Measurement of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and viscosity of TiO2-water nanofluids

Nanofluid is an innovative heat transfer fluid with superior potential for enhancing the heat transfer performance of conventional fluids. Many attempts have been made to investigate its thermal conductivity and viscosity, which are important thermophysical properties. No definitive agreements have emerged, however, about these properties. This article reports the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of nanofluids experimentally. TiO2 nanoparticles dispersed in water with volume concentration of 0.2-2 vol.% are used in the present study. A transient hot-wire apparatus is used for measuring the thermal conductivity of nanofluids whereas the Bohlin rotational rheometer (Malvern Instrument) is used to measure the viscosity of nanofluids. The data are collected for temperatures ranging from 15 °C to 35 °C. The results show that the measured viscosity and thermal conductivity of nanofluids increased as the particle concentrations increased and are higher than the values of the base liquids. Furthermore, thermal conductivity of nanofluids increased with increasing nanofluid temperatures and, conversely, the viscosity of nanofluids decreased with increasing temperature of nanofluids. Moreover, the measured thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids are quite different from the predicted values from the existing correlations and the data reported by other researchers. Finally, new thermophysical correlations are proposed for predicting the thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluids.