Clustering Theory Evaluation for Thermal Conductivity Enhancement of Titania Nanofluid

Abstract

Nanofluid as a future cooling fluid attracted a wide span of application due to its great capability of heat dissipation. Nanofluid is a suspension of nanoparticles in a base fluid which often requires stabilization processing. In this study, 0.1%wt. of TiO2 nanoparticles were mixed with distilled water. Three hours ultrasonication was applied to prepare samples. Sodium lauryl sulfate (0.01-0.2) %wt. and pH (10-12) were used as stability controlling parameters in order to verify thermal conductivity and particle size of nanofluid. Central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were used to develop a model as well as defining the optimum condition with design of experiments (DOE). Amongst the variety of theories, clustering and agglomeration can be partially responsible for increasing thermal conductivity with rising particle size among different nano-suspensions. Results revealed that optimum conditions is located at high pH and low SDS concentration in which high thermal conductivity will be accompanied with larger particle sizes. KEYWORD: Clustering theory, nanofluid, thermal conductivity, response surface methodology