A comparative review on the specific heat of nanofluids for energy perspective

Nanofluid is one of the novel inventions of science. Nanofluid can be used for energy savings by increasing the heat transfer performance of the heat recovery systems, which are generally struggling to overcome the present challenging issues such as global warming, greenhouse effect, climate change, and fuel crisis. Specific heat capacity is necessary to analyze energy and exergy performances. This paper extant different characteristic of specific heat capacity of nanofluids containing preparation and measuring methods, effects of volume fraction, temperature, types and sizes of nanoparticles and base fluids. Additionally a compilation has been done on available theoretical correlation related to specific heat of nanofluid. Based on existing experimental and theoretical results, nanofluid specific heat falls with the enhancement of volume concentration of nanoparticle though there are some inconsistencies among outcomes. Moreover, specific heat of the nanofluids are generally increased after adding dispersant in the mixtures. However, many contradictory results about the effects of temperatures on specific heat of nanofluids found in the literatures. Therefore, this review will help the researchers and related peoples to get enough information to select a nanofluid based on specific heat for their practical applications.