NANOFLUIDS, HEAT-TRANSFER EQUIPMENT AND PLAIN-VANILLA

Recent advances in nanofluids research have demonstrated the potential for using nanofluids in heat-transfer equipment to enhance its efficiency and/or performance. Nanoparticle materials can be very inexpensive and the technology for producing nanofluids is mature. However, the commercial viability of nanofluids in heat-transfer equipment hinges on the application of high-quality nanofluid dispersions; i.e., ones in which the nanoparticles remain suspended indefinitely or quickly re-suspend upon agitation. In general, the nanofluid and the system design need to be robust enough to re-suspend nanoparticles upon equipment restart and cause no damage to the equipment if settling does occur during shutdown. To solve these problems, much more needs to be known about the physical chemistry of various nanoparticle materials and more applied research is required to predict how nanofluids interact with system components on a long-term basis. Consequently, if nanofluids are to be used on a large scale in heat-transfer equipment, significantly more research will be required to ensure system reliability.