Dependence of the viscosity of nanofluids on nanoparticle size and material

The viscosity of nanofluids as a function of nanoparticle size and material is modeled and analyzed. Dependences of the viscosity of nanofluids based on liquid argon with aluminum and lithium nanoparticles are obtained. The nanoparticle size ranges from 1 to 4 nm. The volume concentration of nanoparticles is varied from 1% to 12%. It is shown that the viscosity of the nanofluid increases with decreasing nanoparticle size and, in addition, depends on the nanoparticle material.     

颗粒聚集对纳米流体强化换热影响浅析

本文采用数值模拟的方法初步研究了颗粒聚集对纳米流体强化换热性能的影响。在流体中随机生成纳米颗粒团聚状态,并对其热性能进行数值模拟,结果表明,纳米颗粒的聚集将会导致流体换热性能的下降,降低程度与纳米颗粒体积分数以及聚集程度有关。     

Prediction of thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids by molecular dynamics simulation

Limitations of conventional heat transfer fluids in different industries because of their poor thermal conductivity made heat transfer improvement in working fluids was performing, as a new method of advanced heat transfer. Therefore, the dispersion solid particle idea in fluids, which has been started with mili- and micrometer particles, completed by using nanoparticles and today nanofluids have been found to provide a considerable heat transfer and viscosity enhancement in comparison to conventional fluids such as water, ethylene glycol, and engine oil. In this study, molecular dynamics simulation was used to predict thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids. Water was used as a base fluid. The simple point charge-extended (SPC/E) model was used for simulation of water and Ewald sum method for electrostatic interactions. Lennard–Jones potential for Van der Waals interactions, KTS potential for water and SiO₂ and Spor and Heinzinger correlation for water and Pt were used. The results were compared with experimental data. For investigation of the effect of temperature, simulation was done for three temperatures of 20, 30, and 50?C. The results showed that the ratio of thermal conductivity of nanofluid to base fluid and viscosity will decrease as the temperature increases. The effect of the concentration of nanoparticle was studied for three different concentrations, namely, 0.45, 1.85, and 4%. The thermal conductivity of nanofluid increases with increasing the concentration. Moreover, the effect of two nanoparticle sizes (i.e., 5 and 7 nm) on the thermal conductivity of nanofluid was investigated. It was shown that an increase in the size causes a decrease in the thermal conductivity. Finally, by replacing the SiO₂nanoparticle with a Pt nanoparticle in the nanofluid, it was observed that the kind of nanoparticle had not a considerable effect on increasing the thermal conductivity of nanofluid.     

KKL correlation for simulation of nanofluid flow and heat transfer in a permeable channel

Hydrothermal behavior of nanofluid fluid between two parallel plates is studied. One of the plates is externally heated, and the other plate, through which coolant fluid is injected, expands or contracts with time. The effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid are calculated by KKL correlation. The effects of the nanoparticle volume fraction, Reynolds number, Expansion ratio and power law index on Hydrothermal behavior are investigated. Results show that heat transfer enhancement has direct relationship with Reynolds number when power law index is equals to zero but opposite trend is observed for other values of power law index.     

Modeling of nanoparticles’ aggregation and sedimentation in nanofluid

The aggregation and sedimentation of nanoparticles in nanofluid have significant influences on the stability and applicability of nanofluids. The objective of this study is to propose a model to predict the nanoparticles’ aggregation and sedimentation characteristics. The characteristics are evaluated by the concentration of nanoparticles in nanofluid at different time. The concentration of nanoparticles can be calculated according to the speed and location of each nanoparticle. Then, the speed and location of each nanoparticle can be yielded when the forces on each nanoparticle are determined. For the forces on nanoparticles are related to the space structure of nanoparticle clusters, the clusters’ space structures are simulated. Case study shows that the mean deviation of predicted nanoparticle concentration from experimental data for Fullerence + H₂O, Fullerence + Oil and CuO + Oil nanofluids are 25%, 16% and 13%, respectively. The model can provide quantitative prediction of the aggregation and sedimentation characteristics of nanoparticles in nanofluid.     

