Experimental Investigation of Heat Transfer Enhancement using Water-EG-CuO based Nanofluid in Automotive Radiator

Thermal scientists and engineers always pursuit modern methods to enhance the heat removal of the engine. It seems nanofluids introduced in automotive cooling system promises to achieve high efficiency radiators. Nanofluids can be described as colloidal suspensions of solid particles smaller than 100 nm diluted in a base fluid. These fluids exhibit better thermal properties than conventional coolants. Nanofluids can be considered to be the next-generation heat transfer fluids because they offer exciting new possibilities to enhance heat transfer performance compared to pure liquids. Micrometer-sized particle-fluid suspensions exhibit no such dramatic enhancement. The paper summarizes the current research in the nanofluid studies on convective heat transfer performance, thermo-physical properties. In this work, copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles to base fluid (water + ethylene glycol) in car radiator is investigated experimentally. Effects of fluid inlet temperature (550C), the flow rate (2-5lpm) and nanoparticle volume fractions(0.5%,1%,1.5%,2%2.5%) on rate of heat transfer are considered. From the experiments it was found that the heat transfer can be enhanced by 14% for 2% at 5 lpm.