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Experimental research and development on the natural convection of suspensions of nanoparticles
Suspensions of nanoparticles, widely known as nanofluids, are considered as advanced
heat transfer media for thermal management and conversion systems. Research on their convective
thermal transport is of paramount importance for their applications in such systems such as heat
exchangers and solar collectors. This paper presents experimental research on the natural convection
heat transfer performances of nanofluids in di erent geometries from thermal management and
conversion perspectives. Experimental results and available experiment-derived correlations for the
natural thermal convection of nanofluids are critically analyzed. Other features such as nanofluid
preparation, stability evaluation and thermophysical properties of nanofluids that are important
for this thermal transfer feature are also briefly reviewed and discussed. Additionally, techniques
(active and passive) employed for enhancing the thermo-convection of nanofluids in di erent
geometries are highlighted and discussed. Hybrid nanofluids are featured in this work as the newest
class of nanofluids, with particular focuses on the thermophysical properties and natural convection
heat transfer performance in enclosures. It is demonstrated that there has been a lack of accurate
stability evaluation given the inconsistencies of available results on these properties and features
of nanofluids. Although nanofluids exhibit enhanced thermophysical properties such as viscosity
and thermal conductivity, convective heat transfer coe cients were observed to deteriorate in some
cases when nanofluids were used, especially for nanoparticle concentrations of more than 0.1 vol.%.
However, there are inconsistencies in the literature results, and the underlying mechanisms are also
not yet well-understood despite their great importance for practical applications.