Particle agglomeration and properties of nanofluids

The present study demonstrates the importance of actual agglomerated particle size in the nanofluid and its effect on the fluid properties. The current work deals with 5 to 100 nm nanoparticles dispersed in fluids that resulted in 200 to 800 nm agglomerates. Particle size distributions for a range of nanofluids are measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS). Wet scanning electron microscopy method is used to visualize agglomerated particles in the dispersed state and to confirm particle size measurements by DLS. Our results show that a combination of base fluid chemistry and nanoparticle type is very important to create stable nanofluids. Several nanofluids resulted in stable state without any stabilizers, but in the long term had agglomerations of 250 % over a 2 month period. The effects of agglomeration on the thermal and rheological properties are presented for several types of nanoparticle and base fluid chemistries. Despite using nanodiamond particles with high thermal conductivity and a very sensitive laser flash thermal conductivity measurement technique, no anomalous increases of thermal conductivity was measured. The thermal conductivity increases of nanofluid with the particle concentration are as those predicted by Maxwell and Bruggeman models. The level of agglomeration of nanoparticles hardly influenced the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid. The viscosity of nanofluids increased strongly as the concentration of particle is increased; it displays shear thinning and is a strong function of the level of agglomeration. The viscosity increase is significantly above of that predicted by the Einstein model even for very small concentration of nanoparticles.     

Unsteady radiative nanofluid flow near a vertical heated wavy surface with temperature-dependent viscosity

In the present contribution, a numerical treatment is provided to describe unsteady nanofluid flow near a vertical heated wavy surface. A memorable feature of the present work is the investigation of nanofluid flow associated with thermal radiation that acts as a catalyst for heat transfer rates. Likewise, the effectiveness of variable viscosity is examined as it controls fluid flow as well as heat transfer. It is necessary to study heat and mass transfer for complex geometries because predicting heat and mass transfer for irregular surfaces is a topic of fundamental importance, and irregular surfaces frequently appear in many applications, such as flat-plate solar collectors and flat-plate condensers in refrigerators. A simple coordinate transformation from the wavy surface into a flat one is employed. The non-dimensional boundary layer equations that governing both heat transfer and nanofluid flow phenomena along the wavy surface are solved via a powerful numerical approach called the implicit Chebyshev pseudospectral (ICPS) method with Mathematica code. A comparison graph of the current numerical computation and the published data shows a perfect match. Figures depict the effect of various physical parameters on nanofluid velocities, temperature, salt concentration, nanoparticle concentration, skin friction, Sherwood, nanoparticle Sherwood, and Nusselt numbers. According to the numerical results, increasing the variable viscosity parameter value causes a drop in the local skin friction coefficient value and an increase in the steady-state axial nanofluid velocity profile near the wavy surface. Furthermore, as heat radiation is increased, the local Nusselt number decreases but the nanoparticle Sherwood number increases.     

纳米颗粒聚集形态对纳米流体导热系数的影响

纳米流体中悬浮的纳米颗粒可以增强其导热性能已经得到广泛认可,然而纳米流体颗粒增强传热的机理目前尚不清楚.研究表明,纳米颗粒的聚集是纳米流体导热系数增大的重要机制,而且纳米颗粒聚集的形态对纳米流体的导热系数有重要影响,但是目前的导热系数模型大多是建立在Maxwell有效介质理论的"静态"和"均匀分散"假设基础上.本文用平衡分子动力学模拟Cu-Ar纳米流体,采用Green-Kubo公式计算导热系数,采用Schmidt-Ott关系式计算不同聚集形态下的分形维数.对比导热系数与分形维数可以发现:在相同体积分数下,较低的分形维数会有更高的导热系数,分析了分形维数与导热系数的定量关系.此外,通过径向分布函数可以看出纳米颗粒紧密聚集与松散聚集的差异,基液分子在纳米颗粒附近的纳米薄层中处于动态平衡状态.研究结果有助于理解纳米颗粒聚集形态对导热系数的影响机理.     

