Experimental studies on thermophysical properties of ethylene glycol/water-based MgO nanofluids

Abstract

In the present study, the aim is to experimentally measure the isobaric specific heat, viscosity and thermal conductivity of different magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles concentrations dispersed in ethylene glycol/ water mixture with ratio 50:50 vol% as a base fluid. The experiments were performed on 20 nm particle size of MgO nanoparticles suspended in base fluid with different volume fractions from 0.25 to 1% and temperature range from 40 to 120°C. The data results detected that the specific heat capacity of nanofluids reduces as the nanoparticles volume fraction increases but increases as the temperature rises. For all volume concentrations, the dynamic viscosity declines non-linearly with rising temperature. The increase in viscosity related to the base fluid is slightly recognized at low nanoparticles concentrations, while this change is more sensible at higher volume concentrations. Generally, MgO nanofluids showing higher viscosities than the base fluid used. The thermal conductivity of examined nanofluids increases uniformly with increasing the nanofluid sample temperature and nanoparticles volume concentration.