DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE

(Deemed University)
DAYALBAGH - AGRA

Department Of Mechanical Engineering

STREAM SEMINAR
On

Nano fluids and its applications

Ashutosh Kumar
FLOW OF PRESENTATION
1. What Is Nanofluid ?

2. Why It Is Used ?

3. Preparation Methods Of Nanofluids

4. Thermo Physical Properties Of Nanofluids

5. Advantages Of Nanofluids

6. Limitations

7. Application Of Nanofluids
 NANO FLUIDS
Nanofluids are the fluid in which Nanoparticles are added in Base fluid.
These fluids are Engineered colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in
base fluid. Nanoparticles are particles of dimension approximately of
10-1000 nm in size. The nanoparticles used in nanofluid are typically
made of metals, & it’s oxides, carbides or carbon nanotube. Some
common oxides nanoparticles are zinc oxides (ZnO), copper oxides
(CuO), aluminium oxides (Al2O3) while some metal nanoparticles are
gold (Au), silver (Ag), ZrO2, SiO2, Fe3O4 , Cu, carbon, diamond, fullerene ,
polymer (Teflon) etc.
• Common base fluids include water, ethylene glycol and oil.
Nanofluids are
Colloids = Base fluids + Nanomaterials
 CONCEPT OF NANOFLUIDS
• Conventional heat 2500

1 Engine Oil
fluids
transfer have inherently poor 2000
2Ethylene Glycol

thermal conductivity compared 3-Water

4 Alumina

to solids. 1500
5 Silicon
6Aluminum
7-Copper
8 Silver
• Conventional fluids that contain
1000
9 Carbon

mm- or m-sized particles do 500

not work with the emerging

“miniaturized” technologies 0
0.15 0.25 0.61

because they can clog the tiny channels

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Material
of these devices. Thermal conductivity of typical materials

• Nanofluids are a new class of Solids have thermal conductivities

advanced heat-transfer fluids that are orders of magnitude larger
engineered by dispersing than those of conventional heat
transfer fluids.
nanoparticles smaller than 100
nm in diameter in conventional
heat transfer fluids.
 WHY IT IS USED ?
 Nanoparticle exhibit enhanced Thermal conductivity and
Convective heat transfer coefficient compared to base fluid.
 If metallic nanoparticle is used then it has high thermal
conductivity which enhance heat transfer rate.
 As nanoparticle is very small in size (surface area/volume) is
large so as surface area increases , heat transfer rate also increases -
Q=h A (T-To).-- (newton’s law of cooling)

 Nanoparticle also have high value of specific heat Cp ,

Q = mCp(T-To).
Nano-particles can be produced from several processes such as gas
condensation, mechanical attrition or chemical precipitation techniques.
Gas condensation processing has an advantage over other techniques.”

Materials used for nanoparticles and base fluids:

Nanoparticle materials include:
Oxide ceramics – Al2O3, CuO
Metal carbides – Sic
Nitrides – AlN, SiN
Metals – Al, Cu
Non-metals – Graphite, carbon nanotubes
Layered – Al + Al2O3, Cu + C

Base fluids include:

Water
Ethylene- or tri-ethylene-glycols and other coolants
Oil and other lubricants
Bio-fluids
Polymer solution
PREPARATION METHODS FOR NANOFLUIDS

1. TWO-STEP METHOD-

• Two-step method is the most widely used method for preparing

nanofluids.

• Nanoparticles, Nanofibers, Nanotubes or other nanomaterials used in

this method are first produced as dry Powders by chemical or physical
methods. Then the nanosized powder will be dispersed into a fluid in
the second processing step with the help of intensive magnetic force
agitation, Ultrasonic agitation, high-shear mixing, homogenizing and
ball milling. Two-step method is the most economic method to
produce nanofluids in large scale, because nanopowder synthesis
techniques have already been scaled up to industrial production
levels. Due to the high surface area and surface activity, nanoparticles
have the tendency to aggregate.

• The important technique to enhance the stability of nanoparticles in

fluids is the use of surfactants. However the functionality of the
surfactants under high temperature is also a big concern, especially
for high temperature applications.
2. SINGLE STEP
METHOD
2. ONE STEP OR SINGLE STEP METHOD
• In this method, the one step process simultaneously makes and
disperses the nanoparticles directly into the base fluid. This
process is favorable because it prevents oxidation of
nanoparticles. Drying, storage, transportation and nanoparticles
dispersion is avoided in this method to minimize nanoparticle
agglomeration and increase fluid stability thus reduces cost of
production.

• However, there are some disadvantages for one-step method. The most
important one is that the residual reactants are left in the nanofluids due to
incomplete reaction or stabilization. It is difficult to elucidate the nanoparticle
effect without eliminating this impurity effect.
Structure of Nanofluids

Figure 1: ZrO2 in water that

Figure 2: Cu nanoparticles in
produced ethylene glycol produced with One
with Two Step method Step method
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF NANO FLUIDS

The fluids that have been traditionally used for heat transfer
applications have a rather low thermal conductivity. Taking
into account the rising demands of modern technology, it has
been recently proposed that dispersion of small amounts of
nanometres-sized solids in the fluid called nanofluids can
enhance the thermal conductivity of the fluids.

