Thermo-physical Properties of Water +Ethylene Glycol based Alumina Nanofluids
Author(s):
S. Ravi Babu†, G. Sambasiva Rao‡
Affiliation(s):
‡ College of Engineering, Eluru, India
ABSTRACT: Nanofluids are the new generation colloidal heat transfer fluids engineered with the advent technological developments in the field of nanotechnology. The poor thermal properties of the conventional heat transfer fluids can be enhanced by dispersing the nanoparticles in the carrier fluid in the right quantity for different volume concentrations. The present study deals with the experimental measurement of the thermo-physical properties of the water and water + Ethylene Glycol based Al2O3 nanofluids for various volume concentrations starting from 0 vol% to 1.6 vol% at different temperatures 30 0C to 70 0C. It is observed that the maximum enhancement in the thermal conductivity is 10% at 1.6 vol% for water based and 12 % for water + Ethylene Glycol based Al2O3 nanofluid. Sensitivity analysis of thermal conductivity is done and it is identified that thermal conductivity is more sensitive to high volume fractions rather than higher temperatures. Density and dynamic viscosities are enhanced by 12% each for water based nanofluid and 11% and 13% for water + Ethylene Glycol based nanofluid when volume fraction changes from 0 to 1.6 vol%.
Keywords : Heat Transfer, nanofluids, thermal conductivity, viscosity, density.