An experimental study on thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids containing carbon nanotubes

Recently, there has been considerable interest in the use of nanofluids for enhancing thermal performance. It has been shown that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are capable of enhancing the thermal performance of conventional working liquids. Although much work has been devoted on the impact of CNT concentrations on the thermo-physical properties of nanofluids, the effects of preparation methods on the stability, thermal conductivity and viscosity of CNT suspensions are not well understood. This study is focused on providing experimental data on the effects of ultrasonication, temperature and surfactant on the thermo-physical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanofluids. Three types of surfactants were used in the experiments, namely, gum arabic (GA), sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluid suspensions were measured at various temperatures. The results showed that the use of GA in the nanofluid leads to superior thermal conductivity compared to the use of SDBS and SDS. With distilled water as the base liquid, the samples were prepared with 0.5 wt.% MWCNTs and 0.25% GA and sonicated at various times. The results showed that the sonication time influences the thermal conductivity, viscosity and dispersion of nanofluids. The thermal conductivity of nanofluids was typically enhanced with an increase in temperature and sonication time. In the present study, the maximum thermal conductivity enhancement was found to be 22.31% (the ratio of 1.22) at temperature of 45°C and sonication time of 40 min. The viscosity of nanofluids exhibited non-Newtonian shear-thinning behaviour. It was found that the viscosity of MWCNT nanofluids increases to a maximum value at a sonication time of 7 min and subsequently decreases with a further increase in sonication time. The presented data clearly indicated that the viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluids are influenced by the sonication time. Image analysis was carried out using TEM in order to observe the dispersion characteristics of all samples. The findings revealed that the CNT agglomerates breakup with increasing sonication time. At high sonication times, all agglomerates disappear and the CNTs are fragmented and their mean length decreases.     

Preparation and properties of copper-oil-based nanofluids

In this study, the lipophilic Cu nanoparticles were synthesized by surface modification method to improve their dispersion stability in hydrophobic organic media. The oil-based nanofluids were prepared with the lipophilic Cu nanoparticles. The transport properties, viscosity, and thermal conductivity of the nanofluids have been measured. The viscosities and thermal conductivities of the nanofluids with the surface-modified nanoparticles have higher values than the base fluids do. The composition has more significant effects on the thermal conductivity than on the viscosity. It is valuable to prepare an appropriate oil-based nanofluid for enhancing the heat-transfer capacity of a hydrophobic system. The effects of adding Cu nanoparticles on the thermal oxidation stability of the fluids were investigated by measuring the hydroperoxide concentration in the Cu/kerosene nanofluids. The hydroperoxide concentrations are observed to be clearly lower in the Cu nanofluids than in their base fluids. Appropriate amounts of metal nanoparticles added in a hydrocarbon fuel can enhance the thermal oxidation stability.     

Heat transfer and flow behaviour of aqueous suspensions of titanate nanotubes (nanofluids)

Titanate nanotubes of an aspect ratio of ~ 10 are synthesized, characterised and dispersed in water to form stable nanofluids containing 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 wt.% of the nanotubes. Experiments are then carried out to investigate the effective thermal conductivity, rheological behaviour and forced convective heat transfer of the nanofluids. The results show a small thermal conductivity enhancement of ~ 3% at 25 °C and ~ 5% at 40 °C for the 2.5 wt.% nanofluid. The nanofluids are found to be non-Newtonian with obvious shear thinning behaviour with the shear viscosity decreasing with increasing shear rate at low shear rates. The shear viscosity approaches constant at a shear rate higher than ~ 100-1000 s^− 1 depending nanoparticle concentration. The high shear viscosity is found to be much higher than that predicted by the conventional viscosity models for dilute suspensions. Despite the small thermal conduction enhancement, an excellent enhancement is observed on the convective heat transfer coefficient, which is much higher than that of the thermal conductivity enhancement. In comparison with nanofluids containing spherical titania nanoparticles under similar conditions, the enhancement of both thermal conductivity and convective heat transfer coefficient of the titanate nanotube nanofluids is considerably higher indicating the important role of particle shape in the heat transfer enhancement. Possible mechanisms are also proposed for the observed enhancement of the convective heat transfer coefficient.     

