Thermal Conductivity and Viscosity of Water and Ethylene Glycol Blend Based Alumina Nanofluids – An Experimental Study

Water and Ethylene Glycol (EG) blend is a kind of conventional heat transfer fluid, generally used in many energy systems, to retain the good heat transfer (heating or cooling) ability of water, as well as widening the operating temperature range. Further, the enhancement of thermo-physical properties of water/EG blend, by using nanoparticles would be very useful for the better performance of the energy systems. In the present study, alumina particles are used to prepare and determine the thermal conductivity and viscosity of Water and Ethylene Glycol (EG) blend based alumina nanofluid. It is observed that, the maximum augmentation occurs in the thermal conductivity is 11.37% at 1.6 Vol%, for water+EG based Al2O3 nanofluids. It is also observed that, dynamic viscosity is increased by 10.36% by 1.6 Vol%, for (Water + EG) /Al2O3 nanofluid compared to water + EG blend. Thermal conductivity and viscosity models for water + EG based Al2O3 nanofluid, are proposed.