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Suspension flow has an important role in various applications such as paint, material and pharmaceutical industries. Settling is considered as a resisting phenomenon in the processes dealing with suspensions. Using nanoparticles as an additive to micro-particulates has been studied in limited studies. This work presents an experimental investigation to assess the effectiveness of nanoparticles in reduction of suspension settling. Microscopic imaging and transmission measurement were used to analyze the stability factors in a container. Transmission analysis revealed that presence of nanoparticles in the suspension, decreased the sedimentation rate. Microscopy showed that the settling rate decreased after adding nanoparticles. This is attributed to the repulsive forces between microparticles caused by the halos of nanoparticle. Highly charged nanoparticles segregate to region near negligibly charged microspheres because of their repulsive Coulombic interactions. Therefore, microparticles exhibit an effective charge in presence of nanoparticles. Obtained results indicate that the nanoparticles with appropriate volume fraction can stabilize suspension of microparticles and can successfully minimize the settling rate. Proposed technique can be also implemented in other applications such as heat pipes and heat transfer devices.

During the year, due to weather conditions, the temperature fluctuations at surface level cause problems in underground pipes as a result of freezing water. One of the best prevention strategies is the use of polyurethane floor insulation for keeping the temperature of clay above zero degrees Celsius. In this study to calculate the minimum thickness of polyurethane insulation layer, the differential equation of energy is solved based on principle of separation of variables using imaginary eigenvalues for consistency with the temperature distribution in multi-layer consist of asphalt, gravel and polyurethane with finite thickness and clay as a semi-infinite medium with periodic thermal boundary conditions at surface level. Numerical approach is performed in Matlab and the results show that by using a thin layer of polyurethane it’s possible to greatly reduce the insertion depth of water pipes.

Pulsating Heat Pipes (PHPs) are new and promising heat transfer devices. To implement the novel idea to vary the startup performance of a PHP using ferrofluid with and without the application of magnetic field, an experimental investigation is conducted. The effects of several important parameters including working fluid, charging ratio, heat input, ferrofluid concentration, internal pressure, and application of magnetic field on the startup performance of Open Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes (Open Loop PHPs) have been considered and described in detail. Obtained results show that using ferrofluid instead of distilled water can improve the startup performance of PHPs in certain conditions. Furthermore, application of magnetic field on the water based ferrofluid helps PHPs to startup at lower temperatures. High concentration of ferrofluids (5 % w/v) degrades startup performance of PHPs. This study helps to design electronic cooling devices to be more efficient.Copyright © 2012 by ASME

Homogenous dispersing of nanoparticles in a base fluid is an excellent way to increase the thermal performance of heat transfer devices especially Heat Pipes (HPs). As a wickless, cheap and efficient heat pipe, Pulsating Heat Pipes (PHPs) are important candidates for thermal application considerations. In the present research an Open Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (OLPHP) is fabricated and tested experimentally. The effects of working fluid namely, water, Silica Coated ferrofluid (SC ferrofluid), and ferrofluid without surface coating of nanoparticles (ferrofluid), charging ratio, heat input, and application of magnetic field on the overall thermal performance of the OLPHPs are investigated. Experimental results show that ferrofluid has better heat transport capability relative to SC ferrofluid. Furthermore, application of magnetic field improves the heat transfer performance of OLPHPs charged with both ferrofluids.Copyright © 2012 by ASME

In the present research an experimental investigation is performed to explore the effects of working fluid, heat input, ferrofluid concentration, magnets location, and inclination angle on the thermal performance of an Open Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (OLPHP). Obtained results show that using ferrofluid can improve the thermal performance and applying a magnetic field on the water based ferrofluid decreases the thermal resistance. It shows that at an inclination angle of the OLPHP to be zero, the thermal performance of the present OLPHP reduces. Best heat transfer capability was achieved at 67.5 degree relative to horizontal axis for all of working fluids. Variation of the magnets location leads to a different thermal resistance in the OLPHP charged with ferrofluid.Copyright © 2012 by ASME