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF PARAMETERS AFFECTING NANOFLUID EFFECTIVE THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY

The present research reports nanofluid effective thermal conductivity enhancements (ETCE) using an accurate transient short hot wire method system. Preparation of nanofluids was carried out through a two-step method with highly powered pulses similar to that for nanoparticle dispersion in base fluids. Parameters affecting nanofluid heat conductivity such as concentration, sizes, and material of nanoparticle? type of base fluid, temperature, ultrasonic mixing time, and elapsed time after preparation were studied. In the present study, nanoparticles of Al, Al₂O₃, CuO, SnO₂, TiO₂, and SiO₂ with base fluids of water and ethylene glycol were used. Parameters like concentration, size, temperature, and the type of base fluid showed more noticeable effect on the effective thermal conductivity than the others, and mixing time had the least effect. The results showed that any increase in concentration and temperature, and also any decrease in size of nanoparticles and time elapsed after nanofluid preparation, leads to the ETCE of the nanofluid. However, the effects of nanoparticle material, base fluid, and mixing time on thermal conductivity of the nanofluid showed varying trends. Last, a number of mathematical models for prediction of thermal conductivity of nanofluids were applied.     

Effect of alumina nanoparticles in the fluid on heat transfer in double-pipe heat exchanger system

This study was performed to investigate the convective heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids made of several alumina nanoparticles and transformer oil which flow through a double pipe heat exchanger system in the laminar flow regime. The nanofluids exhibited a considerable increase of heat transfer coefficients. Although the thermal conductivity of alumina is not high, it is much higher than that of the base fluids. The nanofluids tested displayed good thermal properties. One of the possible reasons for the enhancement on heat transfer of nanofluids can be explained by the high concentration of nanoparticles in the thermal boundary layer at the wall side through the migration of nanoparticles. To understand the enhancement of heat transfer of nanofluid, an experimental correlation was proposed for an alumina-transformer oil nanofluid system.     

Discussion on the thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids

Increasing interests have been paid to nanofluids because of the intriguing heat transfer enhancement performances presented by this kind of promising heat transfer media. We produced a series of nanofluids and measured their thermal conductivities. In this article, we discussed the measurements and the enhancements of the thermal conductivity of a variety of nanofluids. The base fluids used included those that are most employed heat transfer fluids, such as deionized water (DW), ethylene glycol (EG), glycerol, silicone oil, and the binary mixture of DW and EG. Various nanoparticles (NPs) involving Al₂O₃ NPs with different sizes, SiC NPs with different shapes, MgO NPs, ZnO NPs, SiO₂ NPs, Fe₃O₄ NPs, TiO₂ NPs, diamond NPs, and carbon nanotubes with different pretreatments were used as additives. Our findings demonstrated that the thermal conductivity enhancements of nanofluids could be influenced by multi-faceted factors including the volume fraction of the dispersed NPs, the tested temperature, the thermal conductivity of the base fluid, the size of the dispersed NPs, the pretreatment process, and the additives of the fluids. The thermal transport mechanisms in nanofluids were further discussed, and the promising approaches for optimizing the thermal conductivity of nanofluids have been proposed.     

Enhancements of thermal conductivities with Cu,CuO, and carbon nanotube nanofluids and application of MWNT/water nanofluid on a water chiller system

In this study, enhancements of thermal conductivities of ethylene glycol, water, and synthetic engine oil in the presence of copper (Cu), copper oxide (CuO), and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) are investigated using both physical mixing method (two-step method) and chemical reduction method (one-step method). The chemical reduction method is, however, used only for nanofluid containing Cu nanoparticle in water. The thermal conductivities of the nanofluids are measured by a modified transient hot wire method. Experimental results show that nanofluids with low concentration of Cu, CuO, or carbon nanotube (CNT) have considerably higher thermal conductivity than identical base liquids. For CuO-ethylene glycol suspensions at 5 vol.%, MWNT-ethylene glycol at 1 vol.%, MWNT-water at 1.5 vol.%, and MWNT-synthetic engine oil at 2 vol.%, thermal conductivity is enhanced by 22.4, 12.4, 17, and 30%, respectively. For Cu-water at 0.1 vol.%, thermal conductivity is increased by 23.8%. The thermal conductivity improvement for CuO and CNT nanofluids is approximately linear with the volume fraction. On the other hand, a strong dependence of thermal conductivity on the measured time is observed for Cu-water nanofluid. The system performance of a 10-RT water chiller (air conditioner) subject to MWNT/water nanofluid is experimentally investigated. The system is tested at the standard water chiller rating condition in the range of the flow rate from 60 to 140 L/min. In spite of the static measurement of thermal conductivity of nanofluid shows only 1.3% increase at room temperature relative to the base fluid at volume fraction of 0.001 (0.1 vol.%), it is observed that a 4.2% increase of cooling capacity and a small decrease of power consumption about 0.8% occur for the nanofluid system at a flow rate of 100 L/min. This result clearly indicates that the enhancement of cooling capacity is not just related to thermal conductivity alone. Dynamic effect, such as nanoparticle dispersion may effectively augment the system performance. It is also found that the dynamic dispersion is comparatively effective at lower flow rate regime, e.g., transition or laminar flow and becomes less effective at higher flow rate regime. Test results show that the coefficient of performance of the water chiller is increased by 5.15% relative to that without nanofluid.     

