Experimental Study of the Effects of Fluid Physical Properties and Working Temperature on Heat Transfer in Conduction Pump

In the current paper, heat transfer in conduction pumping of n-hexane and n-decane dielectrics (as working fluids) using flush electrodes is investigated by conducting experimental tests. The Study has been carried out for different fluid film thicknesses and variable applied electric voltage, and the effects of various parameters such as physical properties (ion mobility difference, density and viscosity), as well as fluid working temperature on heat transfer performance of the conduction pump have been investigated. The results show that higher ion mobility difference, as well as lower density and viscosity, increases the flow rate and heat transfer in the conduction pump, due to the improvement of the vortices formation in the vicinity of the electrodes. Moreover, it significantly increases the heat transfer in the pump by creating turbulent flow around the electrodes. On the other hand, higher operating temperatures enhance the flow rate and heat transfer due to decreasing density and viscosity and also increasing the temperature gradient between the source and the destination of heat transfer. The intense heat transfer enhancement by using the conduction phenomenon compared to the ordinary fluid flow pumping through a simple duct (having no electrodes) is seen for all film thicknesses and working temperatures. Maximum observed enhancement of Nusselt number for n-hexane and n-decane are equal to 10401% and 568%, respectively.