The Apparent Thermal Conductivity of Liquids Containing Solid Particles of Nanometer Dimensions: A Critique

Category: Transient Hot Wire

Author(s): Georgia J. Tertsinidou, Marc J. Assael, William A. Wakeham

Keywords: Al2O3, Cu, CuO, dispersants, Ethylene glycol, liquid, Nanofluids, Nanoparticles, thermal conductance, Thermal conductivity enhancement, THW, TiO2, transient hot wire method, Transient Hot-Wire, Water

Abstract: In the past twenty years, the behavior of the apparent thermal conductance of two or three phase systems comprised of solid particles with nanometer dimensions suspended in fluids, dubbed nanofluids, has been greatly contested in literature. After the study of the seven simplest nanofluids, Cu, CuO, Al₂O₃, and TiO₂ suspended in water and ethylene glycol, this paper’s findings suggests that when studied with proven experimental techniques, (such as the transiet hotwire method), these nanofluids show no difference from what would be expected with a simple model of conduction in stationary multiphase systems.

Reference: March 2015 International Journal of Thermophysics 36:1367-1395

DOI: 10.1007/s10765-015-1856-9

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