Performance improvement of a car engine cooling system using different nano-fluids

In present study, thermal performance of a car engine cooling system by employing Ethylene Glycol-Water (50-50) as a base fluid, and utilizing different nanoparticles, namely, Cu, CuO, TiO2, and Ag at disparate ambient conditions is investigated. The governing equations for heat transfer are derived and then solved using a computer code with the aid of HTRI package for different volume fraction of nanoparticles, as well as, inlet air conditions. It was found that by increasing the values of volume fraction of nanoparticles and by the raise of the Reynolds number of inlet air, the overall heat transfer coefficient of the air side and the rate of heat transfer enhanced. Moreover, it was observed that by implementing nano-sized particles to the coolant fluid in radiator, one can significantly reduce its output temperature. In addition, it has been indicated that by adding 5% of nano-particles to the coolant fluid, thermal performance of the radiator in a hot weather of 50˚ C can be better than its performance in the weather of 25˚C. It was also shown that CuO nanoparticles possess prominent thermal performance in comparison with other nanoparticles. The pressure drop issue is also analyzed in terms of nanoparticles volume fraction.

Keywords:

nano-fluid , thermal performance , car cooling system , heat transfer enhancement