| Summary: | Thermal performance can be improved by modifying the walls of a rectangular minichannel with micro-fins of bundles
of ideal single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) (circle, square, rectangle, triangle and hexagon) and using a nanofluid. A
staggered array yields better thermal performance than an inline array as either a solid or porous medium. The thermal effects
with SWCNTs were better than multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Fins as porous media for SWCNTs resulted in heat transfer that
was 5% (maximum) greater than solid media. A staggered triangle array yielded better thermal performance as a solid (82%) or
porous medium (92%) than an unfinned array. On a minichannel, with or without nanotubes and uniform coating, nanofluid
increased the thermal performance with the best performance by CuO/H2O. Thermal enhancement of 226% was obtained using
staggered triangular fins with a larger fin height of 0.75 mm, smaller fin width of 0.5 mm, spacing the fins at double the fin
width, and 0.01% CuO/H2O nanofluid. The corresponding friction factor differential was found to be 625%.
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