Heat transfer in fully developed, laminar flows of dissipative pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids in circular conduits

This paper reports the results of a numerical study that determined the Nusselt number for hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed, laminar, dissipative flows of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids through circular conduits. Two boundary conditions were considered, constant heat flux and constant temperature. Constitutive equations were used that describe the entire flow curve, from the zero-shear rate through the infinite shear rate Newtonian regions, so that computed Nusselt numbers are valid for whatever shear rates may exist in the flow field. Nusselt numbers are reported as a function of a dimensionless shear rate parameter that establishes the region of the flow curve where the system is operating and are shown to be bound by the Newtonian and power law values. The conditions required for the system to perform at these asymptotic limits are quantified.