Effect of Al2O3 nanolubricant on R134a pool boiling heat transfer

This paper quantifies the influence of Al2O3 nanoparticles on the pool-boiling performance of R134a/polyolester mixtures on a roughened, horizontal, flat surface. The nanoparticles enhanced the boiling heat transfer relative to that for R134a/polyolester mixtures without nanoparticles for the three lubricant mass fractions that were tested. For the 0.5% nanolubricant mass fraction, the nanoparticles caused a heat transfer enhancement relative to the heat transfer of pure R134a/polyolester (99.5/0.5) as large as 400% for the lowest heat flux. The average heat flux improvement for heat fluxes less than 40 kW m−2 was approximately 105%, 49%, and 155% for the 0.5%, the 1%, and the 2% mass fractions, respectively. A semi-empirical model was developed to predict the boiling enhancement as caused by the interaction of the nanoparticles with the bubbles. The model suggests that small particle size and large nanoparticle volume fraction improve boiling enhancement.