Chapter Seven - Thermos-physical properties and heat transfer characteristic of copper oxide–based ethylene glycol/water as a coolant for car radiator

Abstract

In recent times, the significance of thermal management of car radiators to ensure efficient performance and prevention of overheating of car engines is gaining a lot of concern. Traditionally, water has been widely used as a coolant in car radiators, but due to the poor thermal performance of water, this has prompted the use of a more efficient coolant; more recently, literature has emerged that offers the application of nanofluid in a car radiator. The objective of this research is to investigate the thermal performance of nanofluid copper oxide (CuO) coolant combined with a ratio of 60:40 ethylene glycol/water (EG):water. The coolant is made to flow through the radiator flat tube with louver fins embedded in the flat tube. Three different volume concentrations of 0.01vol%, 0.03vol%, and 0.06vol% were used for the nanofluid, and different volume flow rates were used (2L/min, 4L/min, 6L/min, and 8L/min). The results of this study show that heat transfer performance of CuO nanofluid was greater than the base fluid by about 67% of heat enhancement. At a concentration of 0.06vol% and 8L/min volume flow rate, the convection heat transfer, Prandtl number, and the Nusselt number obtained for CuO nanofluid are 213.379W/m2.K, 2.727, and 28.87, respectively; this shows a tremendous improvement of heat transfer performance of the nanofluid when compared with traditional cooling water. A comparison of the heat transfer performance between the nanofluid and the base fluid shows about 94.61W for the nanofluid and 23.30W for the base fluid.