Surfactant-free ionic liquid-based nanofluids with remarkable thermal conductivity enhancement at very low loading of graphene

We report for the first time the preparation of highly stable graphene (GE)-based nanofluids with ionic liquid as base fluids (ionic liquid-based nanofluids (Ionanofluids)) without any surfactant and the subsequent investigations on their thermal conductivity, specific heat, and viscosity. The microstructure of the GE and MWCNTs are observed by transmission electron microscope. Thermal conductivity (TC), specific heat, and viscosity of these Ionanofluids were measured for different weight fractions and at varying temperatures, demonstrating that the Ionanofluids exhibit considerably higher TC and lower viscosity than that of their base fluids without significant specific heat decrease. An enhancement in TC by about 15.5% and 18.6% has been achieved at 25 °C and 65 °C respectively for the GE-based nanofluid at mass fraction of as low as 0.06%, which is larger than that of the MWCNT-dispersed nanofluid at the same loading. When the temperature rises, the TC and specific heat of the Ionanofluid increase clearly, while the viscosity decreases sharply. Moreover, the viscosity of the prepared Ionanofluids is lower than that of the base fluid. All these advantages of this new kind of Ionanofluid make it an ideal fluid for heat transfer and thermal storage.     

Surfactant-free dispersion of silver nanoparticles into MWCNT-aqueous nanofluids prepared by one-step technique and their thermal characteristics

This paper reports a significant enhancement in the thermal conductivity of silver-nanoparticle-based aqueous nanofluids with the addition of negligible amounts of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The present work was conducted using purified MWCNTs/water nanofluids prepared by a wet grinding method. Silver nanoparticles were dispersed into the MWCNT/water nanofluids via a one-step method using pulse power evaporation, which was observed to improve the dispersibility and thermal conductivity of the nanofluids. A particle sizing system (PSS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to confirm the size of silver nanoparticles in base fluids. The PSS measurement results reveal that the size of the silver nanoparticles was approximately 100 nm, which is in good agreement with the results obtained from TEM and SEM. The maximum absorbance (2.506 abs at a wavelength of 264 nm) and highest thermal conductivity enhancement (14.5% at 40 °C) were achieved by a fluid containing ‘0.05 wt% MWCNTs–3 wt% Ag’ composite.     

Al2O3-based nanofluids: a review

Ultrahigh performance cooling 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 engineered by suspending nanoparticles with average sizes below 100 nm in heat transfer fluids such as water, oil, diesel, ethylene glycol, etc. Innovative heat transfer fluids are produced by suspending metallic or nonmetallic nanometer-sized solid particles. Experiments have shown that nanofluids have substantial higher thermal conductivities compared to the base fluids. These suspended nanoparticles can change the transport and thermal properties of the base fluid. As can be seen from the literature, extensive research has been carried out in alumina-water and CuO-water systems besides few reports in Cu-water-, TiO₂-, zirconia-, diamond-, SiC-, Fe₃O₄-, Ag-, Au-, and CNT-based systems. The aim of this review is to summarize recent developments in research on the stability of nanofluids, enhancement of thermal conductivities, viscosity, and heat transfer characteristics of alumina (Al₂O₃)-based nanofluids. The Al₂O₃ nanoparticles varied in the range of 13 to 302 nm to prepare nanofluids, and the observed enhancement in the thermal conductivity is 2% to 36%.     

An Investigation on the Thermal Effusivity of Nanofluids Containing Al(2)O(3) and CuO Nanoparticles

The thermal effusivity of Al(2)O(3) and CuO nanofluids in different base fluids, i.e., deionized water, ethylene glycol and olive oil were investigated. The nanofluids, nanoparticles dispersed in base fluids; were prepared by mixing Al(2)O(3), CuO nanopowder and the base fluids using sonication with high-powered pulses to ensure a good uniform dispersion of nanoparticles in the base fluids. The morphology of the particles in the base fluids was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In this study, a phase frequency scan of the front pyroelectric configuration technique, with a thermally thick PVDF pyroelectric sensor and sample, was used to measure the thermal effusivity of the prepared nanofluids. The experimental results of the thermal effusivity of the studied solvents (deionized water, ethylene glycol and olive oil) showed good agreement with literature values, and were reduced in the presence of nanoparticles. The thermal effusivity of the nanofluid was found to be particularly sensitive to its base fluid and the type of nanoparticles.     

