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Abstract: Many conventional fluids have low thermal conductivities. Adding thermally conductive nanometer-sized particles to these fluids transforms them into thermally conductive nanofluids. In this study, the thermal conductivity of aqueous alumina and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanofluids was measured using the transient plane source (TPS) method with a thermal constants analyzer TPS. During each trial, 0.015 W of power were administered to each sample for two seconds. Results of the experiment showed that thermal conductivity increased with the nanofluid concentration. The alumina nanofluid would be an effective heat transfer medium because it enhances the thermal conductivity of the nanofluid while maintaining viscosity. Alternatively, MWCNT/water nanofluids become more viscous with the addition of nanofluids, which decreases the thermal conductivity of the solution. It was also discovered that the thermal conductivity of the alumina nanofluid was reduced by 7.0% after 55 days, likely due to eventual aggregations of the nanoparticles, which would increase the viscosity of the liquid.

Reference: 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (2014) 1-8

DOI: N/A