Experimental investigation on the thermo-physical properties of Al2O3 nanoparticles suspended in car radiator coolant

Nanofluid is a new type of heat transfer fluid with superior thermal performance characteristics, which is very promising for thermal engineering applications. This paper presents new findings on the thermal conductivity, viscosity, density, and specific heat of Al2O3 nanoparticles dispersed into water and ethylene glycol based coolant used in car radiator. The nanofluids were prepared by the two-step method by using an ultrasonic homogenizer with no surfactants. Thermal conductivity, viscosity, density, and specific heat have been measured at different volume concentrations (i.e. 0 to 1 vol.%) of nanoparticles and various temperature ranges (i.e. from 10 °C to 50 °C). It was found that thermal conductivity, viscosity, and density of the nanofluid increased with the increase of volume concentrations. However, specific heat of nanofluid was found to be decreased with the increase of nanoparticle volume concentrations. Moreover, by increasing the temperature, thermal conductivity and specific heat were observed to be intensified, while the viscosity and density were decreased.