Effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids: the effects of microstructure

Abstract

We examine numerically the effects of particle–fluid thermal conductivity ratio, particle volume fraction, particle size distribution and particle aggregation on macroscale thermal properties for seven kinds of two-dimensional nanofluids. The results show that the radius of gyration and the non-dimensional particle–fluid interfacial area are two important parameters in characterizing the geometrical structure of nanoparticles. A non-uniform particle size is found to be unfavourable for the conductivity enhancement, while particle-aggregation benefits the enhancement especially when the radius of gyration of aggregates is large. Without considering the interfacial thermal resistance, a larger non-dimensional particle–fluid interfacial area between the base fluid and the nanoparticles is also desirable for enhancing thermal conductivity. The nanofluids with nanoparticles of connected cross-shape show a much higher (lower) effective thermal conductivity when the particle–fluid conductivity ratio is larger (smaller) than 1.