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On the thermal conductivity of nanofluids

V. Ya. Rudyak, A. A. Belkin, E. A. Tomilina

Novosibirsk State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Abstract: The dependence of the effective thermal conductivity $\lambda$ of nanofluids on the properties of dispersed nanoparticles has been studied by the molecular dynamics method. It is established that the thermal conductivity of a nanofluid always exceeds that of the carrier medium, the excess depending on the volume fraction of nanoparticles, their masses, and sizes. An increase in the nanoparticle mass at a constant size leads to a more pronounced increase in $\lambda$ than does the growth in size at a constant mass, which implies that the density of dispersed nanoparticles is an important factor that determines the thermal conductivity of nanofluids.

Received: 09.03.2010

 English version: Technical Physics Letters, 2010, 36:7, 660–662

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