Strong enhancement in thermal conductivity of ethylene glycol-based nanofluids by amorphous and crystalline Al2O3 nanoparticles

The thermal conductivity of heating or cooling fluids is a very important property in the development of energy efficient heat transfer systems, which is one of the important needs of many industries. However, low thermal conductivity is a primary limitation in developing energy-efficient heat transfer fluids that are required for cooling purposes. Nanofluids are nanotechnology-based heat transfer fluids that are engineered by stably dispersing nanometer-sized (below 100nm) solid particles (such as ceramics, metals, alloys, semiconductors, nanotubes, and composite particles) in conventional heat transfer fluids (such as water, oil, diesel, ethylene glycol and mixtures) at relatively low particle volume concentrations. These suspended nanoparticles can change the transport and thermal properties of the base fluid. Adding to ethylene glycol, it has been observed that an enhancement of nearly 36 % with al2o3 nanoparticles and 40% enhancement with copper nanoparticles in the thermal conductivity. This paper focuses on some of the automotive applications such as coolant for automobiles, showcases a few of them that are believed to have the highest probability of success in this highly competitive industry and to raise the awareness on the promise of nanotechnology, its potential impact on the future of the automotive industry.

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Estimation of thermal conductivity of ethylene glycol-based nanofluid with hybrid suspensions of SWCNT–Al2O3 nanoparticles by correlation and ANN methods using experimental data

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry ◽

10.1007/s10973-016-6002-9 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 128 (3) ◽

pp. 1359-1371 ◽

Cited By ~ 84

Author(s):

Mohammad Hemmat Esfe ◽

Mousa Rejvani ◽

Rostam Karimpour ◽

Ali Akbar Abbasian Arani

Keyword(s):

Experimental Data ◽

Thermal Conductivity ◽

Ethylene Glycol ◽

Al2o3 Nanoparticles

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A Comparison of Empirical Correlations of Viscosity and Thermal Conductivity of Water-Ethylene Glycol-Al2O3 Nanofluids

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano10081487 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 1487

Author(s):

Dorota Sawicka ◽

Janusz T. Cieśliński ◽

Slawomir Smolen

Keyword(s):

Thermal Conductivity ◽

Ethylene Glycol ◽

Dynamic Viscosity ◽

Base Fluid ◽

Pure Water ◽

Volume Ratio ◽

Al2o3 Nanoparticles ◽

Conductivity Enhancement ◽

Viscosity Increase ◽

New Generation

Because of their superb thermal conductivity, nanofluids are seen as new generation of cooling mediums in many engineering applications. It is well established that even a small amount of nanoparticles mixed with a base fluid may result in distinct thermal conductivity enhancement. On the other hand, addition of nanoparticles to the base fluid results in its substantial viscosity increase. Therefore, it is very difficult to evaluate the relative importance of viscosity and thermal conductivity of the nanofluid on convective heat transfer performance. In order to estimate such resultant impact properly, it is necessary to develop reliable correlation equations for predictions of these two thermophysical properties of nanofluids. In this paper, the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of five fluids, i.e., pure water, ethylene glycol (EG) and three mixtures of water and EG with volume ratio of 40:60, 50:50 and 60:40 have been experimentally determined. The aforementioned fluids served as base fluids in nanofluids with Al2O3 nanoparticles at the concentration of 0.01%, 0.1% and 1% by weight. A set of 20 correlations for prediction of thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of base fluids and corresponding nanofluids has been developed. Moreover, present results have been confronted with literature data and predictions made by use of carefully selected recognized literature correlations.

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