A comparative study of nanofluid (Al2O3) and distilled water in terms of thermal conductivity

Abstract

The transfer of heat energy between fluids is frequently used in various processes in industries. The subject of potential heat energy enhancement is great attention in research. With increase in thermal conductivity of fluid, the efficiency of heat transfer in machines can be improved. In this research work, a comparative study is carried out to investigate the effect of Al2O3 Nanofluid on the thermal conductivity with distilled water. KD2 pro thermal property analyzer is used in this work to measure the thermal conductivity. The Al2O3 nanoparticles of the nanofluid have been characterized by using Scanning Electron Microscope, Transmission Electron Microscope, UV-VIS-NIR. Experimentally, it is found that maximum enhancement in thermal conductivity was 8.7% at 80 °C of 0.1 wt % concentration.