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Abstract:
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Heat exchange systems used in everything from cars to microelectronics have rapidly advanced in recent years to offer high heat transfer rates in increasingly smaller sizes . However , these systems have become essentially optimized using conventional heat transfer fluids . To test the viability of nanofluids as a new heat transfer fluid , an experimental investigation was designed using a constant pressure drop configuration to drive flow into a heated square microchannel test section . The experimental trials included seven different test fluids tested over varying concentrations and surfactant use . Two identical test sections were used to collect results on heat transfer rates , pressure drop , mass flowrate and pumping power for all fluids . These results show a heat transfer improvement for nanofluids of 8 -16 % over pure water , with no meaningful increase in pumping power . This result is highly desirable , as it indicates an easily obtainable heat transfer improvement without an associated pumping cost increase . Importantly , the experiment shows the potential viability of nanofluids for heat transfer applications , while acknowledging limitations such as long term nanofluid stability . |