Nanofluids, a mixture of nanoparticles and fluid, have enormous potential to improve the efficiency of heat transfer fluids. Fe nanofluids are prepared with ethylene glycol and Fe nanocrystalline powder synthesized by a chemical vapor condensation process. Sonication with high-powered pulses is used to improve the dispersion of nanoparticles in the preparation of nanofluids. Nanofluids exhibit an enhancement of thermal conductivity after sonication. Thermal conductivity of a Fe nanofluid is increased nonlinearly up to 18% as the volume fraction of particles is increased up to 0.55 vol. %. Comparing Fe nanofluids with Cu nanofluids, we find that the suspension of highly thermally conductive materials is not always effective to improve thermal transport property of nanofluids.
Nanofluids have been attractive for the last few years with the enormous potential to improve the efficiency of heat transfer fluids. This work focuses on the effect of the clustering of nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Large enhancement of the thermal conductivity is observed in Fe nanofluids sonicated with high powered pulses. The average size of the nanoclusters and thermal conductivity of sonicated nanofluids are measured as time passes after the sonication stopped. It is found from the variations of the nanocluster size and thermal conductivity that the reduction of the thermal conductivity of nanofluids is directly related to the agglomeration of nanoparticles. The thermal conductivity of Fe nanofluids increases nonlinearly as the volume fraction of nanoparticles increases. The nonlinearity is attributed to the rapid clustering of nanoparticles in condensed nanofluids. The thermal conductivities of Fe nanofluids with the three lowest concentrations are fitted to a linear function. The Fe nanofluids show a more rapid increase of the thermal conductivity than Cu nanofluids as the volume fraction of the nanoparticles increases.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.