Performance Enhancement of Cooling System of a MPFI Multicylinder Petrol Engine by Using Nanofluids

Inclination of vehicle designer is to increase the power. Also his focus will be to get power-weight ratio as high as possible. For this purpose his interest lies in making the component parts as small as possible. Smaller component parts will help to keep the size, volume, weight less which thereby help to increase the engine efficiency. About 1/3 rd heat generated in the engine is rejected through engine cooling system. The heat load to the cooling system will increase by about the same percentage as the increase in engine horsepower. The cooling system occupies considerable space and adds weight on the vehicular structure. Above all the radiator also increase the drag force. Placing the component parts of the cooling system at the most feasible place it the major concern from the designer point of view. Conventional approaches and designs have reached the limits and only the cooling problem threatens to be the limiting factor, to both further increase in speeds and power as well as miniaturization of system to reduce the weight, volume etc. The main focus of this project is the physical testing and analysis of the data collected during experimentation. The engine cooling system design has been refined as a result of the testing undertaken during the project. The test data has been analyzed to identify the heat rejection requirement, analysis of heat transfer area available in radiator, heat carrying capacity of coolant, pumping power and other important design parameters. During experimentation it is seen that the heat carrying capacity of Nanofluid is relatively more than that of 50/50 water ethylene glycol. This not only reduces the surface area of radiator but also gives benefits associated thereby. The use of Nanofluids present various advantages such as ? Reduced size in cooling system ? Reduced weight of cooling system ? Reduced pumping power All these lead to cost saving in manufacturing of operating (running cost).So it is worthwhile to explore further the viability of use of Nanofluids in various applications.