Experimental investigation on the heat transfer performance analysis in silver nano-coated double pipe heat exchanger using displacement reaction

Abstract Production of energy and its demand due to higher consumption by growing industrial sectors and increasing population is now becoming a major issue to mankind. So, proper utilization of the available energy and to generate energy with minimum energy losses is required. To achieve that, highly efficient equipment is needed. Energy generating powerhouses like power plants, chemical industries, engines in automobiles, airplanes, ships, refrigerators and air conditioners, solar equipment are producing a huge amount of useful energies and their performance are highly relies on the energy exchanging devices like heat exchangers. To enhance its performance many researchers are doing high-end research all around the world. In that, the assimilation of nano-particles in the heat exchanging medium plays a significant role in enhancing the heat transfer rate. In this work, the silver nanoparticles as a coating material over the heat exchanging surface using the displacement reaction method was experimentally studied. The coated heat exchanging surface was taken as copper which acted as a tube side where the hot water is circulated. The silver particles are finely deposited over the copper pipe like flower-shaped dendritic structures. The copper pipe was placed inside the Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) pipe which acted as a shell side tube since it holds high thermal resistance and cheap in cost. The results depict that the heat transfer coefficient in the nano-coated surface was increased, with the increase in the mass flow rate was observed, with 95 percent enhancement compared to bare copper pipe. The entire process was observed in counter-current type of flow with higher heat transfer performance.