Research on heat transfer and flow characteristics of latent functionally thermal fluid in circular tubes with embedded fins

• The flow, heat transfer, and pressure drop characteristics of MPCS were investigated in circular tubes with embedded fins. • The convective heat transfer capability of MPCS was significantly enhanced compared to deionized water. • The cross-finned tube exhibited best enhanced heat transfer capability but also resulted in high pressure drop loss. • The comprehensive evaluation coefficient of 10wt% MPCS was approximately 1.5 times higher than that of water. In this paper, an experimental investigation was arranged to study the heat transfer and flow characteristics of latent functionally thermal fluid (LFTF) in circular tubes with different fins (smooth tube, straight finned tube, and cross finned tube). The water-based microencapsulated phase change materials suspension (MPCS) as LFTF was prepared. The effects of microencapsulated phase change materials (MicroEPCM) mass concentration, inlet temperature, heat flux, and circular tube structure on heat transfer and flow performance of MPCS were investigated. The results indicated that the convective heat transfer capacity of MPCS was significantly better than that of water under the same experimental conditions. The optimal inlet temperature and heat flux were 29 °C and 4301.48 W/m 2 , respectively. Among the three types of circular tube structures, the cross-fin tube exhibited the best enhanced heat transfer capability but also resulted in the highest pressure drop loss. When the heat exchange section was a smooth circular tube, the comprehensive evaluation coefficients of 5 wt% MPCS and 10 wt% MPCS were approximately 1.3 and 1.5 times higher than that of water, respectively. This demonstrated that MicroEPCM can enhance the overall heat transfer capability. This study investigated the heat transfer and flow characteristics of LFTF in circular tubes, contributing to the expansion of its practical applications electronic device heat dissipation and battery thermal management.