NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF NOVEL FOUR LAYERSMICRO CHANNEL HEAT EXCHANGER COUPLED WITH NANO-FLUID USING TWOPHASE APPROACH

Ansys fluent is utilized to conduct an analysis of a four-layer micro channel heat exchanger (MCHE) operating in a counter-flow configuration, employing the Eulerian multiphase model. The primary focus of this research is to evaluate the thermohydraulic performance of the MCHE when utilizing a water-Al2O3 nanofluid and a Phase Change Material (PCM). The study examines the influence of nanoparticle and PCM volume fractions on the overall heat transfer coefficient. It is observed that due to its phase change properties, PCM exhibits a higher heat transfer coefficient compared to nanofluid. While nanofluids enhance thermal conductivity, they also increase viscosity, resulting in a lower overall heat transfer coefficient compared to pure PCM. The velocity, temperature, volume fraction, pressure, and density distributions provide insights into the flow, heat transfer, mixing, and dispersion characteristics of the MCHE. As the PCM volume fraction increases, the pressure drop across the MCHE decreases, leading to reduced pumping power requirements and improved energy efficiency.