碳纳米管复合物纳米流体切削液的稳定性与强化换热

将润滑剂硫化异丁烯（T321）填充到碳纳米管（CNTs）内以后制成复合物,再利用复合物制备了一种纳米流体切削液,研究了该纳米流体的分散稳定性、导热和黏度特性,分析了酸化处理时间、碳管微粒类型与浓度、表面活性剂、测试条件等对上述性能的影响。结果表明,T321填充CNTs时的填充率为25%左右,制备稳定分散纳米流体所需的两种表面活性剂十二烷基苯磺酸钠（SDBS）与吐温-80（TW-80）的最佳复配比例为3∶7,复配活性剂与碳管的最佳比例为5∶1。当CNTs的酸化处理时间为9h左右,且在充分、稳定分散的条件下,复合物可使基液的热导率提高110%,CNTs的形状因子对热导率的影响最为显著。所制备的纳米流体为一种非牛顿流体,当活性剂质量分数为0.5%左右时,其动力黏度最小。与普通CNTs所制备的纳米流体比,复合物纳米流体的热导率更高、黏度更小,这是由于在CNTs的开口与内部填充过程中,其表面被化学修饰,使复合物在基础液中具有更好的分散稳定性。     

Investigation of thermal conductivity and rheological properties of nanofluids containing graphene nanoplatelets

In the present study, stable homogeneous graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) nanofluids were prepared without any surfactant by high-power ultrasonic (probe) dispersion of GNPs in distilled water. The concentrations of nanofluids were maintained at 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1 wt.% for three different specific surface areas of 300, 500, and 750 m²/g. Transmission electron microscopy image shows that the suspensions are homogeneous and most of the materials have been well dispersed. The stability of nanofluid was investigated using a UV-visible spectrophotometer in a time span of 600 h, and zeta potential after dispersion had been investigated to elucidate its role on dispersion characteristics. The rheological properties of GNP nanofluids approach Newtonian and non-Newtonian behaviors where viscosity decreases linearly with the rise of temperature. The thermal conductivity results show that the dispersed nanoparticles can always enhance the thermal conductivity of the base fluid, and the highest enhancement was obtained to be 27.64% in the concentration of 0.1 wt.% of GNPs with a specific surface area of 750 m²/g. Electrical conductivity of the GNP nanofluids shows a significant enhancement by dispersion of GNPs in distilled water. This novel type of nanofluids shows outstanding potential for replacements as advanced heat transfer fluids in medium temperature applications including solar collectors and heat exchanger systems.     

基于尿素/氯化胆碱低共熔溶剂体系纳米流体制备及其热物性研究

随着电子工业的快速发展,传统换热工质由于其较低的热导率已无法满足越来越高的换热需求。另一方面,传统的换热工质受限其相对较窄的液程范围而无法使用于复杂的温况或特殊的工作条件。低共熔溶剂（DESs）具有与离子液体相似的低饱和蒸气压、高沸点及强稳定性等优势,在传热领域具有巨大的潜力。制备了以尿素/氯化胆碱低共熔溶剂体系为基液,石墨烯、Al₂O₃、TiO₂三种纳米粒子填充的纳米流体,研究了黏度、热导率等热物性与纳米粒子和基液组成之间的关系,并系统地研究了纳米粒子结构对其稳定性的影响。实验结果表明,纳米粒子的填充会在一定程度上增加基液的黏度,其中石墨烯填充的纳米流体的黏度增加最大。此外,石墨烯能显著提高DESs的导热性能,其中6%（质量）石墨烯纳米流体热导率相比基液可增加29.0%。     

氧化铝有机纳米流体的流动传热基础特性

以氧化铝为纳米粒子、丙二醇和水为基础液体制备了氧化铝有机纳米流体,分别测量了它的沸点、热导率、比热容和黏度。以1％～5％（体积分数）的氧化铝纳米流体作为冷介质,测试了在车用机油冷却器中的传热系数和流动阻力。试验结果表明,纳米粒子能够显著强化基础液体在机油冷却器中的换热能力,粒子体积分数和流体温度是影响纳米流体热物性的重要因素。氧化铝纳米流体的沸点高于120℃,比热容随体积分数增加而降低,热导率、黏度和在机油冷却器中的传热系数均随粒子体积分数的增加而提高。在试验Ⅱ中,5％（体积分数）纳米流体的平均传热系数比基础液体提高了124.56％,而流动阻力增幅较小。     

