Stability and Thermo-physical Properties of Nanofluids and Its Applications

나노유체의 분산안정성 및 열물성치와 그 응용에 관한 연구

It has been shown that a nanofluid consisting of nanoparticles dispersed in base fluid has much higher effective thermal conductivity than pure fluid. In this study, four kinds of nanofluids such as multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) in water, CuO in water, SiO2in water, and CuO in ethylene glycol, are produced. Their thermal conductivities are measured by a transient hot-wire method. The thermal conductivity of water-based MWCNT nanofluid is shown to be increased by up to 11.3% at a volume fraction of 0.01. The measured thermal conductivities of MWCNT nanofluids are higher than those calculated with Hamilton-Crosser's model due to neglecting solid-liquid interaction at the interface. The results show that the thermal conductivity enhancement of nanofluids depends on the thermal conductivities of both particles and the base fluid. Stability of nanofluids is estimated by UV-vis spectrum analysis. Stability of nanofluid depends on the type of base fluid and the suspended particles. Also it can be improved in addition of a surfactant.