Studying ZnO Nanoparticles' Effect on Heat Transfer Application

The addition of nanoparticles to the coolants becomes a matter of importance because it exhibits superior thermal conductivity, resulting in improvements in heat transfer performance. The impact of employing nano ZnO-Water-Ethylene Glycol (50:50 by volume) in a Hyundai Verna car radiator on the convective and total heat transfer coefficients was experimentally examined in this work. Here, an experimental test rig was created and built for this use. An aluminium flat tube heat exchanger was selected as the test section. Using nano ZnO concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 0.3% by mass, nanoparticle diameters from 90.6 nm, and inlet temperatures between 60 and 80 oC, measurements were made for volume flow rates between 2 and 6 litres per minute. According to the measurements, the heat transfer coefficient increased for certain nano concentrations, as did the volume flow rate. The measurements showed that as the concentration of nano ZnO increased, so did the heat transfer coefficient. Considering the current experimental data, an empirical equation with a maximum variance of ± 6.4% was derived to estimate the output temperature as a function of nano-concentration and volume flow rate. There was a good agreement when compared to the public data that was already accessible.