Particle size effects in the thermal conductivity enhancement of copper-based nanofluids

We present an analysis of the dispersion characteristics and thermal conductivity performance of copper-based nanofluids. The copper nanoparticles were prepared using a chemical reduction methodology in the presence of a stabilizing surfactant, oleic acid or cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). Nanofluids were prepared using water as the base fluid with copper nanoparticle concentrations of 0.55 and 1.0 vol.%. A dispersing agent, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS), and subsequent ultrasonication was used to ensure homogenous dispersion of the copper nanopowders in water. Particle size distribution of the copper nanoparticles in the base fluid was determined by dynamic light scattering. We found that the 0.55 vol.% Cu nanofluids exhibited excellent dispersion in the presence of SDBS. In addition, a dynamic thermal conductivity setup was developed and used to measure the thermal conductivity performance of the nanofluids. The 0.55 vol.% Cu nanofluids exhibited a thermal conductivity enhancement of approximately 22%. In the case of the nanofluids prepared from the powders synthesized in the presence of CTAB, the enhancement was approximately 48% over the base fluid for the 1.0 vol.% Cu nanofluids, which is higher than the enhancement values found in the literature. These results can be directly related to the particle/agglomerate size of the copper nanoparticles in water, as determined from dynamic light scattering.     

Effect of particle size on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids containing metallic nanoparticles

A one-parameter model is presented for the thermal conductivity of nanofluids containing dispersed metallic nanoparticles. The model takes into account the decrease in thermal conductivity of metal nanoparticles with decreasing size. Although literature data could be correlated well using the model, the effect of the size of the particles on the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid could not be elucidated from these data. Therefore, new thermal conductivity measurements are reported for six nanofluids containing silver nanoparticles of different sizes and volume fractions. The results provide strong evidence that the decrease in the thermal conductivity of the solid with particle size must be considered when developing models for the thermal conductivity of nanofluids.     

纳米流体热导率的测量

运用瞬态热线法测定了不同种类、不同体积份额配比的纳米流体的热导率,分析了纳米粒子属性、份额、尺度等因素对纳米流体热导率的影响.实验结果表明,在液体中添加纳米粒子显著增加了液体的热导率.通过对实验结果进行分析,提出了计算纳米流体热导率的关联式.     

Measurement of thermal conductivity,viscosity and density of ionic liquid [EMIM][DEP]-based nanofluids☆

This article studied experimentally the effect of multi-wall carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs)on the thermo physical properties of ionic liquid-based nanofluids.The nanofluids were composed of ionic liquid,1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate [EMIM][DEP],or its aqueous solution[EMIM][DEP](1)+ H_2O(2)and MWCNTs without any surfactants.The thermal conductivity,viscosity and density of the nanofluids were measured experimentally.The effects of the mass fraction of MWCNTs,temperature and the mole fraction of water on the thermo physical properties of nanofluids were studied.Results show that the thermal conductivity of nanofluids increases within the range of 1.3%–9.7% compared to their base liquids,and have a well linear dependence on temperature.The viscosity and density of the nanofluids exhibit a remarkable increase compared with those of the base liquids.Finally,the correlation of the effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of the nanofluids was made using the models in the literatures.     

Preparation and characterization of carbon nanofluid by a plasma arc nanoparticles synthesis system

Heat dissipation from electrical appliances is a significant issue with contemporary electrical devices. One factor in the improvement of heat dissipation is the heat transfer performance of the working fluid. In this study, we used plasma arc technology to produce a nanofluid of carbon nanoparticles dispersed in distilled water. In a one-step synthesis, carbon was simultaneously heated and vaporized in the chamber, the carbon vapor and particles were then carried to a collector, where cooling furnished the desired carbon/water nanofluid. The particle size and shape were determined using the light-scattering size analyzer, SEM, and TEM. Crystal morphology was examined by XRD. Finally, the characterization include thermal conductivity, viscosity, density and electric conductivity were evaluated by suitable instruments under different temperatures. The thermal conductivity of carbon/water nanofluid increased by about 25% at 50°C compared to distilled water. The experimental results demonstrated excellent thermal conductivity and feasibility for manufacturing of carbon/water nanofluids.