Thermal management and power generation characteristics in a bifurcating channel by using a piezo-embedded inclined elastic fin assembly during turbulent forced convection of ternary nanofluid

Abstract

Numerous engineering systems use piezoelectric energy harvesters (PE-EHs), which have several benefits including low cost, simplicity, better power density, and ease of installation. They can be used in different applications for energy harvesting and different external sources such as wind and vortex induced vibrations due to fluid–structure interaction can be utilized. This study uses a unique elastic fin PE/EH assembly for power generation, thermal management, and flow control in a bifurcating channel. Performance of the system is improved by using ternary nanofluid in the channel cooling system. Galerkin weighted residual FEM with ALE is used as the solution method. The convective heat transfer performance and power generation by the EH device are investigated in relation to the varying following parameters: Reynolds number (Re between 10000 and 30000), PE-EH inclination ($\gamma$ between 0 and 60), fin horizontal location ($x_f$ between $-H$ and $H$), and nanoparticle loading in the base fluid ($\varphi$ between 0 and 0.03). The vortex size and distribution near the junction are significantly influenced by the fin inclination and horizontal location of the fin assembly within the bifurcating channel. When varying other parameters of interest, using nanofluid at the highest loading results in significant deflection of the fin assembly and power generation within the PE-EH. Enhancement factors (EFs) for power generation becomes 15.6 and 39.8 when cases of lowest and highest Re are compared with pure fluid and nanofluid while they are 2.93 and 3.38 for thermal performance improvements. Fin inclination of $\gamma =30$ is found as the optimum inclination for achieving the highest power from the assembly. Higher inclination of elastic fin/PE-EH assembly results in cooling performance deterioration while average Nu reduces by a factor of 2.94 by varying inclination from $\gamma =30$ to $\gamma =60$ with nanofluid. For power generation, effects of using nanofluid with varying inclination is significant and EF becomes 252 from $\gamma =0$ to $\gamma =30$. There are opposing tendencies for the device’s power generation and cooling performance enhancement when the fin’s horizontal placement is changed. EF for average Nu is 7.25 for varying fin location. As the loading of nanoparticle inside the base fluid increases, the average Nu and generated power exhibit non-linear rising characteristics. Polynomial type correlations are provided for the average Nu and power from the device by varying elastic fin assembly inclination and nanoparticle solid volume fraction. Potential of using hybrid nanofluid in PE-EH embedded thermo-fluid system is shown. The design, development, and optimization of self-sufficient power production systems that may be used to various thermo-fluid systems, such as electronic cooling and thermal control in a range of heat transfer devices, may benefit from the findings.