Nanofluids can be employed as one of the two fluids needed to improve heat exchanger performance due to their improved thermal and rheological properties. In this review, the impact of nanoparticles on nanofluid properties is discussed by analyzing factors such as the concentration, size, and shape of nanoparticles. Nanofluid thermophysical properties and flow rate directly influence the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. High thermal conductivity nanoparticles improve the heat transfer coefficient; in particular, metallic oxide (such as MgO, TiO₂, and ZnO) nanoparticles show greater enhancement of this property by up to 30% compared to the base fluid. Nanoparticle size and shape are other factors to consider as well, e.g., a significant difference in thermal conductivity enhancement from 6.41% to 9.73% could be achieved by decreasing the Al₂O₃ nanoparticle size from 90 to 10 nm, affecting nanofluid viscosity and density. In addition, equations to determine the heat transfer rate and the pressure drop in a double-pipe heat exchanger are presented. It was established that the main factor that directly influences the heat transfer coefficient is the nanofluid thermal conductivity, and nanofluid viscosity affects the pressure drop.

Changes in climate, which in recent years have become more and more visible all over the world, have forced scientists to think about technologies that use renewable energy sources. This paper proposes a passive solar heating and cooling system, which is a Trombe wall located on the southern facade of a room measuring 4.2 m × 5.2 m × 2.6 m in Wrocław, Poland. The studies were carried out by conducting a series of numerical simulations in the Ansys Fluent 16.0 environment in order to examine the temperature distribution and air circulation in the room for two representative days during the heating and cooling period, i.e., 16 January and 15 August (for a Typical Meteorological Year). A temperature increase of 1.11 °C and a temperature decrease in the morning and afternoon hours of 2.27 °C was obtained. Two options for optimizing the passive heating system were also considered. The first involved the use of triple glazing filled with argon in order to reduce heat losses to the environment, and for this solution, a temperature level that was higher by 8.50 °C next to the storage layer and an increase in the average room temperature by 1.52 °C were achieved. In turn, the second solution involved changing the wall material from concrete to brick, which resulted in a temperature increase of 0.40 °C next to the storage layer.