A Model of Nanofluids Thermal Conductivity

Author(s):  
Jinbo Wang ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Zongqin Zhang

Since the experimental observations were reported that nanofluids exhibit unusually high thermal conductivity, different candidate models have been proposed by several research groups in order to reveal the underlying physics. Despite the efforts, mechanisms of the thermal conductivity enhancement are still being hotly debated. In this paper, we report a new model that correlates nanofluids thermal conductivity to particle size, volume fraction, temperature, surface zeta potential, and suspension electrolyte ion concentration. Our model provides new insights on the mechanisms and guidelines for future experimental exploration.

2006 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Hyun Kim ◽  
Sun Rock Choi ◽  
Dongsik Kim

The thermal conductivity of water- and ethylene glycol-based nanofluids containing alumina, zinc-oxide, and titanium-dioxide nanoparticles is measured using the transient hot-wire method. Measurements are performed by varying the particle size and volume fraction, providing a set of consistent experimental data over a wide range of colloidal conditions. Emphasis is placed on the effect of the suspended particle size on the effective thermal conductivity. Also, the effect of laser-pulse irradiation, i.e., the particle size change by laser ablation, is examined for ZnO nanofluids. The results show that the thermal-conductivity enhancement ratio relative to the base fluid increases linearly with decreasing the particle size but no existing empirical or theoretical correlation can explain the behavior. It is also demonstrated that high-power laser irradiation can lead to substantial enhancement in the effective thermal conductivity although only a small fraction of the particles are fragmented.


2001 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linggen Kong ◽  
James K. Beattie ◽  
Robert J. Hunter

n-Hexadecane-in-water emulsions were investigated by electroacoustics using a prototype of an AcoustoSizer-II apparatus. The emulsions were formed by passing the stirred oil/water mixture through a homogenizer in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at natural pH (6–7). With increasing oil-volume fraction, the particle size increased linearly after 5 and also after 20 passages through the homogenizer, suggesting that surface energy was determining particle size. For systems in which the surfactant concentration was limited, the particle size after 20 passages approached the value dictated by the SDS concentration. With ample surfactant present, the median diameter was a linear function of the inverse of the total energy input as measured by the number of passes. There was, however, a limit to the amount of size reduction that could be achieved in the homogenizer, and the minimum size was smaller at smaller volume fractions. Dilution of the emulsion with a surfactant solution of the same composition as the water phase had a negligible effect on the particle size and changed the zeta potential only slightly. This confirms results from previous work and validates the equations used to determine the particle size and zeta potential in concentrated suspensions. The minimum concentration of SDS that could prevent the emulsion from coalescing for the system with 6% by volume oil was 3 mM. For this dilute emulsion, the particle size decreased regularly with an increase in SDS concentration, but the magnitude of the zeta potential went through a strong maximum at intermediate surfactant concentrations.


Author(s):  
Jing Fan ◽  
Liqiu Wang

The recent first-principle model shows a dual-phase-lagging heat conduction in nanofluids at the macroscale. The macroscopic heat-conduction behavior and the thermal conductivity of nanofluids are determined by their molecular physics and microscale physics. We examine numerically effects of particle-fluid thermal conductivity ratio, particle volume fraction, shape, aggregation, and size distribution on macroscale thermal properties for nine types of nanofluids, without considering the interfacial thermal resistance and dynamic processes on particle-fluid interfaces and particle-particle contacting surfaces. The particle radius of gyration and non-dimensional particle-fluid interfacial area in the unit cell are two very important parameters in characterizing the effect of particles’ geometrical structures on thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Nanofluids containing cross-particle networks have conductivity which practically reaches the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds. Moreover, particle aggregation influences the effective thermal conductivity only when the distance between particles is less than the particle dimension. Uniformly-sized particles are desirable for the conductivity enhancement, although to a limited extent.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (Special) ◽  
pp. 2-72-2-77
Author(s):  
Hassanein M. Nhoo ◽  
◽  
Raad. M. Fenjan ◽  
Ahmed A. Ayash ◽  
◽  
...  

The current paper deals with investigating the effect of two different fillers on the thermal and mechanical characteristics of epoxy-based composite. The filler used throughout the study are: charcoal and Pyrex, both of them are different in nature and have not been investigated thoroughly or even compared fairly in terms of their effect on polymer matrix. Further, they can be considered as a cheap filler, charcoal can be obtained from a simple pyrolysis process of plants (charcoal) and Pyrex waste can be collected easily. Both types are added to the selected matrix with volume percent ranged from 10 to 60 with increments of 10. To ensure a fair comparison, the particle size is fixed (is about 1.7 micrometer). The results showed that the epoxy thermal conductivity has enhanced by about two orders of magnitudes over the studied range of filler. In terms of mechanical properties, the charcoal improves the tensile strength about 84% at 60% volume fraction while the Pyrex effect is about 40% at the same filler level. On the contrast, the results of compressive strength do not show an appreciable improvement overall. It decreases by about 12% at 60% volume fraction of charcoal while increases about the same percent with Pyrex at the same filler level.


