Numerical Study on the Heat Transfer of the Water Jacket Cooling System in an Electric Motor for a Ball Mill Using Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanofluids

Cayllahua R.O.; Medina J.T.; Loaiza J.V.; Rodríguez J.C.; Arapa C.D. · International Journal of Heat and Technology (2026) · DOI: 10.18280/ijht.440306

Resumen

Efficient cooling of high-power electric motors is critical in industrial applications such as ball mills, where continuous thermal loads accelerate stator insulation degradation. This study numerically evaluates the thermohydraulic performance of two water jacket designs applied to a 2250kW induction motor, considering the combined effects of Reynolds number and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanofluid concentration. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the SST ω turbulence model was developed, incorporating temperature-dependent properties for an ethylene glycol-water mixture (60:40 by volume) and h-BN nanofluids up to 3 vol.% The results show that increasing the Reynolds number enhances convective heat transfer in both configurations. However, the second geometry provides a more uniform flow distribution, reducing the maximum coolant temperature by 3-4°C and the outlet temperature by up to 0.6°C, while also decreasing the pressure drop by 8-14. The addition of h-BN further improves thermal performance, achieving outlet temperature reductions of up to 4.5 at 3 vol.% with moderate increases in pressure drop. These findings indicate that the combination of optimized channel geometry and dielectric nanofluids is an effective strategy to improve the thermal reliability and operational performance of high-power industrial motors.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa