Experimental investigation on laminar forced convection heat transfer of ferrofluids under an alternating magnetic field

•Convective heat transfer was enhanced by using ferrofluid under laminar conditions.•Alternating magnetic fields along the tube led to heat transfer enhancement.•Heat transfer enhancement was based on the disturbance of the thermal boundary layer.•Effects of volume fraction, magnetic field and Reynolds number were examined. This research study presents an experimental investigation on forced convection heat transfer of an aqueous ferrofluid flow passing through a circular copper tube in the presence of an alternating magnetic field. The flow passes through the tube under a uniform heat flux and laminar flow conditions. The primary objective was to intensify the particle migration and disturbance of the boundary layer by utilizing the magnetic field effect on the nanoparticles for more heat transfer enhancement. Complicated convection regimes caused by interactions between magnetic nanoparticles under various conditions were studied. The process of heat transfer was examined with different volume concentrations and under different frequencies of the applied magnetic field in detail. The convective heat transfer coefficient for distilled water and ferrofluid was measured and compared under various conditions. The results showed that applying an alternating magnetic field can enhance the convective heat transfer rate. The effects of magnetic field, volume concentration and Reynolds number on the convective heat transfer coefficient were widely investigated, and the Optimum conditions were obtained. Increasing the alternating magnetic field frequency and the volume fraction led to better heat transfer enhancement. The effect of the magnetic field in low Reynolds numbers was higher, and a maximum of 27.6% enhancement in the convection heat transfer was observed.