Modeling the onset of thermosolutal convective instability in a non-Newtonian nanofluid-saturated porous medium layer

The onset of double-diffusive (thermosolutal) convection in horizontal porous layer saturated with an incompressible couple stress nanofluid saturated is studied with thermal conductivity and viscosity dependent on the nanoparticle volume fraction. To represent the momentum equation for porous media, a modified Darcy-Maxwell nanofluid model incorporating the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis has been used. The thermal energy equation includes regular diffusion and cross diffusion (Soret thermo-diffusion and Dufour diffuso-thermal) terms. A linear stability analysis depends on the normal mode technique and the onset criterion for stationary and oscillatory convection is derived analytically. The nonlinear theory based on the representation of the Fourier series method is applied to capture the behavior of heat and mass transfer. It is found that the couple stress parameter enhances the stability of the system in both the stationary and oscillatory convection modes. The viscosity ratio and conductivity ratio both enhance heat and mass transfer. Transient Nusselt number is found to be oscillatory when time is small. However, when time becomes very large, all the three transient Nusselt number values approach to their steady state values.     

Kinetic stability of hematite nanoparticles: the effect of particle sizes

Nanoparticles are ubiquitous in environment and are potentially important in many environmental processes such as sorption, coprecipitation, redox reactions, and dissolution. To investigate particle size effects on nanoparticle aggregation and stability, this study tested aggregation behavior of 12(±2), 32(±3), and 65(±3) nm (hydrated radius) hematite particles under environmental relevant pH and ionic strength conditions. The results showed that at the same ionic strength and pH conditions, different particle sizes show different tendency to aggregate. At the same ionic strength, aggregation rates are higher for smaller particles. The critical coagulation concentration also depends on particle size, and decreases as particle size decreases. As the particle size decreases, fast aggregation shifted to lower pH. This may be related to a dependence of PZC on particle size originating from change of structure and surface energy characteristics as particle size decreases. Under the same conditions, aggregation occurs faster as particle concentration increases. Even though the nanoparticles of different sizes show different response to the same pH and ionic strength, DLVO theory can be used to qualitatively understand hematite nanoparticle aggregation behavior.     

Light-assisted synthesis and functionalization of silver nanoparticles with thiol derivative thioxanthones: new insights into the engineering of metal/chromophore nanoassemblies

Nanofluids are suspensions of nanometer-sized particles which significantly modify the properties of the base fluids. Nanofluids exhibit attractive properties, such as high thermal conductivity, tunable surface tension, viscosity, and rheology. Various attempts have been made to understand the mechanisms for these property modifications caused by adding nanoparticles; however, due to the lack of direct nanoscale evidence, these explanations are still controversial. This work calculated the surface tension, viscosity, and rheology of gold–water nanofluids using molecular dynamics simulations which provide a microscopic interpretation for the modified properties on the molecular level. The gold–water interaction potential parameters were changed to mimic various nanoparticle types. The results show that the nanoparticle wettability is responsible for the modified surface tension. Hydrophobic nanoparticles always tend to stay on the free surface so they behave like a surfactant to reduce the surface tension. Hydrophilic nanoparticles immersed into the bulk fluid impose strong attractive forces on the water molecules at the free surface which reduces the free surface thickness and increases the surface tension of the nanofluid. Solid-like absorbed water layers were observed around the nanoparticles which increase the equivalent nanoparticle radius and reduce the mobility of the nanoparticles within the base fluid which increases the nanofluid viscosity. The results show the water molecule solidification between two or many nanoparticles at high nanoparticle loadings, but the solidification effect is suppressed for shear rates greater than a critical shear rate; thus Newtonian nanofluids can present shear-thinning non-Newtonian behavior.     

