Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
10.2
Nanofluid technology publications rate.
Since the advent of nanofluids, the excellent potential of these fluids for
heat transfer applications has led both industry and academia to launch
research and development efforts in nanofluid technology. This effort has
increased considerably over the years, as corroborated by the near-
exponential increase in the number of publications in this field (Fig. 10.2).
In a span of 15 years over 1500 articles in the research field of nanofluid
technology have been published.
10.3 Potential benefits of nanofluids
Nanoparticles have unique properties such as a large surface area to volume
ratio, low density, size-dependent physical properties, and low kinetic
energy. The combination of these properties can be advantagous in
nanofluid development. Nanofluids have several advantages and benefits
over conventional thermal fluids, as follows.
.
The original properties of the base fluids are retained. That is, they
behave like pure liquids and incur little penalty in pressure drop due to
the fact that the dispersed nanoparticles are very tiny, meaning that they
can be stably suspended in fluids with or without the help of surfactants
(Xuan and Li, 2003).
.
Dispersion stability is high with predominant Brownian motion of
particles. Since the particles are very small, their weight is small and the
chances of sedimentation are less. This reduced sedimentation can
overcome one of the major drawbacks of suspensions, the settling of
particles, making nanofluids more stable.
.
Higher heat conduction is possible by using nanofluids due to the large
specific surface area of the nanoparticles. Another advantage is the
