Journal of Computational & Applied Research in Mechanical Engineering (JCARME)

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, IRAN

https://doi.org/10.22061/jcarme.2026.11821.2585

Abstract

Chillers are among the most widely used air-conditioning systems, and improving their thermal performance can significantly reduce energy consumption. In the present study, the effects of Al₂O₃/water and Al₂O₃–TiO₂/water nanofluids on the performance characteristics of a shell-and-tube chiller evaporator were numerically investigated using an Eulerian-Lagrangian Discrete Phase Model (DPM). The influences of nanoparticle volume fraction, inlet fluid temperature, evaporator temperature, mass flow rate, and number of baffles were examined. Three evaporator configurations with 3, 5, and 7 baffles were considered.
The results showed that increasing the number of baffles from 5 to 7 enhanced the overall heat transfer coefficient by 6.94%. The addition of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles increased the overall heat transfer coefficient by 5.8%, while the use of Al₂O₃–TiO₂ hybrid nanoparticles resulted in an enhancement of up to 8.8%. Analysis of the performance evaluation criterion (PEC) indicated that nanoparticle volume fractions up to 0.03 provide favorable thermal performance, with an optimum value around 0.02. The results also demonstrated a significant difference between the DPM and conventional single-phase predictions, with a relative discrepancy of approximately 68% in the estimated heat transfer enhancement under the investigated conditions. The findings confirm the potential of nanofluids, particularly hybrid nanofluids, for enhancing the thermal performance of shell-and-tube chiller evaporators.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Main Subjects

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

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Journal of Computational & Applied Research in Mechanical Engineering (JCARME)

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 11 August 2026

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