Experimental Study on the Specific Heat Capacity Measurement of Water-Based Al2O3-Cu Hybrid Nanofluid by using Differential Thermal Analysis Method

Background: Researchers working in the field of nanofluid have done many studies on the thermophysical properties of nanofluids. Among these studies, the number of studies on specific heat are rather limited. In the study of the heat transfer performance of nanofluids, it is necessary to increase the number of specific heat studies, whose subject is one of the important thermophysical properties. Objective: The authors aimed to measure the specific heat values of Al2O3/water, Cu/water nanofluids and Al2O3-Cu/water hybrid nanofluids using the DTA method, and compare the results with those frequently used in the literature. In addition, this study focuses on the effect of temperature and volume concentration on specific heat. Method: The two-step method was used in the preparation of nanofluids. The pure water selected as the base fluid was mixed with the Al2O3 and Cu nanoparticles and Arabic Gum as the surfactant, firstly mixed in the magnetic stirrer for half an hour. It was then homogenized for 6 hours in the ultrasonic homogenizer. Results: After the experiments, the specific heat of nanofluids and hybrid nanofluid were compared and the temperature and volume concentration of specific heat were investigated. Then, the experimental results obtained for all three fluids were compared with the two frequently used correlations in the literature. Conclusion: Specific heat capacity increased with increasing temperature, and decreased with increasing volume concentration for three tested nanofluids. Cu/water has the lowest specific heat capacity among all tested fluids. Experimental specific heat capacity measurement results are compared by using the models developed by Pak and Cho and Xuan and Roetzel. According to experimental results, these correlations can predict experimental results within the range of ±1%.