Experimental investigation on forced convection heat transfer of ferrofluid between two-parallel plates

This study presents an experimental investigation on forced convection heat transfer of ferrofluid between two parallel-plates in the presence of a static magnetic field (SMF). The heat transfer between two parallel-aluminum plates is studied, which heat source with a constant heat flux is applied on the bottom plate. The process of heat transfer is examined for DI-water and ferrofluid in the absence and the presence of the magnetic field. The heat transfer characteristics at the different flow rates, magnet distance from the test section (d = 2–80 mm) and nanoparticle volume fractions (ϕ = 0.25–2%wt) are compared to those of pure water. The results depicted that the heat transfer coefficient (h) and Nusselt number (Nu) of ferrofluid are higher than DI-water. In addition, the results show that applying SMF could enhance the convective heat transfer rate and it decreased by an increase in d that means the decrease in the magnetic field strength. The increase in the nanoparticle volume fraction leads to higher heat transfer enhancement. The maximum value of the heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number are achieved for SMF with d = 2 mm and ϕ = 1% wt.