Thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of CNT-nanofluids and Al2O3-nanofulids were measured by the transient short-hot-wire method. The uncertainty of their measurements is estimated to be within 1% for the thermal conductivity and 5% for the thermal diffusivity. Three different shapes of Al2O3 particles were prepared for Al2O3–water nanofluids. For the thermal conductivity of Al2O3-water nanofluids, there are differences in the enhancement of thermal conductivity for differences in particle shapes. Hardly any enhancement of thermal conductivity was observed for SWCNT-water nanofluids because the volume fraction of SWCNT was extremely low. However, we consider by increasing the volume fraction of SWCNTs, it will be possible to enhance the thermal conductivity.
Application and testing of a new simple experimental set-up for thermal conductivity measurements of liquids