Abstract
The present study investigates the effect of the shear rate-dependent thermal conductivity of non-Newtonian fluids on the heat transfer enhancement in a pipe flow. An axially-constant heat flux boundary condition was adopted in the thermal fully developed region. The present analytical results of Nusselt numbers for various non-Newtonian fluids show heat transfer enhancement over those of a shear rate-independent thermal conductivity fluids. The present analytical results showed good agreement with the previous experiments which excluded the temperature-dependent viscosity effect on heat transfer. This study also proposes the use of a shear rate-dependent thermal conductivity fluids in the design of a heat exchanger for heat transfer enhancement as well as reduction of fouling.