Numerical simulation of Electrokinetically Driven Peristaltic Pumping of Silver-Water Nanofluids in an asymmetric microchannel

This article intends to focus on the theoretical and numerical investigation of the peristaltic pumping of water-based silver nanofluid in the presence of electroosmotic forces. The investigation is carried out in an asymmetric microchannel subject to the influence of mixed convection and viscous dissipation. No-slip boundary conditions for velocity, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction are imposed on channel walls. The lubrication approach is utilized to simplify the normalized constitutive equations. The distribution of electric potential in the electric double layer is characterized by Poisson-Boltzmann ionic distribution which is further linearized by Debye-Hückel approximation. Nanofluid properties are predicted by a combination of the Buongiorno two-phase mixture model and homogeneous flow model. Additionally, the effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of silver-water nanofluid are characterized by the Corcione model. Silver nanoparticles of 20nm diameter are utilized in this suspension. The transformed set of nonlinear and coupled equations is numerically executed for axial velocity, temperature, and nanoparticle volume fraction by employing the mathematical software Maple 17. Pumping and trapping phenomena are also investigated. A comparison between the thermal conductivity of nanofluid predicted by the Corcione model and the Maxwell model is further presented. The influence of various flow parameters is outlined through graphical results. It has been observed that the thermal conductivity of silver-water nanofluid enhances with increasing nanoparticle volume fraction and temperature but decreases for larger sized nanoparticles. Moreover, the heat transfer rate rises significantly when smaller silver nanoparticles are suspended in water. Furthermore, the temperature of nanofluid is directly related to the Debye length parameter and the Helmholtz- Smoluchowski velocity parameter.     

Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation of coupling between nanoparticles and base-fluid in a nanofluid

The intent of this study is to examine nonequilibrium heat transfer in a copper-argon nanofluid by molecular dynamics simulation. Two different methods, the physical definition method and the curve fitting method, are introduced to calculate the coupling factor between nanoparticles and base fluid. The results show that the coupling factors obtained by these two methods are consistent. The coupling factor is proportional to the volume fraction of the nanoparticle and inversely proportional to nanoparticle diameter. In the temperature range of 90-200 K, the coupling factor is not affected by temperature. The nanoparticle aggregation results in a decrease of the coupling factor.     

Entropy generation and MHD natural convection of a nanofluid in an inclined square porous cavity: Effects of a heat sink and source size and location

The effects of a heat sink and the source size and location on the entropy generation, MHD natural convection flow and heat transfer in an inclined porous enclosure filled with a Cu-water nanofluid are investigated numerically. A uniform heat source is located in a part of the bottom wall, and a part of the upper wall of the enclosure is maintained at a cooled temperature, while the remaining parts of these two walls are thermally insulated. Both the left and right walls of the enclosure are considered to be adiabatic. The thermal conductivity and the dynamic viscosity of the nanofluid are represented by different verified experimental correlations that are suitable for each type of nanoparticle. The finite difference methodology is used to solve the dimensionless partial differential equations governing the problem. A comparison with previously published works is performed, and the results show a very good agreement. The results indicate that the Nusselt number decreases via increasing the nanofluid volume fraction as well as the Hartmann number. The best location and size of the heat sink and the heat source considering the thermal performance criteria and magnetic effects are found to be D?=?0.7 and B?=?0.2. The entropy generation, thermal performance criteria and the natural heat transfer of the nanofluid for different sizes and locations of the heat sink and source and for various volume fractions of nanoparticles are also investigated and discussed.     

A fractal model for heat transfer of nanofluids by convection in a pool

Based on the fractal distribution of nanoparticles, a fractal model for heat transfer of nanofluids is presented in the Letter. Considering heat convection between nanoparticles and liquids due to the Brownian motion of nanoparticles in fluids, the formula of calculating heat flux of nanofluids by convection is given. The proposed model is expressed as a function of the average size of nanoparticle, concentration of nanoparticle, fractal dimension of nanoparticle, temperature and properties of fluids. It is shown that the fractal model is effectual according to a good agreement between the model predictions and experimental data.     

