Experimental investigation on thermal conductivity and stability of water-graphite nanofluid

Kyathanahalli Marigowda Yashawantha,A Venu Vinod

doi:10.18186/thermal.1025968

Kyathanahalli Marigowda Yashawantha, A Venu Vinod

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.18186/thermal.1025968

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Abstract

Enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids has proven importance in enhancing heat transfer for many application. In this study, thermal conductivity of graphite nanopowder dispersed in water at different temperatures was studied experimentally. Stable nanofluids of different concentrations (0.2 vol%, 0.5 vol%, 0.8 vol%, 1 vol% and 1.5 vol%) are prepared using ultrasonic cleaner by sonicating for 3 hour. Thermal conductivity was measured from temperature 25 to 55 ºC with an interval of 5 ºC using KD2 Pro thermal properties analyser. Experimental results showed that thermal conductivity increases with increase in temperature and volume concentration. Thermal conductivity of Water – Graphite nanofluid showed enhancement of 5.6% to 20.42% for 0.2 vol% to 1.5 vol% of concentration at 25 ºC respectively. However, the maximum improvement of 39.72% was found at 1.5% of concentration at 55 ºC compared to water. A correlation was developed considering the effect of temperature and concentration using the regression method. The proposed correlation effectively predicts the thermal conductivity of Water – Graphite nanofluids with an accuracy of ±2.8%.

Highlights

Nanotechnology plays a crucial role in material science, electronics, biomedical and biomaterials etc
This technology is used to produce nanoparticles of different materials containing a particle size of less than 100 nm. These particles are used to disperse in base fluids such as water, Ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PEG) and oil etc., which are termed as nanofluids
Several experimental studies related to thermal conductivity (TC) [2,3,4,5], convective heat transfer (CHT) [6,7,8], and heat absorption rate [9] were reported with possibilities to use nanofluids in heat transfer applications

Summary

Introduction

Nanotechnology plays a crucial role in material science, electronics, biomedical and biomaterials etc. This technology is used to produce nanoparticles of different materials containing a particle size of less than 100 nm. These particles are used to disperse in base fluids such as water, Ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PEG) and oil etc., which are termed as nanofluids. These solid and liquid mixtures of different nanoparticles are capable of providing better thermal properties than that of base fluids. Heat transfer studies using numerical techniques have proved the possibilities

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