An experimental correlation approach for predicting thermal conductivity of water-EG based nanofluids of zinc oxide

In this study, the effects of temperature (20 degrees C < T < 50 degrees C) and volume fractio n (0 < phi < 4%) on the thermal conductivity of zinc oxide/ethylene glycol-water nanofluid have been presented. Nanofluid samples were prepared by a two-step method and thermal conductivity measurements were performed by a KD2 pro instrument. Results showed that the thermal conductivity increases uniformly with increasing solid volume fraction and temperature. The results also revealed that the thermal conductivity of nanofluids significantly increases with increasing solid volume fraction at higher temperatures. Moreover, it can be seen that for more concentrated samples, the effect of temperature was more tangible. Experimental thermal conductivity enhancement of the nanofluid in comparison with the Maxwell model indicated that Maxwell model was unable to predict the thermal conductivity of the present nanofluid. Therefore, a new correlation was presented for predicting the thermal conductivity of ZnO/EG-water nanofluid.