This increase in the thermal conductivity is predicted to be

because of the following reasons:

1. Brownian motion
2. Interfacial layer
3. Volume fraction of particles
 Thermophysical Properties
I. VISCOSITY o.

Viscosity in general is internal resistance force for the fluid and

hence it is an important parameter for all heat transfer applications.
The viscosity of nanofluid is equally important as thermal
conductivity in designing nanofluids for heat transfer applications
since the increase of pressure drop that depend on viscosity increases
pumping power. Furthermore, convective heat transfer coefficient is
also influenced by viscosity.
Effect of Temperature on Viscosity:

The researchers are contradicting about the nanofluids viscosity with respect to
temperature.
• Ethylene glycol/ Water based CuO,Al2o3 and Sio2 demonstrate that viscosity
decreases exponentially with rise in temperature.
• In contradictory to above water based carbon nanotubes nanofluids showed
increasing trend on viscosity with respect to temperature.

Effect of Particle Size on Viscosity:

The effect of particle size on nanofluids became debate since contrary findings
were published by the researcher.
 For Nanofluid of ( Al2o3+Water) and (Tio2+Water) larger the particle
size Higher the viscosity.
• For Nanofluid of (Al2o3+Ethlene glycol) and (CuO+Water) decrease in
nanoparticle size increases nanofluids viscosity
 Thermal conductivity
The enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluid is one of the
important factor which affects convective heat transfer of nanofluid.
Hence it is imperative to study about the thermal conductivity of
nanofluid to design good heat exchange fluid.

Effect of particle material :

 Silver nanofluid has highest thermal conductivity compared to

other nanoparticle.
 CuO nanoparticle causes more enhancement than Al2o3 Particles
though the thermal conductivity of Alumina is higher than
Copper Oxide.
Effect Of Particle Size

 From 1,0nm Nanofluid (Cu+ethylene glycol) it is concluded that

small particles enhance heat transfer .
 But if size of nanoparticles is too small then agglomeration takes
place and again thermal conductivity decreases .

Effect of Particle Shape:

 Investigation on thermal conductivity of Sic nanoparticles of

spherical and cylindrical shapes was done.
 From result it is evident that cylindrical nanoparticles provide
higher thermal conductivity than spherical particles.
 ADVANTAGES OF NANOFLUIDS

• The suspended Nanoparticles enhance the thermal conductivity

which results improvement in efficiency of heat transfer systems.
• Nanofluids increase the Temperature of Solar Thermal Applications.
• To make suitable for different applications, properties of fluid can
be changed by varying concentration of nanoparticles.
• Many types of particles such as metallic & non metallic, can be
added into fluids to form nanofluids.
• High heat capacity.
• High thermal conductivity.
• reduction of erosion and prevention from clogging.
 LIMITATION

 Poor long term stability of suspension.

 Increased pressure drop and pumping power.
 Lower specific heat.
 High cost of nanofluids.
 Tendency to agglomerate into larger particles.
 APPLICATIONS

 Electronic application
The power density of integrated circuits and microprocessors has increased in
recent years, high performance computers dissipate higher power in range of
100-300W/cm2.Existing air cooling techniques have reached their limits so
nanofluids can be used as coolant in electronic devices.

 Automotive application
There are a lot of fluids used in automotive engines. Nanofluids can go a long way
in improving the efficiency of the heat transfer of these fluids. We could have
superior engine oils, automatic transmission fluids, coolant, lubricants and other heat
transfer fluids.
 Cancer therapeutics
Cancer imaging and drug delivery can be made highly efficient by using
nanofluids. Radiation can be administered to the cancer patients using iron based
nanoparticles. Nanofluids which have magnetic properties can be used as
biomarkers and can help in the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs without
causing damage to the healthy cells nearby. Magnetic nanoparticles stick to tumor
cells easily and not to healthy cells, this helps in the selective targeting of tumor
cells.

 Nuclear reactor
The use of nanofluid as a coolant in nuclear reactors is a very promising
application because nanofluids can be highly effective in cooling over heated
surfaces in an emergency situation. There are a few concerns regarding the loss
of nanoparticles through the boiling vapor and regarding the safety measures for
the disposal of nanofluid. Despite the concerns that we have, application of
nanofluids in nuclear reactors is a promising future application.
Contd….
 Biomedical Application
 Solar Absorption
 Smart Fluids
 Space And Defence
 Industrial Cooling Application
 Heating Building And Reducing Pollution
 CONCLUSIONS
 The increased thermal conductivity of nanofluids makes
nanofluids as a very good prospect in the future technology.
 Nanofluids also can be used as smart fluids.
 There are various problems of nanoparticles like agglomeration,
settling and erosion potential that need to be thoroughly
researched.
 The science and technology of nanofluids are yet not fully
understood and the full potential can be revealed only through
further research.
 The synthesis and applications of nanofluids pose a variety of
problems which are to be dealt away with for developing efficient
and smaller systems which would go a long way towards creating
a cleaner and healthier environment.
References
 www.nptel.ac.in
 nptel lectures
 Wikipedia
 P. Kalidas, Dept. of Mechanical Engg, National institute of technology
( Article 2020 )
 Naser Ali, UK Nanotechnology & Advanced Materials Program
( Article 2018 )
 Harish Nagar, Sangam university, Basic & Applied sciences
( Article 2017 )