Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer Characteristics of Automobile Radiator using Tio2 Nanofluid Coolant

Abstract

Abstract: The use of nanoparticle dispersed coolants in automobile radiators improves the heat transfer rate and facilitates overall reduction in size of the radiators. In this study, the heat transfer characteristics of water/propylene glycol based TiO2nanofluid was analyzed experimentally and compared with pure water and water/propylene glycol mixture. Two different concentrations of nano fluids were prepared by adding 0.1 vol. %, 0.2 vol. %, 0.3 vol. % and 0.4 vol. % of TiO2 nanoparticles into water/propylene glycol mixture (60:40). The experiments were conducted by varying the coolant flow rate between 3 to 6 lit./min. for various coolant temperatures (50°C, 60°C, 70°C, and 80°C) to understand the effect of coolant flow rate on heat transfer. The results showed that the Nusselt number of the Nano fluid coolant increases with increase in flow rate. At low inlet coolant temperature the water/propylene glycol mixture showed higher heat transfer rate when compared with Nano fluid coolant. However at higher operating temperature and higher coolant flow rate, 0.3 vol. % of TiO2nanofluid enhances the heat transfer rate by 8.5% when compared to base fluids. Keywords: Heat transfer enhancement, Propylene Glycol, Radiator, TiO2Nanofluid coolant