Influence of pH on Nanofluids' Viscosity and Thermal Conductivity

Aiming at the dispersion stability of nanopartieles regarded as the guide of heat transfer enhancement, we investigate the viscosity and the thermal conductivity of Cu and Al2O3 nanoparticles in water under different pH values. The results show that there exists an optimal pH value for the lowest viscosity and the highest thermal conductivity, and that at the optimal pH value the nanofluids containing a small amount of nanoparticles have noticeably higher thermal conductivity than that of the base fluid without nanoparticles. For the two nanofluids the enhancements of thermal conductivity are observed up to 13% （Al2O3-water） or 15% （Cu-water） at 0.4 wt%, respectively. Therefore, adjusting the pH values is suggested to improve the stability and the thermal conductivity for practical applications of nanofluid.     

Physics and mechanics of heat exchange processes in nanofluid flows

Nanofluids present a new type of dispersed fluids consisting of a carrier fluid and solid nanoparticles. Unusual properties of nanofluids, particularly high thermal conductivity, make them eminently suitable for many thermophysical applications, e.g., for cooling of equipment, designing of new heat energy transportation and production systems and so on. This requires a systematic study of heat exchange properties of nanofluids. The present paper contains the measurement results for the heat transfer coefficient of the laminar and turbulent flow of nanofluids on the basis of distilled water with silica, alumina and copper oxide particles in a minichannel with circular cross section. The maximum volume concentration of particles did not exceed 2%. The dependence of the heat transfer coefficient on the concentration and size of nanoparticles was studied. It is shown that the use of nanofluids allows a significant increase in the heat transfer coefficient as compared to that for water. However, the obtained result strongly depends on the regime of flow. The excess of the heat transfer coefficient in the laminar flow is only due to an increase in the thermal conductivity coefficient of nanofluid, while in the turbulent flow the obtained effect is due to the ratio between the viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluid. The viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluids depend on the volume concentration of nanoparticles as well as on their size and material and are not described by classical theories. That is why the literature data are diverse and contradictory; they do not actually take into account the influence of the mentioned factors (size and material of nanoparticles). It has been shown experimentally and by a molecular dynamics method that the nanofluid viscosity increases while the thermal conductivity decreases with the decreasing dispersed particle size. It is found experimentally for the first time that the nanofluid viscosity coefficient depends on the particle material. The higher is the density of particles, the higher is the thermal conductivity coefficient of nanofluid.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of effect of liquid layering around the nanoparticle on the enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids

The effect of the molecular layering at liquid–solid interface on the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid is investigated by an equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. By tracking the position of the nanoparticle and the liquid atoms around the spherical nanoparticle, it was found that a thin layer of liquid is formed at the interface between the nanoparticle and liquid; this thin layer will move with the Brownian motion of the nanoparticle. Through the analysis of the density distribution of the liquid near the nanoparticle, it is found that more argon atoms are attracted to form the layer around the nanoparticle when the diameter of the nanoparticle is larger, and therefore lead to the more significant enhancement of the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid.     

Fabrication of copper oxide nanofluid using submerged arc nanoparticle synthesis system (SANSS)

The optimal parameters are found for preparing nanofluid in our submerged arc nanoparticle synthesis system (SANSS) using a copper electrode. A suspended copper oxide nanofluid is thus produced at the current of 8.5–10 A, voltage of 220 V, pulse duration of 12 μs, and dielectric liquid temperature of 2°C. The CuO nanoparticle are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction pattern (SAD) and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The equality volume spherical diameter of the obtained copper oxide particle is 49.1 nm, regular shape and narrow size distribution.     

Fabrication of copper oxide nanofluid using submerged arc nanoparticle synthesis system (SANSS)

The optimal parameters are found for preparing nanofluid in our submerged arc nanoparticle synthesis system (SANSS) using a copper electrode. A suspended copper oxide nanofluid is thus produced at the current of 8.5–10 A, voltage of 220 V, pulse duration of 12 μs, and dielectric liquid temperature of 2°C. The CuO nanoparticle are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron diffraction pattern (SAD) and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). The equality volume spherical diameter of the obtained copper oxide particle is 49.1 nm, regular shape and narrow size distribution.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected issue number.