Experimental study on carbon nanofluid pressure drop and pumping power

The nanofluids have been able to occupy an important place in engineering, in spite of being a young science. While nanoparticles are very effective in increasing heat transfer of base fluids, they cause a significant pressure drop in the flow. In this paper, the effect of different concentrations, 0.1 to 0.4 wt.%, of carbon nanofluid in water have been investigated on the pressure drop of fluid flow over the Reynolds range from 14,000 to 28,000. The variation of pumping power was measured and the corresponding results illustrated increasing in the friction factor of the nanofluid at concentration 0.4  up to 70%, leading to a 68% increase in the pumping power.