Experimental investigations on the thermal properties of rare earth-metal oxide based therminol nano fluids for heat transfer applications

Heat transfer fluids such as therminol have long been utilized in a range of applications. Increasing the thermophysical properties of therminol is one of the promising strategies to improve the performance of therminol- based systems and overcome the disadvantages of poor thermal performance. Nanofluids transport heat more effectively than ordinary conventional fluids. The goal of this work is to evaluate the influence of lanthanum oxide- strontium oxide (LaO-SrO) nanocomposite on the thermal conductivity and viscosity of therminol experimentally. The chemical co-precipitation approach was used to synthesis the LaO-SrO nanocomposite. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and UV-Visible spectroscopy were used to evaluate the structural and optical characteristics of the nano samples. LaO-SrO based nanofluid was prepared with therminol as the base fluid. Thermal conductivity studies of LaO-SrO nanofluids were carried out in detail at different weight percentages of LaO-SrO nanocomposite at varying temperatures. The nanofluid exhibit an increase in thermal conductivity and viscosity as compared with base fluid therminol. The viscosity shows a significant decrease as the temperature rises from 25°C to 50°C. Results show that LaO-SrO nanofluids can be used as a better alternative for conventional fluids in heat transfer applications. (author)