2009 ◽  
Vol 60-61 ◽  
pp. 394-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gen Sheng Wu ◽  
Jue Kuan Yang ◽  
Shu Lin Ge ◽  
Yu Juan Wang ◽  
Min Hua Chen ◽  
...  

The stable and homogeneneous aqueous suspension of carbon nanotubes was prepared in this study. The stability of the nanofluids was improved greatly due to the use of a new dispersant, humic acid. The thermal conductivity of the aqueous suspension was measured with the 3ω method. The experimental results showed that the thermal conductivity of the suspensions increases with the temperature and also is nearly proportional to the loading of the nanoparticles. The thermal conductivity enhancement of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) suspensions is better than that of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) suspensions. Especially for a volume fraction of 0.3846% SWNTs, the thermal conductivity is enhanced by 40.5%. Furthermore, the results at 30°C match well with Jang and Choi’s model.


Author(s):  
Huaqing Xie ◽  
Lifei Chen ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Wei Yu

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been treated by using a mechanochemical reaction method to enhance their dispersibility for producing CNT nanofluids. The thermal conductivity was measured by a short hot wire technique and the viscosity was measured by a rotary viscometer. The thermal conductivity enhancement reaches up to 17.5% at a volume fraction of 0.01 for an ethylene glycol based nanofluid. Temperature variation was shown to have no obvious effects on the thermal conductivity enhancement for the as prepared nanofluids. With an increase in the thermal conductivity of the base fluid, the thermal conductivity enhancement of a nanofluid decreases. At low volume fractions (<0.4 Vol%), nanofluids have lower viscosity than the corresponding base fluid due to lubricative effect of nanoparticles. When the volume fraction is higher than 0.4 Vol%, the viscosity increases with nanoparticle loadings. The prepared nanofluids, with no contamination to medium, good fluidity, stability, and high thermal conductivity, would have potential applications as coolants in advanced thermal systems.


Author(s):  
Jithu Paul ◽  
A. K. Madhu ◽  
U. B. Jayadeep ◽  
C. B. Sobhan

Nanofluids — colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in base fluids — are known to possess superior thermal properties compared to the base fluids. Various theoretical models have been suggested to explain the often anomalous enhancement of these properties. Liquid layering around the nanoparticle is one of such reasons. The effect of the particle size on the extent of liquid layering around the nanoparticle has been investigated in the present study. Classical molecular dynamics simulations have been performed in the investigation, considering the case of a copper nanoparticle suspended in liquid argon. The results show a strong dependence of thickness of the liquid layer on the particle size, below a particle diameter of 4nm. To establish the role of liquid layering in the enhancement of thermal conductivity, simulations have been performed at constant volume fraction for different particle sizes using Green Kubo formalism. The thermal conductivity results show 100% enhancement at 3.34% volume fraction for particle size of 2nm. The results establish the dominant role played by liquid layering in the enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids at the low particle sizes used. Contrary to the previous findings, the molecular dynamics simulations also predict a strong dependence of the liquid layer thickness on the particle size in the case of small particles.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruifeng CAO ◽  
Taotao WANG ◽  
Yuxuan ZHANG ◽  
Hui WANG

Improved heat transfer in composites consisting of guar gel matrix and randomly distributed glass microspheres is extensively studied to predict the effective thermal conductivity of composites using the finite element method. In the study, the proper and probabilistic three-dimensional random distribution of microspheres in the continuous matrix is automatically generated by a simple and efficient random sequential adsorption algorithm which is developed by considering the correlation of three factors including particle size, number of particles, and particle volume fraction controlling the geometric configuration of random packing. Then the dependences of the effective thermal conductivity of composite materials on some important factors are investigated numerically, including the particle volume fraction, the particle spatial distribution, the number of particles, the nonuniformity of particle size, the particle dispersion morphology and the thermal conductivity contrast between particle and matrix. The related numerical results are compared with theoretical predictions and available experimental results to assess the validity of the numerical model. These results can provide good guidance for the design of advanced microsphere reinforced composite materials.


2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 6361-6366
Author(s):  
J. P. Leonard ◽  
S. J. Chung ◽  
I. Nettleship ◽  
Y. Soong ◽  
D. V. Martello ◽  
...  

Aqueous zinc oxide (ZnO) suspensions were prepared using a two-step preparation method in which an aggregated nanocrystalline ZnO powder was dispersed in water using a polyelectrolyte. The fluid showed anomalously high thermal conductivity when compared with the Maxwell and Hamilton-Crosser predictions. However, analysis of the particle size distribution showed that the fluid contained aggregated 20 nm crystallites of ZnO with a high volume fraction of particles larger than 100 nm. Sedimentation experiments revealed that particles settled out of the stationary fluid over times ranging from 0.1 hours to well over 10,000 hours. The size of the particles remaining in suspension agreed well with predictions made using Stoke's law, suggesting flocculation was not occurring in the fluids. Finally, a new concept of nanofluid stability is introduced based on the height of the fluid, sedimentation, Brownian motion and the kinetic energy of the particles.


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