The entropy generation analysis of fully turbulent convective heat transfer to nanofluids in a circular tube is investigated numerically using the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) model. The nanofluids with particle concentration of 0%, 1%, 2%, 4% and 6% are treated as single phases of effective properties. The uniform heat flux is enforced at the tube wall. To confirm the validity of the numerical approach, the results have been compared with empirical correlations and analytical formula. The self-similarity profiles of local entropy generation are also studied, in which the peak values of entropy generation by direct dissipation, turbulent dissipation, mean temperature gradients and fluctuating temperature gradients for different Reynolds number as well as different particle concentration are observed. In addition, the effects of Reynolds number, volume fraction of nanoparticles and heat flux on total entropy generation and Bejan number are discussed. In the results, the intersection points of total entropy generation for water and four nanofluids are observed, when the entropy generation decrease before the intersection and increase after the intersection as the particle concentration increases. Finally, by definition of E_p, which combines the first law and second law of thermodynamics and attributed to evaluate the real performance of heat transfer processes, the optimal Reynolds number Re_op corresponding to the best performance and the advisable Reynolds number Re_ad providing the appropriate Reynolds number range for nanofluids in convective heat transfer can be determined.

The present article analyzes the dissipation characteristics of the direct contact condensation (DCC) phenomenon that occurs when steam is injected into a water tank at a subsonic speed using a new modeling approach for the entropy generation over the calculation domain. The developed entropy assessment model is based on the local equilibrium hypothesis of non-equilibrium thermodynamics. The fluid flow and heat transfer processes are investigated numerically. To describe the condensation and evaporation process at the vapor-liquid interface, a phase change model originated from the kinetic theory of gas is implemented with the mixture model for multiphase flow in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code ANSYS-FLUENT. The CFD predictions agree well with the published works, which indicates the phase change model combined with the mixture model is a promising way to simulate the DCC phenomenon. In addition, three clear stages as initial stage, developing stage and oscillatory stage are discriminated from both the thermal-hydraulic results and the entropy generation information. During different stages, different proportion of the entropy generation rate owing to heat transfer, viscous direct dissipation, turbulent dissipation and inner phase change in total entropy generation rate is estimated, which is favorable to deeper understanding the irreversibility of DCC phenomenon, designing and optimizing the equipment involved in the process.