An Experimental Determination of Temperature-Dependent Thermal Conductivity of Cyclohexane-Based Nanofluids

Conference Name: Proceedings of the 2011 Nanotech Conference and Expo
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Date: 2011

List of Authors:

Liwu Fan, Jay M Khodadadi

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental determination of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity of cyclohexane-based nanofluids. Nanofluid samples were prepared with sodium-oleate-stabilized copper oxide nanoparticles for various particle loadings. The thermal conductivity of nanofluids was measured by utilizing the transient plane source technique. The measurement temperature was varied from 10 to 50°C with an increment of 10°C. It was shown that thermal conductivity of cyclohexane-based nanofluids is inversely proportional to temperature and is increased almost linearly as more nanoparticles are introduced. The enhancement becomes more pronounced with raising temperature, probably due to the more intensive diffusion of nanoparticles at higher temperatures.