Enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids: a state-of-the-art review

Adding small particles into a fluid in cooling and heating processes is one of the methods to increase the rate of heat transfer by convection between the fluid and the surface. In the past decade, a new class of fluids called nanofluids, in which particles of size 1–100 nm with high thermal conductivity are suspended in a conventional heat transfer base fluid, have been developed. It has been shown that nanofluids containing a small amount of metallic or nonmetallic particles, such as Al₂O₃, CuO, Cu, SiO₂, TiO₂, have increased thermal conductivity compared with the thermal conductivity of the base fluid. In this work, effective thermal conductivity models of nanofluids are reviewed and comparisons between experimental findings and theoretical predictions are made. The results show that there exist significant discrepancies among the experimental data available and between the experimental findings and the theoretical model predictions.