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Updated: May 31, 2026

Measurements of Local Instantaneous Convective Heat Transfer in a Pipe - Single and Two-phase Flow
Published on: April 30, 2018
Particle shape effect on heat transfer performance in an oscillating heat pipe
Yulong Ji1, Corey Wilson, Hsiu-Hung Chen
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. mah@missouri.edu.
Abstract:
The effect of alumina nanoparticles on the heat transfer performance of an oscillating heat pipe (OHP) was investigated experimentally. A binary mixture of ethylene glycol (EG) and deionized water (50/50 by volume) was used as the base fluid for the OHP. Four types of nanoparticles with shapes of platelet, blade, cylinder, and brick were studied, respectively. Experimental results show that the alumina nanoparticles added in the OHP significantly affect the heat transfer performance and it depends on the particle shape and volume fraction. When the OHP was charged with EG and cylinder-like alumina nanoparticles, the OHP can achieve the best heat transfer performance among four types of particles investigated herein. In addition, even though previous research found that these alumina nanofluids were not beneficial in laminar or turbulent flow mode, they can enhance the heat transfer performance of an OHP.
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