Experimental Study on Pressure Drop of Aluminum-Oxide/Water Nanofluids

In this experimental work, frictional and local pressure losses were investigated for aluminum-oxide/water nanofluids flowing inside a circular smooth pipe, sudden contraction and expansion pipe sections, 45 and 90 deg elbows in turbulent regime. The aluminum-oxide/water nanofluids used in the experiments have volume concentrations of 1, 2, and 3%; and they have nanoparticle dimensions of 30-40 and 40-80 nm. Also, the density and viscosity of the nanofluids were determined. This study shows that aluminum-oxide/water nanofluids cause a proportional increase in frictional and local pressure losses for turbulent flow. Accordingly, the traditional equations for the friction factor and the pressure loss coefficient fail to accurately estimate the pressure drop for turbulent flows of nanofluids. New empirical equations of the friction factor and the pressure loss coefficient were formulated in the turbulent flow.