JP Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer
Volume 15, Issue 4, Pages 935 - 951
(November 2018) http://dx.doi.org/10.17654/HM015040935 |
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PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A WET COOLING WATER TOWER USING GRAPHENE NANOFLUIDS
Mohammad N. Fares, Mohammad A. Al-Mayyahi and Ali D. Salman
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Abstract: Cooling towers are essential parts of many industries for streams and equipment cooling processes. Large amounts of makeup water are used within cooling towers to meet their cooling targets. However, improving of cooling towers performance could significantly reduce the amount of water being consumed. This study experimentally investigates the performance of a bench-scale cooling tower using different concentrations of graphene nanofluids, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 wt%. The graphene nanofluids were prepared using graphene flakes synthesized in a previous work with the addition of Gum Arabic for more stable nanofluids. Four different ratios of water to air flow (L/G) (0.7, 1.3, 2, and 2.7) and three different water inlet temperatures (25, 32 and 42°C) were used. The results show that using graphene nanofluids enhances the cooling tower performance. Three performance parameters were studied; cooling range, thermal efficiency, and heat transfer characteristics (KaV/L). The best cooling tower performance was found at; 0.1 wt% nanofluids concentration, the lowest L/G ratio, 0.7, and the highest inlet water temperature, 42°C. The optimum values of the cooling range, thermal efficiency, and heat transfer characteristics were 6.5°C 0.16, and 0.65 respectively. Furthermore, it is found that water evaporation rate can be reduced by 22% using graphene nanofluids concentration of 0.1wt% compared to water. |
Keywords and phrases: cooling tower, water conservation, nanofluids, thermal efficiency. |
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