Thermal conductivity and viscosity of mango bark/water nanofluids

Abstract

A novel heat transfer fluid with bio-nanomaterial, which is environmentally safe, is prepared and its thermo-physical properties such as thermal conductivity and viscosity are measured. The bio-nanomaterial considered in this study is mango bark. A two-step process is employed to prepare a stable nanofluid. The average particle size was measured using scanning electron microscope and is found to be 100nm. The stability of the nanofluid is checked by measuring the absorbance and viscosity at a constant temperature. The concentration of nanofluid and temperature are varied between 0.1 to 1 vol% and 10 to 60 oC, respectively for the measurement of viscosity and thermal conductivity. The measurement shows that the measured thermal conductivity of the water is comparable with the standard data presented by American Institute of Physics and American Chemical Society. Also, the measured thermal conductivity of the nanofluids showed a slight enhancement compared to the thermal conductivity of water. The measured viscosity of the nanofluids shows exponentially decreasing trend.