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Title: "Nanotechnology Enabled Advanced Industrial Heat Transfer Fluids"

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/929547· OSTI ID:929547

ABSTRACT Nanotechnology Enabled Advanced industrial Heat Transfer Fluids” Improving the efficiency of Industrial Heat Exchangers offers a great opportunity to improve overall process efficiencies in diverse industries such as pharmaceutical, materials manufacturing and food processing. The higher efficiencies can come in part from improved heat transfer during both cooling and heating of the material being processed. Additionally, there is great interest in enhancing the performance and reducing the weight of heat exchangers used in automotives in order to increase fuel efficiency. The goal of the Phase I program was to develop nanoparticle containing heat transfer fluids (e.g., antifreeze, water, silicone and hydrocarbon-based oils) that are used in transportation and in the chemical industry for heating, cooling and recovering waste heat. Much work has been done to date at investigating the potential use of nanoparticle-enhanced thermal fluids to improve heat transfer in heat exchangers. In most cases the effect in a commercial heat transfer fluid has been marginal at best. In the Phase I work, we demonstrated that the thermal conductivity, and hence heat transfer, of a fluid containing nanoparticles can be dramatically increased when subjected to an external influence. The increase in thermal conductivity was significantly larger than what is predicted by commonly used thermal models for two-phase materials. Additionally, the surface of the nanoparticles was engineered so as to have a minimal influence on the viscosity of the fluid. As a result, a nanoparticle-laden fluid was successfully developed that can lead to enhanced heat transfer in both industrial and automotive heat exchangers

Research Organization:
NEI Corporation, Somerset, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-05ER84330
OSTI ID:
929547
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/84330-ZR; NEI 43041; TRN: US201009%%36
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English