Thermal conductivity of Al2O3/water nanofluids

A considerable number of studies can be found on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids in which Al2O3 nanoparticles are used as additives. In the present study, the aim is to measure the thermal conductivity of very narrow Al2O3 nanoparticles with the size of 5 nm suspended in water. The thermal conductivity of nanofluids with concentrations up to 5 % is measured in a temperature range between 26 and 55 A degrees C. Using the experimental data, a correlation is presented as a function of the temperature and volume fraction of nanoparticles. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the sensitivity of thermal conductivity of nanofluids to increase the particle loading at different temperatures. The sensitivity analysis reveals that at a given concentration, the sensitivity of thermal conductivity to particle loading increases when the temperature increases.