresponding alterations in pressure drop of 0.11%, 0.04%, and 0.02%. Chemical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Thermal conductivity Convective heat transfer Pressure drop Nusselt number Reynolds number Heat exchanger Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4920410","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":340776142,"identity":"90ec11c0-1338-4f03-b879-7c2f09aa5bb4","order_by":0,"name":"Saeed Zeinali Heris","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Xi’an University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saeed","middleName":"Zeinali","lastName":"Heris","suffix":""},{"id":340776143,"identity":"7f4f9d99-b7d8-4715-bc4d-30bd400318f1","order_by":1,"name":"Nima Zolfagharian","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Tabriz","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nima","middleName":"","lastName":"Zolfagharian","suffix":""},{"id":340776144,"identity":"dd358a03-2ad6-4018-9f71-2e32a1c27245","order_by":2,"name":"Seyed Borhan Mousavi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA7klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLAC3gYGBgMQ4wMQs7GTooVxBkgLMylamHlAPEJa5Nt7DB+83WGTb85+9uhmm1/b5PmYGRg/fMzBrcXgzBljw7ln0ix39uSl3c7tu23YxszALDlzGx4tEjlm0rxthw0MDuSY3c7tuc0I1MLGzItHi/z8N+a/wVrOvzG7bdlz256gFoYbPGbMYC03gLYw/LidSFCLwZm0YkmgX4Ba3pjd7G24ndzGzNiM1y/y7Yc3fgCGGNBhOWY3fvy5bTu/vfngh4/4HMbAYYBgM7aByQZ86oGA/QES5w8BxaNgFIyCUTAiAQA/t1RlAqiqigAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3799-2747","institution":"Texas A\u0026M University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Seyed","middleName":"Borhan","lastName":"Mousavi","suffix":""},{"id":340776145,"identity":"f615e7b1-df6b-41f9-aeca-8003c9c641b1","order_by":3,"name":"Shamin Hosseini Nami","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Oklahoma","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shamin","middleName":"Hosseini","lastName":"Nami","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-08-15 16:07:43","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4920410/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4920410/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":62736489,"identity":"a46bf885-df75-4deb-b0c6-b6572b6ddcf4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-19 01:26:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":994299,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"NimaZolfagharianRS.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4920410/v1_covered_f72fb5d3-ea10-4030-a3e7-fff7fd5b706c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePerformance Enhancement of Plate Heat Exchangers Using MWCNTs-SiO\u003c/strong\u003e\u003csub\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/sub\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e Hybrid Nanofluids: A CFD Analysis on Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Characteristics\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Thermal conductivity; Convective heat transfer; Pressure drop; Nusselt number; Reynolds number; Heat exchanger","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4920410/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4920410/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eHeat exchangers play a vital role in numerous sectors like power generation and automotive manufacturing. 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